Blair Varden

Assistant Carpenter

Blair is a good old prairie boy born in Dauphin, MB. His family moved around for many short stints in countless Manitoba towns before being transferred to Ottawa, ON. As a teenager, Blair was bitten by the theatre bug early on in high school, performing in various productions and drama festivals. This led to his discovery of improvisational theatre and his participation in the Canadian Improv Games at the National Arts Centre as a member of the Cairine Wilson Improv team for four years.

Before leaving Ottawa to study theatre at Bishop's University, Blair developed his skills with power tools during summer employment building parks and playgrounds for the city. These carpentry skills were easily transferred to technical theatre. Set building after rehearsal became a favourite activity of his at Bishop’s.

During Season 3 of Design U, Blair served as the off-camera assistant carpenter helping the crew in any way possible - usually making sure no dessert went to waste. After perfecting the art of not cracking the camera lens while in front of it, Blair made the leap to on-camera assistant carpenter for Season 4.