Colin Mochrie


Colin Andrew Mochrie is a Scottish-born Canadian actor, writer, producer and improvisational comedian, best known for his appearances on the British and US versions of the improvisational TV show Whose Line Is It Anyway?
Mochrie honed his comedic talents with Vancouver's TheatreSports League and Toronto's Second City theatre. He has appeared in dozens of television series and films, as well as theatrical shows. With his wife, comedian Debra McGrath, Mochrie co-wrote, co-produced and co-starred in Getting Along Famously and She's the Mayor. He has written for numerous other series and events, and wrote and performed for the White House Correspondents' Association dinner.
Mochrie's work has been recognized with numerous awards, including two Canadian Comedy Awards, a Gemini Award, and a Writers Guild of Canada award. He was named Canadian Comedy Person of the Year at the 2013 Canadian Comedy Awards.

Early life

Colin Mochrie was born in Kilmarnock, Scotland, the oldest of three children. His father was an airline maintenance executive. He was shy as a child, stating that neighbours would have commented that he "watched way too much television." In 1964, his family moved to a French neighbourhood just outside Montreal, Quebec, and five years later moved again to Vancouver, British Columbia. Mochrie attended Killarney Secondary School, where he was a self-proclaimed loner who wanted to become a marine biologist. He was persuaded by a friend to try out for a play titled The Death and Life of Sneaky Fitch in which Mochrie played the role of the undertaker. He was hooked when he got his first laugh, which paved the way for a career in entertainment. After graduating from high school as valedictorian, Mochrie attended the Studio 58 theatre school in Vancouver for four years, where he discovered the art of improvisational comedy.

Career

Improvisational beginnings

Upon graduation from Studio 58, Mochrie found his first line of work as a member of the Vancouver TheatreSports League. He started working with the group in 1980. Fame was slow to start, as Mochrie "literally had to pull people out of McDonald's to come see the shows." Mochrie originally had parts in plays while working for the group, though after a time working for the TheatreSports League became a full-time job for Mochrie. He met fellow improvisor Ryan Stiles during this time. He was visiting a mutual friend in New Zealand when Stiles was doing comedy at Punchlines. After the two met, Stiles and Mochrie began working at TheatreSports together. Though it has been stated that the two met while members of The Second City, the pair were already close friends, according to both Mochrie and Susan Trimbee, the former manager of The Second City Toronto.
Following Expo '86, Mochrie ended his tenure with the Vancouver TheatreSports League and moved to Toronto. Once there, Mochrie auditioned for The Second City comedy troupe, where Stiles was working. He began performing with the Second City National Touring Company where he met Debra McGrath, who was the director of the company at the time. The two were married in 1989 and had a child, Kinley, in 1990.
Mochrie worked for The Second City for three years, co-writing and starring in three productions and directing three seasons of their national touring company. As a member of the touring company, he performed in many skits, including one where he and two others are at a bar, and they help him to rewrite an anecdote from his youth involving his father taking him to a baseball game; and a five-minute version of a James Bond movie, complete with Mochrie in a downhill ski chase and parachuting off a cliff.

1988–1998

Upon finishing his stint with Second City in 1988, Mochrie's career was quiet for a while as he spent some time with his new wife and child. In 1989, he auditioned for the new British Channel 4 improv show Whose Line Is It Anyway?, but did not make the cut. Mochrie has stated that the audition was a good learning experience because while improv is about setting other people up to be funny, auditions should be about giving yourself the chance to stand out. He moved to Los Angeles the following year, but again auditioned for the British Whose Line, this time making the cut and being asked to fly to London. He appeared on one episode and was again let go. The third time he auditioned, he earned a regular spot on the show. He spent seven years as a regular on the UK version of Whose Line Is It Anyway? and remained a cast member until the show's end in 1998.
After the British version of the show ended its run, Mochrie joined the American version of Whose Line? hosted by Drew Carey on ABC. He was brought on alongside Ryan Stiles, who was also a regular member of the UK cast. Mochrie appeared on every episode from its debut in August 1998 to its finale in 2006. He noted his favourite games as "Scenes From a Hat", where he would have to act out scenes based on suggestions by audience members, and "Whose Line" where he and Stiles would act out a scene and have to add in lines written on pieces of paper. He felt that his weak spots were the musical segments and the "Hoedown" game, which he said was the only time during the show when he felt total fear. Mochrie, who cannot sing, usually spoke his lines instead of singing them.
Mochrie's co-stars on the show would frequently mock him for being Canadian, and for his receding hairline. Very early on in the UK version however, Mochrie still had a fairly full head of hair, and the bald jokes were done at the expense of the UK host, Clive Anderson. In the American version, he would often perform the female role in certain frequently-performed skits, such as "Whose Line" and "Two Line Vocabulary". In the few times he played the man in the scene, the producers were making further fun of his baldness.
According to Mochrie's agent, Jeff Andrews, during the show's run Mochrie was better known in Canada as a "commercial king", performing as characters such the Detergent Crusader for Sunlight detergent. In March 2005, a Nabisco advertising campaign starred Mochrie as the "Snack Fairy", in which he wears a ballet tutu over ordinary slacks and a shirt. At the end of each commercial, he declares "Snack happy!" and waves his scepter while sporting a smile.
Mochrie remained active elsewhere during his tenure as a Whose Line cast member. In early 1994, he played the role of Mike Brady in a musical version of The Brady Bunch, directed by fellow Second City member Bruce Pirrie. In the production, Mochrie plays the character as caffeine-fuelled, jittery, and neurotic, an exaggeration of the Mike Brady television character, who often had a coffee in his hand on the show. Shortly before his move to the US version of Whose Line in 1998, Mochrie starred in Supertown Challenge as the host of game shows, which the show spoofed. He also appeared in several episodes of the Canadian improvisational comedy series Improv Heaven and Hell.

1999–2009

In an interview, it was revealed that in 1999 Mochrie worked on the Miloš Forman film Man on the Moon, but his scenes were deleted from the final movie. Mochrie was a guest star in three episodes of The Drew Carey Show: "She's Gotta Have It", "Drew Live", and "Drew Live II". He also appeared on Nickelodeon's Figure It Out as a celebrity guest panelist; in one segment of the show, he was slimed. He had a one-liner in the "Bad Hare Day" episode of Goosebumps, and he made special guest appearances in several episodes of The Red Green Show.
From 2001 through 2002, Mochrie co-starred in the Canadian comedy series Blackfly for the series' two seasons. He appeared in This Hour Has 22 Minutes on CBC Television from 2001 through 2003, and on the WB Television Network series Drew Carey's Green Screen Show in 2004.
In 2003, Mochrie, Leslie Nielsen, Wayne Gretzky, and Roy Halladay appeared in print and television advertisements to encourage people to visit Toronto after the SARS outbreak that struck the city.
In May 2004, he hosted a guide to surviving animal attacks on Animal Planet known as Wild Survival Guide. He has done a commercial supporting Habitat For Humanity. He appeared briefly in a commercial for Buckley's Cough Syrup, and he was featured in a commercial for New York Fries, manning a steamroller. He appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno as the superhero Overly Sensitive Man.
By 2004, Mochrie was appearing in so many media spots that a new Canadian television series, Corner Gas, made light of it by having him do a cameo appearance in the tenth episode. In 2005, Mochrie appeared in "Burnt Toast", a series of eight comedic mini-operas, each depicting a different stage of a romantic relationship in a contemporary setting, produced by Canada's Rhombus Media. He also appeared in an episode of The Surreal Gourmet. Along with Rosie O'Donnell, Mochrie hosts a video introduction to a tour of the bakery in the Pacific Wharf area of Disney California Adventure Park. In the video, he helps explain how sourdough bread is made. On December 25, 2005, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation premièred the TV movie The Magical Gathering. Mochrie starred in this, and his daughter Kinley co-starred as Mochrie's character at a younger age.
Mochrie starred in Getting Along Famously in 2006. In February 2007, he made a guest appearance as a priest in the seventh episode of Little Mosque on the Prairie, a Canadian television comedy series.
On March 28, 2007, Mochrie and his Whose Line costar Brad Sherwood hosted part of the Press Correspondents' Dinner with the President. At that event, Sherwood and Mochrie featured Deputy White House Chief of Staff Karl Rove rapping. Rove's only line was "MC Rove". On August 29, 2007, it was announced that Mochrie would host the Canadian version of the game show Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?. The first of five episodes aired on October 25, 2007. As a result, Mochrie became the fifth member of the American Whose Line? cast to become a game show host, after colleagues Brad Sherwood, Greg Proops, Wayne Brady, and Drew Carey.
The image of Mochrie's face is used extensively in Animutation, a style of Flash animation. Neil Cicierega, the father of Animutation, would place Mochrie in almost every Animutation he made, making the inclusion of him in Animutation somewhat of a running gag. Mochrie is aware of his status among Animutation artists and fans, having been quoted, "It was very odd when I first saw the animutations. Obviously, the animators are more than a little crazy, but I am very proud of my standing in the animutation arena and hope that some day I can make millions off of it."

2010–present

In 2010, he acted in the Canadian television sitcom She's the Mayor, which debuted in 2011. On July 19, 2010, Mochrie starred as the divorce lawyer working on the case of Spinner and Emma in Degrassi Takes Manhattan.
In 2011, Mochrie appeared as a regular cast member on Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza on GSN. In 2012, Mochrie starred in the ABC improv comedy series Trust Us with Your Life.
Mochrie returned for the CW network's revival of Whose Line Is It Anyway? in the summer of 2013. He had a recurring role in the short-lived television comedy series Working the Engels.
In 2017 Mochrie made a cameo appearance complete with his trademark dry humour, as Ralph Fellows a hotel detective in an episode of the Canadian detective TV series Murdoch Mysteries.

Ongoing two-man show with Brad Sherwood

Mochrie and Whose Line co-star Brad Sherwood have intermittently toured North America as a two-man stage show since 2002. Initially called "An Evening with Colin and Brad", they played primarily in small theatre venues. A DVD of their performances, "Colin & Brad: Two Man Group" was released on March 8, 2011.
As of 2018, Mochrie and Sherwood have continued their performances, currently billed as the "Scared Scriptless Tour", and playing in larger venues such as the Sydney Opera House, and Royal Albert Hall in London.

Personal life

Mochrie lives with his wife, Canadian actress Debra McGrath, in Toronto. The two have been married since January 8, 1989 and together, they have a daughter, Kinley Mochrie. In 2017, with her permission, Mochrie revealed on Twitter that Kinley is transgender.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

Mochrie has been nominated for five Canadian Comedy Awards and has won two. He has also won a Gemini Award and a Writers Guild of Canada award for This Hour Has 22 Minutes. In 2013, Mochrie was awarded Canadian Comedy Person of the Year at the Canadian Comedy Awards.
YearNominated workAwardCategoryResult
2000Colin Mochrie – Whose Line Is It Anyway?Canadian Comedy AwardsBest Male Improviser
2001Colin Mochrie – Whose Line Is It Anyway?Canadian Comedy AwardsBest Male Performance – Television
2002Colin Mochrie – Jane White Is Sick & TwistedB-Movie AwardBest B-Movie Hollywood Appearance or Cameo
2002This Hour Has 22 MinutesWGC Screenwriting AwardsBest Script for TV Comedy or Variety
2003This Hour Has 22 Minutes – "New Years Even Special" with Greg Thomey, Mary Walsh, Cathy Jones, Mark Critch, Mark Farrell, Paul Mather, Peter McBain, and Kevin WhiteCanadian Comedy AwardsBest TV Writing in a Special or Episode
2003This Hour Has 22 Minutes with Greg Thomey, Mary Walsh, Cathy Jones, Mark Critch, Mark Farrell, Paul Mather, Peter McBain, Luciano Casimiri, Kevin WhiteCanadian Comedy AwardsBest TV Writing in a Special or Episode
2003This Hour Has 22 MinutesGemini AwardsBest Ensemble Performance in a Comedy Program or Series
2004Colin Mochrie – ExpectingCanadian Comedy AwardsBest Male Performance – Film
2004Colin Mochrie – Expecting with Karl Pruner, Barbara Radecki, Cindy StoneCanadian Comedy AwardsBest Writing – Film
2005Getting Along FamouslyCanadian Comedy AwardsBest Writing for a Special or Episode
2005Getting Along FamouslyGemini AwardsBest Writing in a Comedy or Variety Program or Series
2008History Bites for episode Celine DionGemini AwardsBest Writing in a Comedy or Variety Program or Series
2010Colin MochrieACTRA Toronto AwardsAward of Excellence
2010Colin MochrieCanadian Comedy AwardsCanadian Comedy Person of the Year
2012Colin MochrieCanadian Comedy AwardsPhil Hartman Award
2012Colin MochrieCanadian Comedy AwardsDave Broadfoot Award
2013Colin MochrieCanadian Comedy AwardsCanadian Comedy Person of the Year
2015Colin MochrieACTRA Toronto AwardsOutstanding Performance – Male
2016Colin Mochrie & Wayne JonesCanadian Comedy AwardsBest Live Production

Interviews

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