Meet Claire Daigle | Director of Education, Dallas Comedy Club

We had the good fortune of connecting with Claire Daigle and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Claire, have there been any changes in how you think about work-life balance?
I am an absolute workaholic! I was raised by small business owners, so sometimes it’s hard for me to wrap my brain around the concept of a day off. I’m constantly trying to be better about taking days off!
When your main hobby becomes your full time job it becomes extremely important to make room for other hobbies and interests. I used to spend all of my free time outside of work at open mics working on new stand-up material. At this point, the last place I want to be during my free time is at a comedy club! As much as I love comedy, when I’m not at the office I do my best to consume other types of media. I don’t get a ton of time off, but when I do I prefer to stay close to home and work on my balcony garden or play with my dogs. When I’m not working it’s definitely recovery time. I’m definitely not a model citizen when it comes to time off!

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I am extremely lucky to be one of the few people in DFW working full time in comedy. It all sort of fell into my lap and I couldn’t be happier about it!

I was not convinced that this was all going to work out. The Training Center at Dallas Comedy Club had fallen into a little bit of administrative chaos in the months before I started. I did not know if I would be the person to successfully lead things long-term, but I knew if I set my mind to at least wade through the mess to get everything back on track I would at least be able to make the next person’s job easier. My initial goal was to implement processes and policies to restore consistency and stability to the business. I gave myself a timeline of a year, but was able to get everything back on track within 3 months. That first year was all about consistency, because without a solid foundation growth is impossible in any industry.

I didn’t have a resume that would make me a conventionally good pick for the role, but I have a very niche skillset that I picked up as a dance student at SMU. I was the kid who was constantly injured and spent a ton of time working in the office and backstage! I didn’t finish my major, but I like to joke that I have the world’s most extensive dance minor. While I’d never professionally run an arts organization, I had grown up with tons of great mentors who I could model my role at DCC after.

For the first couple of months I was at the club nearly constantly to build relationships with our staff, patrons, instructors, and students. When I started at DCC, I had an entire staff of skeptical instructors to win over. Some of them even left because I had been hired instead of one of their friends. I had to walk a delicate balance of being able to listen to everyone’s ideas and concerns, but also be able to keep the bigger picture in sight to make sure we aren’t veering off track. The core principle of improvisation might be “yes, and…” but sometimes in business you have to say “yes, but not right now” which can be hard for improvisers in leadership roles. Over time I was able to show people that when I had to say “no” it was in the best interest of keeping the club open, not based on anything personal.

We were able to shift from a survival mindset into a growth mindset within a couple of months! In the last two years we’ve added additional levels to all of our core classes in Improv, Stand-Up, Storytelling, and Sketch. We’ve had an Improv “Club Team” (referred to as house teams at most other venues) program since opening in 2021, and we’ve added more since then! We now have the only club-sponsored Sketch and Storytelling teams in DFW, and maybe in the state of Texas! We’re offering elective workshops that complement our core curriculum, and have added spring break and summer camps for kids ages 7-14. The growth has been immense! The club has been open for four years now, and I’ve been on board for three. I can’t wait to see where we are at our fifth anniversary in 2026!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
We would start out at either Mami Coco or La Banqueta on Carroll Avenue in East Dallas for breakfast tacos. If they had never been before, we would go to the Sixth Floor Museum. It might not be off the beaten path, but it’s a really great museum that covers the Kennedy assassination from multiple perspectives! When I quit my dance major I switched to history, so I love a good museum. That night we’re going to Dallas Comedy Club to see a show of course!

We’re also going to Starship Bagel multiple times. I have celiac disease and can never eat gluten again, but before I was diagnosed I had an instagram account where I reviewed every bagel I ever ate. It was probably my biggest non-comedy hobby, and not being able to eat them anymore feels like it could be my villain origin story in another timeline. But I absolutely love the folks at Starship and strongly believe it’s one of the best bagels in the universe. From there we might walk over to the Farmers Market where I’d get a gluten-free cookie from Trouvi so I can have a treat while I watch my friends eat the best bagels in the world.

I’m a Deep Ellum gremlin! I usually start and end the night at Dallas Comedy Club, because it’s definitely my second home and I love getting to see my work family. My husband and I live within walking distance, so sometimes we’ll just walk down Elm Street and see what bands are playing. He’s been going to the open mic at Adair’s Saloon a lot, and I highly recommend the cheeseburger. I also love Nori Handroll Bar because they’re extremely conscientious about food allergies and cross-contamination. I took my extremely lovely but sometimes picky in-laws there and they gave it rave reviews. I’m definitely taking them to Twilight Lounge in Deep Ellum! I’m a New Orleans native, and have always felt very at home in that bar. Plus Elliott is one of the best bartenders in all of Dallas, and the rest of the staff can hold their own. If the live music is too loud, the patio is great and they pipe the live performance outside through speakers. It’s a great place to strike up conversations with strangers, which according to my loved ones is one of my favorite activities. The Free Man is great place for music, but Twilight Lounge feels more like an authentic New Orleans bar to me.

My “totally not biased” opinion is that Dallas Comedy Club is the best place to take your out of town guests. There is an immense amount of talent in DFW. We’re the fourth largest metropolitan statistical area behind New York, LA, and Chicago, and the level of comedic talent here definitely lives up to that. People are so surprised by how funny Dallas comics and improvisers are! I brought some friends who live in Chicago to see Primetime Improv at DCC and they were raving about how it was the best improv show they’d ever seen. We sat on the patio for a few hours after the show and they kept talking about how good the show was. Again, I’m biased, but it’s definitely a great place to take your friends!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I’ve gotta give a shoutout to my husband for putting up with me. When I told him that I had signed up for a stand-up class he had no idea it was something I’d ever be interested in doing, but he believed in me and supported me from the beginning. He would be way more nervous before my shows than I was! As I started getting booked on more shows he was incredibly supportive. It would have been way harder without him by my side. When I was offered the job at Dallas Comedy Club I was really unsure of how it was going to pan out long term, but he encouraged me to take a big leap and go for it. Luckily it worked out for the best!

Website: https://www.dallas-comedyclub.com

Image Credits
Dane Robertson