By Gary Bennett
Colin Mochrie, of “Whose Line Is It Anyway” fame, has made a career of making stuff up for laughs and couldn’t be prouder of it. He is one of those lucky ones who found his niche and stuck with it.
Mochrie and his buddy Brad Sherwood, also from “Whose Line,” will bring their improv comedy show “Asking for Trouble” to the Weinberg Center for the Arts at 7:30 p.m. June 15.
My wife and I caught their hilarious improv show in Hagerstown a few years ago, called “Scared Scriptless,” and just about split our sides laughing.
His everyman look and befuddled, dry sense of humor has made him a fan favorite for years. “Whose Line” is no longer in production, but its 17-year run over two incarnations in America makes it one of the longest running and best-known comedy shows ever. Mochrie not only starred in the two American versions (1998 to 2006 with Drew Carey on ABC and 2013 to 2022 with Aisha Tyler on the CW), he even starred in the British version from 1991 to 1998.
I spoke with Mochrie by phone in May to talk about his life, his career and the upcoming show in Frederick.
You were born in Scotland, south of Glasgow. Do you have any memories of Scotland? You emigrated when you were very young.
Yes, my parents and I would go back every summer to visit my grandparents, so I don’t have my earliest memories of Scotland but certainly going back there and, of course, as an adult going back there for the Edinburgh Festival and other things, I have those memories.
Why did you and your parents move to Canada?
I think my dad was one of those rare Scottish people who thought he could do better elsewhere. He had friends who had moved to Canada, so he moved my mom, brother and me, and yeah, it certainly worked out well for all of us.
First it was Vancouver, I believe, and then you moved to Toronto?
We started in Montreal, which was an odd choice — none of us spoke French, and nobody could understand our brogue. Then I ended up in Vancouver and then moved to Toronto, where I am now.
Why did you move to Toronto?
It was right after Expo ‘86 in Vancouver, and I sort of felt that I had done all I could at that point. I got hired for the Second City comedy troupe in Toronto by the woman who later became my wife. So it was a good move.
I am interested in the Theatresports league you played at in Vancouver. What exactly is that?
That’s where it all started for me. It was a strangely named theater. One of the local owners quite generously said, “You can have weekends after the main show here.” So we started our shows at 10 or 11 o’clock. We would go into McDonald’s next door and sort of wrangle audience members. They’d say “Well, what’s the show about?” and we’d say “We don’t know! You’ll have to help us!”
I understand that you were valedictorian of your high school class. Is that right?
I was, yes.
Obviously, you are very quick-witted. Were you studious and serious or just naturally very bright?
I was a bookworm. I was studious. It wasn’t until a friend of mine dared me to go out for a school play that things changed. My plans were to be a marine biologist — and then I got my first laugh and bye-bye biology. It was all about “now this is what I want.”
Getting laughs must be intoxicating.
You’re right. It is intoxicating to be able to get an entire audience to laugh at something you said. It just gave me something that I didn’t realize I needed.
You’ve written, produced and acted. What’s your favorite thing to do?
Acting! I love that I get to work with someone I trust. When I improvise, it’s usually with people I know, good friends. I love that. If you’re doing a movie or television, there are so many fingers in the pie. You have the director, the writers, the producers, and what you do may not end up in the final project. I love that when I‘m onstage and improvising, all the responsibility is on us. If we suck, it’s because we have sucked; we can’t blame anyone else. If it goes well, it’s because we did well.
I do want to ask about “Whose Line” a little bit. You’ve said that you worked with friends. You go way back with Ryan Stiles. How about the other two that were on the show? Wayne Brady was on most of the time, and there was a fourth person that sort of rotated. Was working with them as easy as with Ryan, or did that take more work?
It was pretty easy with Ryan. From day one, we kind of had the same sense of humor. It just fit very well. And with Wayne, Brad and Chip and all those guys, it was fairly easy. They are all excellent improvisors. I think that part of the reason that “Whose Line” did so well was that we really enjoyed each other. We had fun playing off each other.
I know you’re touring with Brad, so this may be hard to answer. But besides him, who was your favorite number four person on the show?
That is tough. Greg Proops is one. I first met Greg when we were doing the British “Whose Line,” so I’ve probably known him the longest, and he’s just one of my favorite people. It was always fun when he was on the show. Chip Esten is a lot of fun. Jeff Davis, too. I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings (laughs).
You didn’t mention Jonathan Mangum. I really like him.
Oh God, I hate him! He’s horrible! (Laughing.) Again, he’s lovely. I think one of the uniting things about the people is that they’re all really nice people, which is unusual in comedy. Some people are not so nice.
So I also have to ask: Drew Carey or Aisha Tyler?
Yes! What I love about Drew is he was a big fan of the show. He just loved watching it and was the biggest laugher. And he was incredibly generous. He would take us on trips every year that would cost him quite a bit of money, but he’d say, “You guys work your asses off.” And Aisha added a new element. When I first heard she was going to do it, I thought “Oh, what are we going to do with her. She’s beautiful, she’s smart, she’s funny.” Then you find out she’s just a big nerd. She would give as good as she’d take. So both had their special skills.
What were some of your favorite games? I really loved when you did sound effects with the audience members and when you were the newscaster in front of the green screen — that was great. How about you?
My favorite was always Greatest Hits. Because, first of all, I got to sit down, which is always good. Then Ryan and I just bantered and handed it over to the two incredible improv singers. I got to be a participant and a viewer and it never failed to tickle me. I loved watching the singers, but there’s also a deep, piercing jealousy, thinking, “Why don’t I have that in my utility belt?” They were not only improvising, coming up with the lyrics, but also just sounding so good, being able to parody the genres that we threw at them.
I’ve seen Hoedown. You’re not a singer, are you?
(Laughing) I’m not. And that’s what makes this show so exciting with Brad. We started doing this thing where our second act includes a tribute [song] to the town that we’re playing in. That makes it exciting that only one of us can actually sing well.
Have you ever been to Frederick?
I think we have. But I think it’s been a while.
What were some of your least favorite games?
Hoedown, right off the top! I also wasn’t a fan of Props, because they would bring us these two big things that immediately reminded you of some kind of genitalia. So you’d try to think of other things. That was always a tough job.
You have said that you weren’t paid fairly for the show. Can you explain?
We basically provided all the content for the show as writers, in a way, but there was no credit given for that because there’s really no classification for improv. I mean, we weren’t getting Ted Danson money, but we were doing OK. But you’d think, “Somebody’s making more money than we are, and we are the reason there’s a show.” Also, there were no residuals. They sort of classified us as a reality or game show or something to get around that. Don’t get me wrong — everything I have, I owe to” Whose Line,” but there are times when you go, eh. I went to the producer’s house in London once and thought, “Well, this is where the money went.”
How did your tour with Bard come about? You’ve been touring with him since 2002?
Yeah, it was during the Drew years. Drew one day said, “Hey, I’m doing a gig Super Bowl weekend in Vegas — why don’t we all go? We’ll do improv instead of me doing standup.” So we said, “Great!” That became sort of a yearly thing. The only downside was that there were 10 of us so we really didn’t get a lot of chances to do stuff. Brad suggested we try a two-man thing where we just go on tour and do improv. We did a test run for 10 days, and it seemed to go well. That was 23 years ago, and we’re still going strong.
What’s next for you? Do you have any projects that you are working on or are going to be working on soon?
I’m doing these two tours, and then my wife and I are going to be starring in a film to be shot in Ontario this summer, and then there are a couple of television things in the works up here.
This interview has been edited for space and clarity.
Gary Bennett is a longtime Frederick resident who spends his time hiking, biking, volunteering and providing childcare for grandchildren. He is married and retired from his career as a nonprofit marketing executive.