Colin Mochrie and Brad Sherwood from the improv show “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” will perform at the Crouse Hinds Theater in the Oncenter on Thursday. The Daily Orange spoke with Mochrie about his experiences as a comedian and his tour with Sherwood.

The Daily Orange: How long have you been a comedian?
Colin Mochrie: A very long time — 34 years now.

The D.O.: Where do you find inspiration for your material?
C.M.: Well, everywhere really — anything from friends’ and family’s stories, to watching television and reading books. That’s the great thing about improv. Everything sort of seeps into your brain, and it’s something you can use at a later date when it sort of comes out.

The D.O.: What is the hardest part of improvising?
C.M.: The hardest part is just being relaxed enough. And being able to trust yourself and your partner enough that you can walk out on stage in front of an audience that paid money with absolutely nothing and just trust that it’s all going to work out. The hardest part is getting to that point where you’re completely relaxed and ready to have fun without your mind getting in your way.

The D.O.: What’s your key to success?
C.M.: When you go out on stage, there is a part of you that wants to survive and make it a good experience for everyone. So there can be that nibble in the back of your mind saying, ‘Oh, just do that thing you did before.’ But both Brad and I have discovered that our show actually works the best when were totally out of our comfort zone.

The D.O.: Do you have any pre-show rituals?
C.M.: No, it’s the best job for lazy people. You just show up, go on stage, do it and leave.

The D.O.: What can we expect from Thursday’s show?
C.M.: The only thing we can expect is the unexpected. The beauty of our show is, ya know, we’re not like rock stars that have to keep doing the same thing over and over again and perform our greatest hits. So every show is more determined by what we get from the audience. And there’s no way to plan for that so were just looking forward to having a lot of fun.

The D.O.: What is it like touring with Brad?
C.M.: He’s a horrible man, but I promised someone I’d help his career. It’s been pretty good. We’ve been touring for 11 years now, and we’ve never had a fight — not even a disagreement — and that’s hard to do. We’ve had some hairy travel times, but it has all worked out. This is still, out of all the stuff going on with my career, this is my favorite thing — being able to go on the road with Brad and just have a great time. So as long as this keeps going on, and as long as my head holds out, I’ll do it forever.

The D.O.: What would people be surprised to know that happens behind the scenes?
C.M.: How incredibly dull it is. Everyone is just kind of nice, there’s no big drama. The only person who is really excitable is our producer. He’s in the booth trying to figure out what’s going on from scene to scene. The goofiest, weirdest stuff happens on stage, behind the scenes we’re just like a bunch of accountants.

The D.O.: What is the most surprising thing that has happened unplanned on the set?
C.M.: When Richard Simmons came on, that was pretty wild. We never know who the guest is going to be. When he showed up, he totally committed to doing a scene that probably got the most laughs we’ve ever gotten on a ‘Whose Line’ scene. That was totally unexpected and a lot of fun.

The D.O.: Whose line is it anyway?
C.M.: It’s actually mine. Ryan likes to think it’s his; Wayne likes to think it’s his. But they’re wrong. It was originally mine.

Published on September 25, 2014 at 12:01 am

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