Colin Mochrie, of “Who’s Line is it Anway?” is coming to Milwaukee. The improv actor, along with Brad Sherwood, will perform at the Pabst Theater on Thursday, Jan 16th. The show is called Asking for Trouble.
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Mochrie joined WTMJ’s Wis. Morning News on Wednesday.
Vince: He’s one of the great improv comics of our time, and he is coming to Milwaukee. Great to have you with us, Colin.
Colin: Well, thanks for having me.
Vince: Tell us about the show. Is this interactive? Does the audience get to participate?
Colin: Yeah, we say it’s sort of a live version of Whose Line Is that Anyway? But without the dead weight (of Wayne Brady). And I think we know who we’re talking about here. Every scene starts with suggestions from the audience. We have audience members on stage with us for about 60% of the show. It’s even more interactive than the TV show. So it’s just wild, goofy fun for two hours.
Vince: Now, you said bringing audience members up onto stage. Do you have a feel for who’s got game and who might be terrible? Now, sometimes terrible works to your advantage.
Colin: It’s all a crapshoot. We usually try to bring up couples that way. You know, they feel a little safer because they’re with someone they know. If someone is jumping up and down and waving their hands, we tend not to pick them because it feels like it could go the wrong way. So, it really depends. I mean, the beauty is: even if they don’t do well, we can somehow make it work. So it’s a win-win situation.
Erik: Everyone preps for a show differently, I would assume, whether it’s a Broadway musical or a live television broadcast. How do you prep for improvisation?
Colin: I wish I could tell you there was a grueling physical and mental warm up. I just sit and have a coffee. I try to plan it so I can walk on stage with nothing on my mind and just see what happens. I mean, I’ve been doing this for over 40 years now, so I’m at the point where I’m incredibly comfortable walking out on stage in front of an audience who wants to see a show that we don’t actually have.
Erik: That would drive Vince crazy.
Vince: Oh, yeah. I’m a planner. I gotta have it all laid out. If anything in the show changes, I’m looking at Erik here going, “I don’t know if we can change that.” Colin Mochrie is with us live. He, along with Brad Sherwood, are coming to the Pabst Theater. The comedic duo is putting on the show called Asking for Trouble. The aforementioned, or alluded to, Wayne Brady. He was here in Milwaukee awhile back. I emceed a fundraising event that he did. Tell us a little about him. He was really funny. He did a lot of the same stuff in his show. He was bringing people up, interactive, super fun. Everybody loved him.
Colin: Yeah, I write all of his stuff. He never improvised a day in his life. I’m not really even sure why he’s on the show. No, I mean, Wayne is incredibly talented. And, you know what I love about Whose Line is it Anyway? Not only has it given us all careers, but we all get along. It’s a really nice, tight group. We work together whenever we can, so it’s nice to see things finally work out for the kid.
Erik: Is there a difference between doing what you do on television versus doing it in person? I’ve often wondered if maybe, like, there’s a filter that is somehow in place when you’re watching something on TV where the talent doesn’t come out as much. I’ve heard people say that about seeing Second City or seeing Saturday Night Live, where seeing something like that in person sometimes can be funnier than seeing it on tv.
Colin: Yeah, absolutely. With improv on television, people think that we’ve written everything, that everything is planned, and it’s not until they see us live that they go, “oh, okay, so they are making it up.” And there’s a totally different energy when you’re in an audience with people, people yelling out their suggestions. Everyone’s really invested in you doing well because you’re giving them the material. Yeah, it’s a different beast.
Vince: We’re talking with Colin Mochrie. He’s in town Thursday at the Pabst Theater. Do you know Milwaukee? Have you been here before?
Colin: Yeah, I think this is like our 18th time. Brad and I have been touring the show for 23 years, and Milwaukee was always, one of our favorite places.
Vince: So I bring it up because, you know, Erik and I are pretty important people around here. But I was going to ask you: I’m really interested because I’ve dipped my toe in the waters of stand-up before just doing various events and whatnot. And you know what? The difference between stand-up and just being kind of a funny once in awhile is: You have to create your own context. It’s you and a microphone, and you have to tell the whole story from start to finish. Improv is so different in that you’re getting that context. Is one easier than the other, or are they just completely different?
Colin: Oh, well, in my mind stand-up is the hardest of all the comedic forms. I mean, you’re standing in front of an audience who are basically judging you. “Okay, you think you’re funny. Okay, show me funny guy.” With improv, the audience is giving us the ideas, so they have a vested interest in us doing well. So we have about 10 extra minutes where we can suck a little bit.
Erik: Who’s funny right now? Is there anyone in the industry right now that’s hilarious?
Colin: I mean, there’s so many funny stand-ups right now. There are great improvisers everywhere we go. Improv is just doing fine. You know, I get to work in places like Atlanta and New York and L.A and there’s a lot of great improvisers. There’s a lot of great comedic minds out there. It’s such an essential service. People take it for granted in a way, but it’s a lot of hard work, and I just applaud everyone out there who’s trying to make someone laugh.
Vince: Colin, you still get worried at all about being canceled? A lot of comics have talked about the evolution of comedy in the parlance of our times, and folks have gotten perhaps increasingly too sensitive. Do you worry about letting something slip that you have to fix later?
Colin: No. I mean, we’re pretty good. We don’t do anything political. We don’t do anything really from current events. It’s just goofy. And it’s rare that you can get canceled from goofiness. So, we’re pretty good. But you know what? If I do get canceled, I could use the rest.
Vince: So great to catch up with you, Colin. Thank you.
Colin: Oh, thank you so much for having me on. I really appreciate it.
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