Mochrie, Sherwood bring improv antics to Elgin, Waukegan
Colin Mochrie and Brad Sherwood may not be household names, but they're among the top improv comedians working today, and they're instantly recognizable from the hit TV show “Whose Line is it Anyway?”
Both Mochrie and Sherwood were prominently featured on the American version of “Whose Line,” which ran on ABC and ABC Family from 1998 to 2006. They're also both veterans of the original British version.
Capitalizing upon the success of “Whose Line,” Mochrie and Sherwood have developed a live touring show called “An Evening with Colin Mochrie and Brad Sherwood.” It's a rather unimaginative title, but one that won't be challenged for deceptive advertising. The show comes to Elgin's Hemmens Cultural Center Friday, Oct. 14, and to Waukegan's Genesee Theatre Friday, Nov. 11.
“We like to say it's a live version of ‘Whose Line is it Anyway?' but without the tall guy, the black guy or the rich guy,” said Scottish-Canadian comedian Mochrie, respectively referring to his TV co-stars Ryan Stiles, Wayne Brady and Drew Carey during a telephone interview from Toronto.
“Whose Line” featured comedy routines and sketches based upon audience suggestions and improv games. But instead of having a jovial moderator like Carey in the U.S. or Clive Anderson in the U.K., Mochrie and Sherwood rely on the audience to help out with their touring routines.
“It's actually more interactive than ‘Whose Line' was,” Mochrie said. “We have audience members onstage with us for about 80 percent of the show, ranging from sitting in a chair and sort of doing what Drew would do on the show by stopping the action and adding elements to a scene, or by being fully involved with the sound effects or supplying sentences.”
Mochrie admits that having so many audience variables makes each performance somewhat of a gamble, but every show is unique.
“We tend not to pick people who are jumping up and down in their chairs going, ‘Pick me! Pick me!' because we don't want people who are going to use us as their vehicle to get into improv,” Mochrie said. “We want people to help us do the scene.”
To make participating audience members more comfortable, Mochrie and Sherwood like to bring up couples so they're not alone.
“We're very nice to our audience. We try not to belittle them in any way because they're there to help us,” Mochrie said. “We've actually had some scenes that have been ended by audience members when they themselves come up with a funny line, which is just such a bonus for us.”
Whenever Mochrie and Sherwood perform in the Chicago area, the two consciously try to up their game since the town is famous for improv and sketch comedy theaters like The Second City and i.O. (formerly known as Improv Olympic).
The two also have strong connections to Chicago, what with Sherwood being a native and Mochrie's early comedy career with The Second City on tour and in Toronto. Mochrie even met his wife, Debra McGrath, through Second City when she cast him in a touring company in the 1980s.
But Mochrie and Sherwood have performed together so often that they really don't need to rehearse anymore.
“(Sherwood) flies in from L.A., I fly in from Toronto, we have dinner and then we play cards and just do the show,” Mochrie said about their touring routine. “It's pretty simple.”
If you go
If you go
What: “An Evening with Colin Mochrie and Brad Sherwood”
When: 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 14
Where: Hemmens Cultural Center, 45 Symphony Way, Elgin; (847) 931-5900 or hemmens.org.
Tickets: $20 to $65
<B>
</B>Where: Genesee Theatre, 203 N. Genesee St., Waukegan; (847) 263-6300 or geneseetheatre.com.
When: 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 11
Tickets: $32.75-$45.75