What is musical improv? How does it work? How do people end up in that world? If you're curious about crossing over the line from whatever comparatively cool subculture you currently call home (ska?) to the uncharted awkwardness of improvised musical theatre (I'm philately-curious myself), the first ever* Toronto Musical Improv Festival might be opportunity you've been secretly, shamefully waiting for.

Launching on the Danforth at the The Social Capital Theatre February 25-28, the festival, run by two of Toronto's self proclaimed "biggest champions" of musical improv, Natasha Boomer of Comedy Bar's Wheel of Improv and Matty Burns of bi-weekly Second City show Let the Music Play, will be entirely devoted to the art of musical improv comedy, with four nights of shows, jams, and workshops.

Burns seems as devoted to the cause as he claims to be. "The improv community is already a small bubble within the city of Toronto - however it is one of the best improv communities in the world. Musical Improv has been around for a while, but is still an even smaller form within improv... This festival was inspired by wanting to help push Musical Improv as an art form further to the next level and up the map."

Opening night will feature Second City MainStage Alumni paired with relative improv newbies, and programming will be drilling spur of the moment melodies into winter-hardened funny bones until Saturday's All-Star Musical Jam, which will be pretty much what it sounds like. Check out the full line up on their website.

Will you cross the line into Musical Improv this February? Let us know in the comments.

*I did not fact check this, because how could there have been another one.

The Toronto Musical Improv Festival gets silly from February 25-28 at the Social Capital Theatre.

Photo of Matty Burns via the Musical Improv Festival