She Said What is the self-described “premium all-female comedy cocktail” that promises “no men-bashing” and, probably most importantly, “no period jokes,” putting a whole new twist on those “that’s what she said” jokes. We chatted witih cast member Carly Heffernan (a fixture at Toronto’s Second City mainstage) about Pussy Riot, Catherine O’Hara and drinking a lot of wine.
How did your troupe come about?
A lot of wine.
How would you describe your brand of comedy?
The love child of character and jokes.
Where do you find your inspiration for your sketches?
Life. We take a look around us and write it down. Life is extremely funny.
There's a lot of talk lately about women being funny. Either they can't be, or that they have to be self-deprecating in order to get a laugh. What has been your experience?
We make people laugh and we'll continue to do so, c'est tout!
So Pussy Riot. Thoughts?
It might be a better name than She Said What 🙁
Who would be your dream guest performer?
Catherine O'Hara.
What's your biggest achievement thus far?
Being nominated for a Canadian Comedy Award for best sketch troupe; being a finalist for the Tim Sim's Encouragement fund; and one of us bought a house!
What's next on the horizon?
A housewarming for sure!
The details:
Established: 2007 — the year we graduated from Queen's University.
The line-up: Emma Hunter, Marni Van Dyk, Meg Mack, Carly Heffernan.
Influences: SCTV, Smack the Pony, all of our moms.
Next gig: New show in September at Comedy Bar