Colin Mochrie
Encyclopedia
Colin Andrew Mochrie (ˈmɒkri; born November 30, 1957) is a Scottish Canadian
actor and improvisational
comedian
, most famous for his appearances on the British and US versions of television improvisation show Whose Line Is It Anyway?
.
, Scotland
, the oldest of three children. 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 of 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 entitled The Death and Life of Sneaky Fitch where 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, where he was valedictorian, Mochrie attended the Studio 58
theatre school in Vancouver for four years, where he discovered the art of improvisational comedy.
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 improv comedian 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. It has been stated that the two met while members of Second City, though this is untrue according to Mochrie.
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 son, Luke, 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.
improv show Whose Line Is It Anyway?
, but did not make the cut. Mochrie has stated that audition was a good learning experience because while improv is about setting other people up to be funny, auditions should be about giving yourself chance to stand out. He moved to Los Angeles
the following year, and again auditioned for Whose Line, this time making the cut and was 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 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 favorite sketches as "Scenes From a Hat", where he would have to act out scenes written up by audience members, and "Whose Line" where he and Stiles would act out a sketch and have to add in lines written on pieces of paper. He felt that his weak spots were the musical segments and the "Hoedown" sketch, which he said was the only time during the show when he felt total fear. Mochrie, who could not sing, usually spoke
his lines instead of singing them.
His co-stars on the show would frequently mock him for being Canadian and for his receding hairline, though this did not come until later as very early on in the UK version, Mochrie still had a fairly full head of hair. Instead, 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 (e.g. Colin was Samson
, and Ryan was his girlfriend, and Samson had lost all his strength because Ryan had cut off his hair).
According to his agent Jeff Andrews, during the airing of Whose Line 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 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-fueled, 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 U.S. version of Whose Line in 1998, Mochrie starred in Supertown Challenge
as the host of game shows, which the show spoofed.
film Man on the Moon, but his scenes were deleted from the final movie.
Mochrie starred in the Canadian comedy series Blackfly
. 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. Mochrie starred in Getting Along Famously
in 2006. He was a guest star in three episodes of The Drew Carey Show
: "She's Gotta Have It" (1999), "Drew Live" (1999), and "Drew Live II" (2000). 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
.
In 2003, Mochrie, Leslie Nielsen
, Wayne Gretzky
, and Roy Halladay
appeared in print and television advertisement to encourage people to visit Toronto
after the SARS
outbreak that struck the city.
In May 2004, he hosted a tongue-in-cheek 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 (inspired from Whose Line).
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. The gag had Mochrie appear shortly after the character Brent mentioned that Mochrie has a cameo in nearly everything. 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's California Adventure
. 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 son Luke co-starred as Mochrie's character at a younger age. 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 fellow colleagues Brad Sherwood (The Dating Game
and The Big Moment
), Greg Proops
(VS.
, Head Games
and Rendez-View), Wayne Brady
(Don't Forget the Lyrics!
and Let's Make A Deal
), and Drew Carey (Power of 10
and The Price Is Right
).
Since 2002, Mochrie and Sherwood have intermittently toured North America as a two-man stage show called "An Evening with Colin and Brad," playing primarily in small theater venues. A DVD of their performances, "Colin & Brad: Two Man Group" was released on March 8, 2011.
In 2010, he acted in the forthcoming Canadian television sitcom She's the Mayor
, scheduled to debut in 2011.
On July 19, 2010, Mochrie starred as the divorce lawyer working on the case of Spinner and Emma in Degrassi Takes Manhattan
.
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."
In April, 2011, Mochrie began appearing as a regular cast member on Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza
on GSN
.
and his son Luke, who is a regular contributor on the comedic website That Guy with the Glasses
with the show Film Conscience.
, and has won two. He has also won a Gemini Award
and a Writers Guild of Canada
award for This Hour Has 22 Minutes
.
Scottish Canadian
Scottish Canadians are people of Scottish descent or heritage living in Canada. As the third-largest ethnic group in Canada and among the first to settle in Canada, Scottish people have made a large impact on Canadian culture since colonial times...
actor and improvisational
Improvisational theatre
Improvisational theatre takes many forms. It is best known as improv or impro, which is often comedic, and sometimes poignant or dramatic. In this popular, often topical art form improvisational actors/improvisers use improvisational acting techniques to perform spontaneously...
comedian
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
, most famous for his appearances on the British and US versions of television improvisation show Whose Line Is It Anyway?
Whose Line Is It Anyway?
Whose Line Is It Anyway? is a short-form improvisational comedy TV show. Originally a British radio programme, it moved to television in 1988 as a series made for the UK's Channel 4, for a 10 series run...
.
Early life
Colin Mochrie was born in KilmarnockKilmarnock
Kilmarnock is a large burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland, with a population of 44,734. It is the second largest town in Ayrshire. The River Irvine runs through its eastern section, and the Kilmarnock Water passes through it, giving rise to the name 'Bank Street'...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, the oldest of three children. 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 of Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, and five years later moved again to Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
. Mochrie attended Killarney Secondary School
Killarney Secondary School
Killarney Secondary School is a public high school in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The school is named for the area in which it resides. It is the largest public secondary school in the city by area.-History:...
, 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 entitled The Death and Life of Sneaky Fitch where 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, where he was valedictorian, Mochrie attended the Studio 58
Studio 58
Studio 58 is an intensive theatre school located in Vancouver, British Columbia. A part of Langara College's Theatre Arts Program, the school offers professional theatre training for actors and production personnel. It is the only conservatory-style theatre training program in Western Canada...
theatre school in Vancouver for four years, where he discovered the art of improvisational comedy.
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 pullpeople 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 improv comedian Ryan Stiles
Ryan Stiles
Ryan Lee Stiles is an American actor, comedian, director, and voice actor whose work is often associated with improvisational comedy. He is best known for his improv and co-production work on the American and British versions of Whose Line Is It Anyway? and the role of Lewis Kiniski on The Drew...
during this time. He was visiting a mutual friend in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
when Stiles was doing comedy at Punchlines. After the two met, Stiles and Mochrie began working at TheatreSports together. It has been stated that the two met while members of Second City, though this is untrue according to Mochrie.
Following Expo '86, Mochrie ended his tenure with the Vancouver TheatreSports League and moved to Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
. Once there, Mochrie auditioned for The Second City
The Second City
The Second City is a improvisational comedy enterprise which originated in Chicago's Old Town neighborhood.The Second City Theatre opened on December 16, 1959 and has since expanded its presence to several other cities, including Toronto and Los Angeles...
comedy troupe, where Stiles was working. He began performing with the Second City National Touring Company where he met Debra McGrath
Debra McGrath
Debra McGrath is a Canadian actress and comedienne.-Education:Debra McGrath was born in Toronto in 1954. She studied theatre at Ryerson University.-Career:...
, who was the director of the company at the time. The two were married in 1989 and had a son, Luke, 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
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
game; and a five-minute version of a James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
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 4Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
improv show Whose Line Is It Anyway?
Whose Line Is It Anyway?
Whose Line Is It Anyway? is a short-form improvisational comedy TV show. Originally a British radio programme, it moved to television in 1988 as a series made for the UK's Channel 4, for a 10 series run...
, but did not make the cut. Mochrie has stated that audition was a good learning experience because while improv is about setting other people up to be funny, auditions should be about giving yourself chance to stand out. He moved to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
the following year, and again auditioned for Whose Line, this time making the cut and was 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 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
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
version of Whose Line hosted by Drew Carey
Drew Carey
Drew Allison Carey is an American actor, singer, comedian, photographer, sports executive, and game show host. After serving in the U.S. Marine Corps and making a name for himself in stand-up comedy, Carey eventually gained popularity starring on his own sitcom, The Drew Carey Show, and serving as...
on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
. He was brought on alongside Ryan Stiles
Ryan Stiles
Ryan Lee Stiles is an American actor, comedian, director, and voice actor whose work is often associated with improvisational comedy. He is best known for his improv and co-production work on the American and British versions of Whose Line Is It Anyway? and the role of Lewis Kiniski on The Drew...
, 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 favorite sketches as "Scenes From a Hat", where he would have to act out scenes written up by audience members, and "Whose Line" where he and Stiles would act out a sketch and have to add in lines written on pieces of paper. He felt that his weak spots were the musical segments and the "Hoedown" sketch, which he said was the only time during the show when he felt total fear. Mochrie, who could not sing, usually spoke
Spoken word
Spoken word is a form of poetry that often uses alliterated prose or verse and occasionally uses metered verse to express social commentary. Traditionally it is in the first person, is from the poet’s point of view and is themed in current events....
his lines instead of singing them.
His co-stars on the show would frequently mock him for being Canadian and for his receding hairline, though this did not come until later as very early on in the UK version, Mochrie still had a fairly full head of hair. Instead, the bald jokes were done at the expense of the UK host, Clive Anderson
Clive Anderson
Clive Anderson is a British former barrister, best known for being a comedy writer as well as a radio and television presenter in the United Kingdom...
. 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 (e.g. Colin was Samson
Samson
Samson, Shimshon ; Shamshoun or Sampson is the third to last of the Judges of the ancient Israelites mentioned in the Tanakh ....
, and Ryan was his girlfriend, and Samson had lost all his strength because Ryan had cut off his hair).
According to his agent Jeff Andrews, during the airing of Whose Line 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
Nabisco
Nabisco is an American brand of cookies and snacks. Headquartered in East Hanover, New Jersey, the company is a subsidiary of Illinois-based Kraft Foods. Nabisco's plant in Chicago, a production facility at 7300 S...
advertising campaign starred Mochrie as the "Snack Fairy", in which he wears a ballet tutu
Ballet tutu
A tutu is a skirt worn as a costume in a ballet performance, often with attached bodice. It might be single layer, hanging down, or multiple layers starched and jutting out.There are several types of 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 member. In early 1994, he played the role of Mike Brady in a musical version of The Brady Bunch
The Brady Bunch
The Brady Bunch is an American sitcom created by Sherwood Schwartz and starring Robert Reed, Florence Henderson, and Ann B. Davis. The series revolved around a large blended family...
, directed by fellow Second City member Bruce Pirrie. In the production, Mochrie plays the character as caffeine-fueled, 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 U.S. version of Whose Line in 1998, Mochrie starred in Supertown Challenge
Supertown Challenge
Supertown Challenge was a Canadian comedy series, which aired from 1998 to 2000 on The Comedy Network.A spoof of game shows, the show featured contestants competing in a series of challenges for the right to have their hometown declared Canada's "supertown".The show starred Colin Mochrie as host...
as the host of game shows, which the show spoofed.
1999–present
In an interview, it was revealed that in 1999 Mochrie worked on the Miloš FormanMiloš Forman
Jan Tomáš Forman , better known as Miloš Forman , is a Czech-American director, screenwriter, professor, and an emigrant from Czechoslovakia. Two of his films, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Amadeus, are among the most celebrated in the history of film, both gaining him the Academy Award for...
film Man on the Moon, but his scenes were deleted from the final movie.
Blackfly (TV series)
Blackfly is a Canadian sitcom which ran on the Global Television Network for two seasons in 2001 and 2002. Although shot single-camera like most Canadian comedies, this series was shot on film rather than videotape and contains a laugh track rather than making use of the usual live audience because...
. He appeared in This Hour Has 22 Minutes
This Hour Has 22 Minutes
This Hour Has 22 Minutes is a weekly Canadian television comedy that airs on CBC Television. Launched in 1993 during Canada's 35th general election, the show focuses on Canadian politics, combining news parody, sketch comedy and satirical editorials...
on CBC Television
CBC Television
CBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...
from 2001 through 2003, and on the WB Television Network series Drew Carey's Green Screen Show
Drew Carey's Green Screen Show
Drew Carey's Green Screen Show is an improvisational comedy television series that aired in the fall of 2004 on The WB Television Network, and the fall of 2005 on Comedy Central. The show was hosted by Drew Carey, and was somewhat a follow-up to the show he formerly hosted, Whose Line Is It Anyway?...
in 2004. Mochrie starred in Getting Along Famously
Getting Along Famously
Getting Along Famously is a Canadian sitcom which aired on CBC Television in 2006.Set in the early 1960s, Getting Along Famously features Robin Duke, Bob Martin and Patrick McKenna as real-life couple Colin Mochrie and Debra McGrath....
in 2006. He was a guest star in three episodes of The Drew Carey Show
The Drew Carey Show
The Drew Carey Show is an American sitcom that aired on ABC from 1995 to 2004. The show was set in Cleveland, Ohio, and revolved around the retail office and home life of "everyman" Drew Carey, a fictionalized version of the actor....
: "She's Gotta Have It" (1999), "Drew Live" (1999), and "Drew Live II" (2000). He also appeared on Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (TV channel)
Nickelodeon, often simply called Nick and originally named Pinwheel, is an American children's channel owned by MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom International. The channel is primarily aimed at children ages 7–17, with the exception of their weekday morning program block aimed at preschoolers...
's Figure It Out
Figure It Out
Figure It Out is an American children's game show hosted by Summer Sanders that aired on Nickelodeon for four seasons from July 7, 1997 to December 12, 1999....
as a celebrity guest panelist; in one segment of the show, he was slimed. He had a one-liner
One-liner joke
A one-liner is a joke that is delivered in a single line. A good one-liner is said to be pithy.Comedians and actors use this comedic method as part of their act, e.g...
in the "Bad Hare Day" episode of Goosebumps
Goosebumps (TV series)
Goosebumps is a Canadian children's horror anthology television series based on R. L. Stine's Goosebumps books.-Networks:...
, and he made special guest appearances in several episodes of The Red Green Show
The Red Green Show
The Red Green Show is a Canadian television comedy that aired on various channels in Canada, with its ultimate home at CBC Television, and on Public Broadcasting Service stations in the United States, from 1991 until the series finale April 7, 2006 on CBC...
.
In 2003, Mochrie, Leslie Nielsen
Leslie Nielsen
Leslie William Nielsen, OC was a Canadian and naturalized American actor and comedian. Nielsen appeared in more than one hundred films and 1,500 television programs over the span of his career, portraying more than 220 characters...
, Wayne Gretzky
Wayne Gretzky
Wayne Douglas Gretzky, CC is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach. Nicknamed "The Great One", he is generally regarded as the best player in the history of the National Hockey League , and has been called "the greatest hockey player ever" by many sportswriters,...
, and Roy Halladay
Roy Halladay
Harry Leroy "Roy" Halladay III , nicknamed "Doc", is a Major League Baseball starting pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies...
appeared in print and television advertisement to encourage people to visit Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
after the SARS
Severe acute respiratory syndrome
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome is a respiratory disease in humans which is caused by the SARS coronavirus . Between November 2002 and July 2003 an outbreak of SARS in Hong Kong nearly became a pandemic, with 8,422 cases and 916 deaths worldwide according to the WHO...
outbreak that struck the city.
In May 2004, he hosted a tongue-in-cheek guide to surviving animal attacks on Animal Planet
Animal Planet
Animal Planet is an American cable tv specialty channel that launched on October 1, 1996. It is distributed by Discovery Communications. A high-definition simulcast of the channel launched on September 1, 2007.-History:...
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
New York Fries
New York Fries is a Canadian fast food restaurant that mainly serves french fries and hot dogs. They also serve poutine, The Works , Veggie Works , and Pepsi-Cola brand beverages.There are locations in nine of the ten provinces in Canada, as well as...
, manning a steamroller
Steamroller
A steamroller is a form of road roller – a type of heavy construction machinery used for levelling surfaces, such as roads or airfields – that is powered by a steam engine...
. He appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno as the superhero
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
Overly Sensitive Man (inspired from Whose Line).
By 2004 Mochrie was appearing in so many media spots that a new Canadian television series, Corner Gas
Corner Gas
Corner Gas is a Canadian television sitcom created by Brent Butt. The series ran for six seasons from 2004 to 2009. Re-runs still air on CTV and The Comedy Network in Canada; it formerly aired on WGN America in the United States....
, made light of it by having him do a cameo appearance
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
in the tenth episode. The gag had Mochrie appear shortly after the character Brent mentioned that Mochrie has a cameo in nearly everything. 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
The Surreal Gourmet
The Surreal Gourmet is a program on Food Network hosted by Bob Blumer. The show features creative techniques for cooking and the memorable Toastermobile. Generally the foods prepared on The Surreal Gourmet are intended to be served at parties or other get-togethers...
.
Along with Rosie O'Donnell
Rosie O'Donnell
Roseann "Rosie" O'Donnell is an American stand-up comedian, actress, author and television personality. She has also been a magazine editor and continues to be a celebrity blogger, LGBT rights activist, television producer and collaborative partner in the LGBT family vacation company R Family...
, Mochrie hosts a video introduction to a tour of the bakery in the Pacific Wharf area of Disney's California Adventure
Disney's California Adventure
Disney California Adventure, or simply California Adventure, is a theme park in Anaheim, California, adjacent to Disneyland Park and part of the larger Disneyland Resort. It opened on February 8, 2001 as Disney's California Adventure Park. The park is owned and operated by the Walt Disney Parks and...
. In the video, he helps explain how sourdough bread is made. On December 25, 2005, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
premièred the TV movie The Magical Gathering. Mochrie starred in this, and his son Luke co-starred as Mochrie's character at a younger age. In February 2007, he made a guest appearance as a priest in the seventh episode of Little Mosque on the Prairie
Little Mosque on the Prairie
Little Mosque on the Prairie is a Canadian sitcom on CBC, created by Zarqa Nawaz and produced by WestWind Pictures. It is filmed in Toronto, Ontario and Indian Head, Saskatchewan...
, a Canadian television comedy series.
On March 28, 2007, Mochrie and his Whose Line costar Brad Sherwood
Brad Sherwood
Bradley "Brad" Sherwood is an American actor and comedian. He has worked in entertainment as an actor, comedian, singer, writer, and producer.- Early life and career:...
hosted part of the Press Correspondents' Dinner with the President. At that event, Sherwood and Mochrie featured Deputy White House Chief of Staff
White House Chief of Staff
The White House Chief of Staff is the highest ranking member of the Executive Office of the President of the United States and a senior aide to the President.The current White House Chief of Staff is Bill Daley.-History:...
Karl Rove
Karl Rove
Karl Christian Rove was Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff to former President George W. Bush until Rove's resignation on August 31, 2007. He has headed the Office of Political Affairs, the Office of Public Liaison, and the White House Office of Strategic Initiatives...
rapping
Rapping
Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
. 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?
Are You Smarter Than a Canadian 5th Grader?
Are You Smarter Than a Canadian 5th Grader? was a Canadian-English television game show, which began airing on October 25, 2007 on Global. The show, based on the U.S. game show Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, was hosted by Canadian comedian Colin Mochrie. Five episodes were produced, and aired...
. 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 fellow colleagues Brad Sherwood (The Dating Game
The Dating Game
The Dating Game is an ABC television show that first aired on December 20, 1965 and was the first of many shows created and packaged by Chuck Barris from the 1960s through the 1980s...
and The Big Moment
The Big Moment
The Big Moment was an American television game show that aired on ABC in 1999 and was hosted by Whose Line Is It Anyway? alumnus Brad Sherwood. John Cramer served as announcer...
), Greg Proops
Greg Proops
Gregory Everett "Greg" Proops is an American actor, stand-up comedian and television host. He is widely known for his work as an improvisational comedian on the UK and U.S. versions of Whose Line Is It Anyway?...
(VS.
VS. (game show)
VS. was a game show that ran in 1999 on Comedy Central. It was hosted by Greg Proops, with Joe Liss as announcer.The game featured two three-member teams that were complete opposites . Proops would ask both teams questions about general topics as well as topics relating to the subject that divided...
, Head Games
Head Games (game show)
Head Games is a science themed game show, hosted by Greg Proops and produced by Whoopi Goldberg. It airs on the Science Channel. The show relies heavily on science experiments and demonstrations to provide a basis for the trivia questions that the contestants must answer. Goldberg described the...
and Rendez-View), Wayne Brady
Wayne Brady
Wayne Alphonso Brady is an actor, singer, comedian and television personality, known for his work as a regular on the American version of the improvisational comedy television series Whose Line Is It Anyway?, and as the host of the daytime talk show The Wayne Brady Show...
(Don't Forget the Lyrics!
Don't Forget the Lyrics!
Don't Forget the Lyrics! is a game show that originally aired on Fox from July 11, 2007 to June 19, 2009, hosted by Wayne Brady and produced by RDF USA, part of RDF Media. The launch of this show prompted NBC to move up the launch of their similar game show The Singing Bee...
and Let's Make A Deal
Let's Make a Deal
Let's Make a Deal is a television game show which originated in the United States and has since been produced in many countries throughout the world. The show is based around deals offered to members of the audience by the host. The traders usually have to weigh the possibility of an offer being...
), and Drew Carey (Power of 10
Power of 10
Power of 10 is an international Sony Pictures Television game show format featuring contestants predicting how a cross-section of local people from the host broadcaster's country responded to questions covering a wide variety of topics in polls conducted by the broadcaster and production...
and The Price Is Right
The Price Is Right (U.S. game show)
The Price Is Right is an American game show which was created by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman. Contestants compete to identify the pricing of merchandise to win cash and prizes. The show is well-known for its signature line of "Come on down!" when the announcer directs newly selected contestants to...
).
Since 2002, Mochrie and Sherwood have intermittently toured North America as a two-man stage show called "An Evening with Colin and Brad," playing primarily in small theater venues. A DVD of their performances, "Colin & Brad: Two Man Group" was released on March 8, 2011.
In 2010, he acted in the forthcoming Canadian television sitcom She's the Mayor
She's the Mayor
She's the Mayor is a Canadian television sitcom, scheduled to start on Vision TV from October 4, 2011. The show will star Janet-Laine Green as Iris Peters, a woman in her 60s who is newly elected as the mayor of the fictional city of Fairfax....
, scheduled to debut in 2011.
On July 19, 2010, Mochrie starred as the divorce lawyer working on the case of Spinner and Emma in Degrassi Takes Manhattan
Degrassi Takes Manhattan
The Rest of My Life: Degrassi Takes Manhattan is a 2010 Canadian film adaptation of the popular, long-running teenage drama Degrassi, which was known as Degrassi: The Next Generation prior to this film. The movie premiered in Canada on MuchMusic on 16 July 2010, and in the United States on TeenNick...
.
The image of Mochrie's face is used extensively in Animutation
Animutation
Animutation or fanimutation is a form of web-based computer animation, typically created in Adobe Flash and characterized by unpredictable montages of pop-culture images set to music, often in a language foreign to the intended viewers...
, a style of Flash animation. Neil Cicierega
Neil Cicierega
Neil Stephen Cicierega , is an American comedian, filmmaker and musician. He is the creator of a genre of Flash animation known as "Animutation". He has also released several albums as a musician under the stage name "Lemon Demon"....
, 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
Running gag
A running gag, or running joke, is a literary device that takes the form of an amusing joke or a comical reference and appears repeatedly throughout a work of literature or other form of storytelling....
. 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."
In April, 2011, Mochrie began appearing as a regular cast member on Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza
Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza
Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza is an improvisational comedy television program that aired in the United States on the Game Show Network. The program was hosted by Drew Carey from CBS's The Price Is Right and former host of ABC's Whose Line Is It Anyway? and was produced at the Hollywood Theatre at the...
on GSN
Game Show Network
The Game Show Network is an American cable television and direct broadcast satellite channel dedicated to game shows and casino game shows. The channel was launched on December 1, 1994. Its current slogan is "The World Needs More Winners"...
.
Personal life
Mochrie lives in Toronto, Canada with his wife, Debra McGrathDebra McGrath
Debra McGrath is a Canadian actress and comedienne.-Education:Debra McGrath was born in Toronto in 1954. She studied theatre at Ryerson University.-Career:...
and his son Luke, who is a regular contributor on the comedic website That Guy with the Glasses
That Guy with the Glasses
That Guy with the Glasses is a website that mostly showcases satirical reviews of movies and video games. It primarily stars Chicago native Douglas Darien "Doug" Walker as "That Guy with the Glasses". The founder and administrator of the site is Michael Michaud, CEO of the parent company Channel...
with the show Film Conscience.
Awards
Mochrie has been nominated for five Canadian Comedy AwardsCanadian Comedy Awards
The Canadian Comedy Awards, founded by , are an annual awards ceremony celebrating notable English speaking Canadian comedians for achievements in Live, Radio, Film, Television and Internet media over the previous year...
, and has won two. He has also won a Gemini Award
Gemini Award
The Gemini Awards are annual television broadcasting industry awards in Canada.First awarded in 1986, the Geminis celebrate the achievements of TV members of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. Essentially, it presents awards for the best television productions in Canada. Awards are...
and a Writers Guild of Canada
Writers Guild of Canada
The Writers Guild of Canada represents more than 1,800 professional writers working in film, television, radio, and multimedia production in Canada...
award for This Hour Has 22 Minutes
This Hour Has 22 Minutes
This Hour Has 22 Minutes is a weekly Canadian television comedy that airs on CBC Television. Launched in 1993 during Canada's 35th general election, the show focuses on Canadian politics, combining news parody, sketch comedy and satirical editorials...
.