‘Whose Line’ star says he isn’t zany guy you think he is. He’ll be in Tacoma Saturday
Colin Mochrie doesn’t need a script when he gets in front of a TV camera or live audiences. That’s the point of his brand of entertainment: Improv.
The star of one of the longest running shows on TV, “Whose Line Is It Anyway?,” will be bringing one of his improv partners, Brad Sherwood, to Tacoma’s Pantages Theater on Feb. 3 for their touring show, “Asking for Trouble.”
Improv, Mochrie said in a recent phone interview from his home in snowy Toronto, is a muscle that can quickly get flabby if not used. Touring, he said, keeps that muscle in shape.
As a kid, Mochrie was set on a career as a marine biologist. Then, a friend asked him to try out for a school play.
“I got my first laugh,” he recalled of that play. “And that just changed my life.”
A shy and, he said, kind of dorky kid was suddenly powerful. Today, Mochrie, 66 said he’s been incredibly lucky.
“And let’s be honest, it’s the only skill I have,” he said.
Big break
Mochrie’s first appearance on the original “Whose Line” show on British television in 1989 didn’t go well.
“I totally psyched myself out,” he said. “I think I sucked.”
Born in Scotland and growing up in Canada, he thought he would easily connect with the British performers — a key factor for improv partners.
The next year, an American version sprang up in New York for airing on a precursor network to Comedy Central. It was childhood friend and fellow improv performer Ryan Stiles who urged producers to give Mochrie a second chance.
“And they put me with him who I, of course, feel relaxed with and then it just kind of built from there,” he said.
Live show
In Tacoma, audiences should expect a live version of the TV show, “... but without the dead weight of Styles and Brady, of course.”
He is joking ... presumably. Mochrie, Stiles and Wayne Brady are longtime co-stars and friends.
“There’ll be some games that are familiar to ‘Whose Line’ and then games we’ve adapted or invented,” he said. “It’s even more interactive than the TV show.”
Every scene starts with a suggestion from the audience, and audience members often join Mochrie and Sherwood on stage.
“It’s just goofy, wacky fun,” he said. “Anything that can push us outside of our comfort zone we find we have the most fun with.”
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Sherwood, Mochrie said, brings a voluminous vocabulary, singing skills and tremendous improv skills. Sherwood is not Mochrie’s support. They are equal partners, Mochrie said.
“He is not as funny. He doesn’t have my star power. But you know what? He’s trying. And I think the audience can see that,” Mochrie said.
Again, he’s joking. We presume.
Advice for the novice
Audience members shouldn’t be intimidated by getting on stage with some of the best improv players working, Mochrie said.
He advises to go against what your first or normal reaction might be to a line or gesture Listen and accept ideas.
“When people come up on stage, we try to calm them down, tell them exactly what they have to do,” he said. “And immediately when the game starts, they’ve forgotten everything.”
Key, he said, is don’t necessarily try to be funny. Funny comes naturally “... when they’re not trying so hard.”
Trust
The smooth performances that Mochrie creates with Sherwood, Stiles, Brady and others he’s worked with for decades on “Whose LIne” comes from trust, he said. To this day, he doesn’t know where they are taking an improv scene, but he knows they won’t leave him behind.
“That’s part of the reason the show was a success,” Mochrie said. “The audience could see that we enjoyed working with each other. There’s certainly times where we can still surprise each other because you can never totally predict what someone’s going to do, but it always seems to work out.”
Meeting fans
Mochrie doesn’t confine himself to improv. He’s appeared as a serial killer on the long-running Canadian drama “Murdoch’s Mysteries” among other shows.
He said he has a good life with wife and actress Debra McGrath. But like just about anyone, he can have a grumpy day.
“But that has to go away when (fans) come up,” he said. “I know if I went up to someone that I was a fan of and admired and they were nasty to me that would kill me.”
It would be like getting slapped by Mr. Rogers, he said.
Mochrie takes time with his fans, many who grew up watching him on “Whose Line.”
“I learned that from (“Whose Line” and “The Price is Right” host) Drew Carey,” he said.
Years ago, he was having dinner with Carey and every five minutes a fan asked Carey for an autograph or picture. Each time, he graciously agreed.
“And I said, ‘Wow, does that ever get tiring?’ And he goes, ‘These are the people who gave me a career. I can spend a minute just saying hi and thanking them.’”
In social settings, it’s McGrath who is the natural extrovert and story teller, he said.
“I’m not that guy,” he said. “(Acquaintances) are just so disappointed by this kind of normal, shy guy.”
If you go
What: Colin Mochrie & Brad Sherwood: Asking For Trouble
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 3
Where: Pantages Theater, 901 Broadway
Tickets: Starting at $29
Information: 253-346-1721, 1001 S. Yakima Ave., or TacomaArtsLive.org
