Colin Mochrie coming to the Regent
Mochrie learned to “trim the fat”
By Chris Jones/The Oshawa Express
A Canadian comedian is bringing his unique act to Oshawa to help raise money for charity.
Colin Mochrie, who has starred on hit shows such as Whose Line is it Anyway? and This Hour has 22 Minutes, will be working with Durham Improv to raise money for community programs provided to local abuse shelters and Community Living Oshawa/Clarington.
The fundraiser, titled “A Night of Comedy with Colin Mochrie and Friends,” is on May 23 at 8 p.m. at the Regent Theatre.
Stephanie Herrera, artistic director of Durham Improv Collective Inc., a not-for-profit organization, says Mochrie is their “comedy ambassador,” and this is his third year coming out to do the fundraiser.
Herrera says while Mochrie is the draw, she always makes sure he is working with professionals, noting there are a couple Second City alumni performing as well.
“Michael Gellman, he’s one of these people [that’s] a legend in the improv community. He created long form improv. His first troupe back in Chicago [included] John Candy, Gilda Radner and people like that…,” she says. “He is one of the founders of the Second City training centre, he created courses in improv for actors there, and he also has his own theatre company, Process Theatre, in Toronto. So he’s a fantastic performer, teacher, and director.”
Speaking with The Oshawa Express, Mochrie says the story of how he became involved with the yearly event is a rather simple one.
“So, Stephanie [Herrera], I sort of knew her a little bit through media functions and auditions, and she just asked me one year if I would like to come out and do some improv with everyone, I was free and I said yes. It was just that simple,” he recalls.
With a tinge of regret in his voice, Mochrie says he’s only ever been to Oshawa three times, all for this event.
“I never really get a chance to get out there, or really get chance to come home,” he explains. “From what I’ve seen it’s lovely, the people are great, we always have a great crowd and all the staff at the theatre and the volunteers are great, so I always look forward to this time of year.”
For improv, audience participation is key to how the show will go, and Mochrie says the audiences in Oshawa have been great.
“You really need [a great audience] during an improv show,” he explains. “They sort of set the tone of what we’re going to do, everything is based on their suggestions, so we need them to sometimes think outside the box and give us suggestions we may not have heard before just to inspire us.”
Mochrie has been on both the American and British versions of Whose Line is it Anyway?, and explains the direction of the audiences were quite different.
“It used to be that the British audiences used to be a little more reserved, and their suggestions were all over the place from historical references to geographical ones,” he says. “In America it tends to be more pop culture related suggestions.”
For the Durham Improv fundraiser, he says the focus is more local humour.
“It’s mostly just goofy, and goofy’s universal, so everybody seems to enjoy it,” he says with a chuckle.
Mochrie has been on the scene for some time, as he has been actively performing since he was in his early 20’s.
He explains he has kept his personal life and his public life separate.
“People who have no idea what I do and have met me for the first time, I don’t think they would immediately jump to, ‘Oh, this guy’s a performer,’” he explains. “I tend to be very quiet.”
Mochrie explains through the success of Whose Line is it Anyway? he’s had to become more outgoing because of press demands and the number of people he meets.
“So, in that way, improv has brought me out of my shell,” he says.
Improv comedy has changed for him since he began, and some of the credit for that has to go to his daughter, Kinley Mochrie, originally born Luke Mochrie.
When Mochrie’s daughter came out as transgender, he announced it on social media with her permission.
“I received an e-mail from someone who runs an LGBTQ improv theatre in England,” he says. “It said, ‘I saw your post, it’s lovely that you’re supporting your daughter, can I ask you to be more aware when you’re doing…the transphobic and homophobic jokes that you do?’”
He says looking back he realized the person who sent the e-mail was right, especially in regards to his early material on Whose Line is it Anyway?
He says he asked if he could post the e-mail on Facebook, and every improv company he knew of weighed in.
“We all made a vow to actually watch out for that,” he says. “So often we get positive feedback…sometimes you forget it can have the opposite effect. It can marginalize an entire section of the population just through some dumb joke that you don’t even think about. You just do it and then you’re onto the next thing.”
It’s not only his daughter who has influenced Mochrie though, as he says his experiences on Whose Line is it Anyway? allowed him to become more fearless.
“With Whose Line, you know you have to be on right away. With stage you can take a little time to build your scene, to get into character,” he explains. “With Whose Line, everything had to be there from the very beginning, so it made you aware of what your partners were giving you because that was pretty much all you had to work with, that and a suggestion.”
He said he learned to “trim all of the fat” and just “get to the funny.”
For Mochrie, he gets a lot of inspiration from his everyday surroundings.
“I have some very interesting characters in my personal life,” he says. “Just from my wife and daughter, and our group of friends. So I always get a front row view on human behaviour and different kinds of characters.”
As an improv comedian, Mochrie says basically everything he encounters is something that can be pulled out during a scene.
“Everything that you sort of come into contact with, you sort of file it away and use it later in your career,” he says.
In terms of the Regent Theatre show, Mochrie says it’s really about having a good laugh.
“You may not learn anything, but you’ll feel better after the show,” he states.
The show takes place on May 23 at the Regent Theatre, 50 King Street East, and tickets can be purchased online at http://regenttheatre.ca/