Colin Mochrie: improv master

What is your career vision for the next decade?
I can do improv for as long as people come out to see me. I am also focusing on more TV, more movies and more theatre. Every improv is a brand new challenge of course, but I do like to try things outside my comfort zone. In March I’m doing a play at the Canadian Stage, called Art. The part I play is so different for me – a bit of an art snob, an intellectual who is good at arguing points: all attributes that I don’t really possess.

To what do you attribute your success as a performer?
Blind luck! Really, a big part of this business is good luck. I have this one skill where I have a leg up on others: improv. I think this came from being a shy child who was therefore a voracious reader, and I loved old comedy movies with Jack Benny and Bob Hope who were a quiet influence on me. I think I have an everyman quality, and I am non-threatening. Then a show came along that showcased all of that, Whose Line Is It Anyway?

What are your favourite career highlights?
Whose Line…? was such fun. But more than that it gave me a profile and provided the ability to meet fabulous people and do other things. The other favourite is Getting Along Famously, which I co-created with Deb. It was the first time we had ever produced anything, together, from idea to completion, and how great it was to have that concentrated time together with the bonus of having chemistry on screen.

What are the downsides, if any, to being over 50 in your career?
Not so many, although improv certainly is youth-oriented. Surprisingly so, as there are a lot of people our age who enjoy improv, and it would be great if that were realized and catered to more, instead of targeting a mainly younger audience.

(5 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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