Flying By the Seat of Your Pants • An Exclusive Interview with Improv Comic COLIN MOCHRIE

by Robert E. Martin

The New Year at Midland Center for the Arts will be kicking off with a bang of sidesplitting laughter on Saturday, January 12^th, as Colin Mochrie and Brad Sherwood, the dynamic duo from TV's "Whose Line is it Anyway?," take the stage in a one-night-only uproarious live show, Colin Mochrie & Brad Sherwood: Asking for Trouble, which will start at 7:30 PM. 

Armed with their lightning-fast wits, Mochrie & Sherwood transform topical suggestions from the audience into an unpredictable evening of non-stop comedy gold. No script? No problem! “Asking For Trouble” is a wild rollercoaster ride of hilarity, where two improv legends fly by the seat of their pants and prove they are still the best in the business.

 Given the difficult and often challenging nature of Improv comedy, Colin Mochrie says his inspiration came from absorbing all kinds of comedy while growing up. “As a kid I watched a lot of TV from the Silver & Golden age of comedy, including everything from Dick Van Dyke, The Andy Griffin Show, Monty Python, plus I loved Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Bob Hope, and found it was something I loved doing,” he explains.

“My plan was to go into marine biology, so I think my vocational choice worked out for the best,” he chuckles. “I was quite studious, fairly shy, and a bit of a bookworm, so a friend dared me to try out for a school play, which I did and actually got the role. That’s when I got my first laugh and everything changed for me. The experience was like what I assume is the feeling like a rush of heroin would be like and I knew it’s what I wanted for the rest of my life.  I switched from the sciences to theatre and started the long slow climb to middle stardom that I enjoy today!” 

Given that the realm of improvisational comedy does not allow a comedian the latitude to test their material in front of an audience and can be akin to jumping out of an airplane without testing the parachute, what strategy does Colin use when approaching it?

“I approach it with blind faith,” he states. “I’m fortunate that during the Who’s Line series I worked with people I trust totally and because of that, know everything is going to work out. It sounds like an odd thing to say, but going on stage with nothing is the most secure I feel in my entire life because I’m working with people I trust who know I’m doing.”

“The only topic we stay away from is politics because it automatically divides the audience in half, and to be a truly good politically satirical comedian you have to write that material and give it some structure.  Given the Improv nature of what we do, our political stuff would pretty much be limited to simply saying, ‘He’s an idiot’, so while we stay off political topics, everything else is fair game apart from things we find distasteful. We also have a wide demographics at our shows ranging from kids to grandparents, so it’s harder to render satirical comedy within that context.”

“The audience dictates what territory we’re going to cover with each show and we have a list of ‘games’ that familiarize us with the layout and set list of the show, If you will; and everything else the audience is supplying us with.  It really is kind of a win-win situation for us, because if the audience gives us topical suggestions about local things we don’t now anything about, usually it’s better for us because everything we say and respond with may be wrong in the real world, but in our world It’s right because we’re on stage and even if our assumptions are wrong about the subject, everything we say is all true.”

Colin says the most challenging component involved with this improvisational marathon is not getting too comfortable. “The show works best for Brad and I when we’re back on our heels,” he reflects. “It’s almost like a game of survival. All the work we do on this show is geared to making it so we’re outside our comfort zone. That extra sense of panic gives us inspiration.  My wife calls the guy who does this show ‘the Other’ because he’s like an alter-ego and not like me at all when I’m off the stage.” 

Currently Colin and Brad perform anywhere from 80 to 100 shows per year, so when asked if any experiences from past shows stand out in in his mind as unforgettable experiences, I’m somewhat surprised when Colin gives the short simple answer of ‘No’.

“Because we’re doing a show that truly is a game of survival,  unless something goes horribly wrong or something incredibly odd happens, you don’t remember it.  In 22 years of doing this show the only thing that stands out in my mind is when one guy dressed up like a horse and was sitting in the front row and managed to upstage us.  Aside from that, nothing comes to mind.”

As for what people can expect when their improvisational road show comes to Midland, Colin says, “It will be like a live version of ‘Who’s Line’ without the dead weight.”   

“We like the audience to work a little harder when it comes to giving us topical suggestions and we try to train the audience on how to do this,” he explains. “The most work we do is coming up with new ways to ask for suggestions and get the audience to think a little bit before giving us suggestions, because we always tend to go with the topic that seems to be the hardest to discuss because that’s where the most fun is located.

 “You aren’t going to get any smarter or learn anything, but we will deliver a few good family friendly PG-13 laughs!

 Colin & Brad: Asking for Trouble will be happening on Saturday, January 12^th at 7:30 PM t Midland Center for the Arts, 1801 W. St. Andrews in Midland. Tickets start at $34.50 and can be purchased by phoning 989.631.8250 or clicking this link.