Fresh improv blood keeps Mochrie sharp
Colin Mochrie has been doing improv for nearly as long as there’s been improv. The 60-year-old Scottish-Canadian (who was born in Scotland, but raised in Montreal and Vancouver) got his start with the Vancouver TheatreSports League in 1980. That experience eventually led to his being cast in the TV series Whose Line Is it Anyway?, both British and American versions.
As he occasionally does, Mochrie returns to Vancouver to visit his alma mater and take part in a few shows. All four shows feature “the wily vet” (his words) performing with members of the VTSL ensemble, although May 24 (Colin Up Close and Personal) also features a Q&A, not to mention a specially concocted cocktail in his honour (“The Colin,” natch). We talked to Mochrie about improv, comedy heroes, and post-show steak.
Q: You’ve been doing improv for so long now. Is it like breathing at this point?
A: Yeah. I’m very fortunate that I get to work with great people. It’s not like I’m doing all the heavy lifting myself. I’m working with people who’ve been doing it a long time, so
it’s just plain fun.
With standup comedy, someone might be able to phone it in. With improv, that would be next to impossible.
Yeah, especially when you’re working with people you don’t work with all the time. You have to go back to the basics and make sure you’re listening and accepting ideas. It’s fun, but it’s also good for me because it’s a refresher course on what I’m supposed to do.
Do the younger performers you work with remind you of starting out, or are things so different now in the world of improv?
They have that fearlessness that I remember from my youth, of just jumping in. That’s a great reason to work with them, to have that reminder to just go out and do it.
Usually, it works out. If it doesn’t, we can still find a way to have fun with it.
Do you remember the moment you fell in love with the form?
The first time I saw it, I was definitely intrigued. The first time I did
it, that was it. I was totally in love with the art form. It was the best way to have fun on a Friday night.
Back in those early days of Theatre Sports, who were your influences?
Just us, sort of thinking we knew what we were doing. We all had our major comedy influences. The great thing about improvising is that everything becomes part of your arsenal. I was heavily into SCTV, and Monty Python. Any sitcom I grew up with, people like Dick Van Dyke, Sid Caesar, Jack Benny. Anyone who made me laugh I would study and steal from.
When you do these shows in Vancouver, will you be working with the same people each night?
They tend to change it up. I’ve worked with most of them before. There’s always stuff to do when I come to Vancouver. I love it.
Proceeds from the shows go to the Colin Mochrie Scholarship Fund, which helps financially strapped students learn improv. How much did it cost you to learn and do improv?
My only cost was going to the Black Angus (a downtown steak house) after the show. I didn’t drive, so I would get a ride from one of the improvisers. After a couple of years, we actually got paid for the shows. It ended up being my job. There are times I still can’t believe that I’m doing a job that didn’t exist when I grew up.