On a stage at the Comedy Bar on Danforth, complete with a red velvet curtain, several people are participating in a circle song. One begins with a single line, then each adds a line in their turn, making up the words, and possibly veering into unexpected directions, as they go.
“Just grab it and be present with the music,” counsels Carly Carly Heffernan. She’s an affable and lively host/instructor for the program.
A talented keyboard player adds accompaniment, and also contributes to the ideas for songs, topics, and more. It’s like taking audience suggestions and turning them into musical scenes on the spot — something participants will be putting into practice at the showcase that takes place at the end of the course.
Carly Heffernan
Heffernan is an award winning director, writer, actor, and showrunner, and is currently the Artistic & Executive Director of Comedy Bar Danforth Productions and CB Pro Comedy School.
Before her current gig, she was the Head of Creative for The Second City and Artistic Director for The Second City Toronto. She’s also an alumna of Second City Toronto, and wrote and performed in four revues during her time there. That includes directing the hit main stage show Come What Mayhem!, and co-writing Second City’s Guide to the Symphony, which toured to venues like Roy Thomson Hall and the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.
Carly directed another hit show, the first ever, all-female Second City sketch revue, SHE THE PEOPLE, which enjoyed a three year run in Second City Chicago’s UP Theatre, along with touring to Boston, Nebraska, Montreal, Washington DC, and Toronto.
Her writing credits include The Irrelevant Show (CBC Radio), George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight (CBC), Canadian Air Farce NYE (CBC), Canadian Air Farce 150 (CBC), Almost Genius (CMT), SketchersonsTV (Rogers), among others.
As an actor, she’s appeared in Children Ruin Everything, The Beaverton, Elliott The Littlest Reindeer, The Other Kingdom, Lost & Found Music Studios, Spun Out, Odd Squad, But I’m Chris Jericho, The L.A. Complex, This Hour Has 22 Minutes, and more.
For Second Jen (City), credits include serving as writer, actor, showrunner, and director of the third season. The show was nominated for a Canadian Screen Award.
Carly recently directed Season 3 of the television sketch show, ABROAD (OMNI).
The Classes
The games and exercises begin with the simple, and gradually add layers and complexity. Musical styles range from pop to blues to classic musical theatre, and even operatic aria-style work. From solo work, the class moves to working in pairs and creating duets, or “teeny-tiny two-line musicals” as she calls them.
The “piano torture game” begins with an improvised scene and a random topic. In turn, the participants speak lines, interrupted at random points by the piano. When the music begins, they have to turn to song, but then stop just as abruptly when the piano fades out.
Along the way, Heffernan offers advice and encouragement. She emphasizes physicality and point of view. Lines are sung with a sense of physicality as well as musicality.
“Never speak a single word or sing a single note before you… What?” she asks the class. “Set the stage!”
While accommodations are made for the shy at heart, Carly also pushes participants out of tendencies to prefer being a wall flower to being the centre of attention.
“I want you to crave that down stage moment.”
It’s not all just fun and games, though. While you’re playing, you’re learning, among other things, how to improvise along with basic rhyming patterns, timing issues, and more. Class members learn how to create rhymes on the fly.
Adding the details and complexity elevates the work to the level of theatre. Building scenes means establishing the who, what, and where, and doing so within seconds in song form.
The classes cycle through various forms and fun musical improv games like Blues Jam, Hoedown, Irish Drinking Song, Sing It! and more. Part of that fun is seeing some of your classmates go from a bit shy to fully taking centre stage by the end.
It’s also about being there for your classmates on stage. In a scene where someone else is performing, it’s equally as important to listen and react.
“The number one thing they want to see is emotion.”
Course Information
The course includes eight in-studio classes and a showcase performance.
- Find details on Musical Comedy Improv classes (starting in January 2026) at the Comedy Bar Danforth [HERE].
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