Thursday, November 23, 2006
The comedian said he doesn't like being onstage alone.
By JOHN BENSON
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
Colin Mochrie has been blessed with a forgettable face -- the kind of face that sits behind you in algebra class for a year and you could swear you've never seen him before. There's nothing wrong with such a nondescript mug if it weren't for the fact that Mochrie earns his living as an entertainer.
"That's where I love being," said Mochrie, calling from his home in Toronto. "I've always wanted to be the second banana. I never wanted to be a star. I always wanted to be a part of an ensemble because that's where I have the most fun. That's one of the reasons I never went to stand-up."
He added, "I just can't imagine being in front of an audience by myself. I want friends around so if I die, they can go with me."
'Whose Line'
While perhaps his name -- pronounced "mock-ree" -- may not ring a bell, you've probably seen him on the improvisational comedy show "Whose Line is it Anyway?," where he and his friends live and die on a spur-of-the-moment tightrope.
"Whose Line" was originally developed in Britain, where Mochrie, Greg Proops and others slowly grew a Stateside fan base thanks to Comedy Central. In the mid '90s, American producers were interested in creating their own red, white and blue show using, well, better-looking improvisational comedians.
At that point, Drew Carey, who was a huge fan of the show, got involved and insisted the cast be relatively the same. Mochrie said without a doubt this experience furthered his career in North America as one of the leading performers of his genre. As for his improvisational abilities, apparently thinking on your feet is an innate reflex.
"It's almost like a sport except it's for really out of shape people," Mochrie said. "I've always worked with people who inspire me, who sort of make you stay at their level and try to go beyond. But I have no idea why I do so well at it because I can't improvise in real life to save my life. I can't get out of a parking ticket, lie to my wife. It just doesn't work for me."
What does work for him is touring this unique brand of comedy. Currently, he's on the road with "Whose Line" alum Brad Sherwood. This includes a Saturday date at Packard Music Hall in Warren.
Is it planned?
The improv comedy is sure to be at a high level on this evening, which brings up a familiar phenomenon that continues to follow Mochrie wherever he performs.
"Before every show we always ask the audience how many believe that 'Whose Line' was actually improvised and do you think we had things planned?," Mochrie said. "I'd say it's anywhere from like a quarter to half of the audience applauds, which always makes me wonder, why did you come to the show if you think it's all fake? So our job for that show is to show these people we are actually making up everything, and you can see by the total randomness and asperity of the suggestions we get that there is no way you can come up with a formula that will fit everything in there."
Conspiracy theorists beware, Mochrie is targeting you.
"Hopefully, by the end of the night, you'll believe a man can make up things," Mochrie laughed. "I always ask these people if they believe in UFOs, and they'll say yeah. So it's like, you believe a civilization on some planet has the technology to fly across the universe, but two guys can't make up a scene about a chicken. It just makes no sense to me."