My go to spot for comedy in Toronto! Yes I know Second City gets all the attention but Comedy Bar showcases a wider variety of talents and shows, a lot of up and coming comedy groups delight audiences.
4 stars vs. 5 because the I'm never a fan of how jam packed it gets when crowds collide in the bar area between shows as the train of post show people come out and the "line" to get in can't get in either. It's especially frustrating when you have a 10:30pm show that is yet to start letting people in around 20 or 30 mins prior to showtime (doesn't always happen, but yeah I've had a few late starts that have been frustratingly slow to get going once you've been standing up smooshed up against strangers.
But then the sort of flip side to that is that the crowds that frequent this hole in the wall in the basement are really easy going and always in a chill mood. It's very easy to start conversations with strangers and booze and comedy is always a perfect catalyst for social interactions IMO.
As I've mentioned before some groups that perform here are still trying to perfect the art of improv, so best go in knowing that. Unless of course you're going to watch a stand up routine by a headliner that these guys manage to secure every so often.
I think any comedy fan should not give Comedy Bar multiple visits, shows are also super affordable and makes for a great night out!
PS - don't rely on them to provide a good dinner, while they do have a food menu, it's pretty lacking. I'm not going to hold that against them too much since that's now why people should be coming here for.