Break out the flags and Molson Canadian: Rick Mercer is coming to town.
Some people can make you smile before they even speak. After all these years, Mr. Mercer still has that impish grin and mischievous vibe. His resting face is Pavlov’s bell. When he opens his mouth, you laugh.
The comedian is currently criss-crossing this great land for his Stand-Up for Canada Comedy Tour. It’s a dark time to be cracking wise. America has gone from our BFF to now acting like we are an ex-spouse demanding outrageous alimony. Sensing the Elbows Up mood, Mercer decided to keep doing what he has always done: celebrate Canada.
“Comedy is imperative in dark times,” he says, calling me from Montreal and still coming down from the raucous crowd at L’Olympia, where he performed on Sept. 25. “I can sense as I tour across the country that people are ready for this laugh.”
A warning for anyone expecting Mercer to smack Donald Trump with a two-by-four of Canadian lumber: “This tour is not me dunking on the States, just to be clear, because they’re doing that themselves.”
The Stand-Up for Canada tour — that perfect wordplay came from Mercer’s long-time partner, producer Gerald Lunz — arrives in Toronto for two shows on Friday at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. On Saturday, it’s off to Hamilton for two shows at FirstOntario Concert Hall.
“The lane I chose a long time ago was to celebrate this country,” says Mercer.
Still, for a comedian, it must be maddening to watch the Mad King across the border wage war on TV’s court jesters. Mercer is mostly baffled by Trump.
“I just don’t know where he finds the bandwidth to be president and concern himself with late-night comedy. Or to be president and concern himself with decorating the office to such an extent. Under normal circumstances, these are all-encompassing jobs and people in those positions don’t have time for things like that. The worrisome part is not so much that he’s so focused on late-night television. It’s that if he is focused on late-night television, what is he not focused on?”
I can think of a few things: health care, the economy, unity, honesty, decorum, statesman oratory, facts, Melania, vegetables. When Mercer was on “This Hour Has 22 Minutes” or “Rick Mercer Report,” did he ever feel like Ottawa was turning up the pressure cooker when a joke was deemed too salty?
“No,” he says. “And in fact, there was no back-channel either. I can honestly say never once did anyone from the network ever suggest anything one way or the other. I was never asked to dial anything back. I was never asked to walk anything back. Over the years, I certainly heard from people in Jean Chrétien’s office and Paul Martin’s office and Stephen Harper’s office voicing their displeasure. But there was no interference.”
It’s strange how much has changed since those more innocent days when Mercer shot his “Talking to Americans” segments. He hit the U.S. streets with his mic and deadpan correspondent face. And he encountered civilians for whom Canada was as mysterious as the Prisse Papyrus.
We might as well be a distant planet in the Andromeda Galaxy.
Americans believed every ridiculous statement Mercer offered. Canada is finally getting FM radio. Congratulations! Our national food is beaver balls. Weird! Our only airline uses propeller planes. OK! We just introduced Grade 9. Fantastic! Prime Minister Guy Lafleur has legalized VCRs. Better late than never!
Mercer wasn’t just hoodwinking Average Joes. Lawyers, professors and even Al Gore swallowed his absurdities hook, line and zinger.
“I always felt a little bit guilty about doing ‘Talking to Americans,’” Mercer admits. “The reason why they talked to me was because they were just so gosh darn nice and so accommodating once I said I’m from Canada. That was the ace in the hole. Nine times out of 10, I would approach people with the camera rolling, and they would put up their hand and say, ‘No, I have no interest in talking to you, Mr. Local News Channel.’”
“And I would say, ‘Do you have a minute for a crew from Canada?’ And they’d go, ‘Oh, Canada! Sure.’ And it was politeness and it was all in good fun, of course. And I enjoyed every minute of it because I travelled to all these cities and I got to meet all these Americans.”
What might happen if “Talking to Americans” was revived today? It’s something CBC execs also wonder whenever there is a change in management and someone calls Mercer with the retro pitch. But he’s not interested. Besides, in this political climate, it’s a bad idea. One jab at the Mad King and Mercer could be roughed up by ICE thugs or thrown onto a ghost jet en route a South American gulag.
“I agree, I don’t think it would be possible right now,” he concedes.
But as we collectively make sense of the bully next door, celebrating Canada is definitely possible and even cathartic. On the Stand-Up for Canada tour, Mercer is the opening act. Then he returns to introduce his Canadian comic co-conspirators: Sophie Buddle, Mayce Galoni and Julie Kim.
“Nobody sees the country like people in show business,” he says of his endless travel over decades. “And so it may be cliché, but what I love are the people. I have friends in every part of the country. I’m a booster. I feel as completely at home in Western Canada as I do in Atlantic Canada.”
In an effort to break this kumbaya spell, I ask what he hates about Canada.
“I’m not going to answer that.”
Why not? Give me something.
“What in your research indicated that I would answer that question?”
Research?
I’ve always had a soft spot for Mercer. Maybe it’s because we were both born on October 17. As I once joked when we were having drinks at the Park Hyatt, we share a birthday but not the fame and riches. So what comes next for this Libra after the tour ends in his hometown of St. John’s two days after his birthday?
When Mercer first left television, it was tricky to navigate life without the imposed deadlines. But the freedom proved to be a jolt. He could test his creativity in other realms. While I believe his brain is hard-wired to turn out dazzling and possibly terrifying abstract art, Mercer gravitated toward publishing.
“I like the book business a lot,” he says. “And you know, I’ve written two memoirs, so that’s too many. I’m out of runway there. So I’m not sure what the next book will be. But I enjoy writing books, and I’m going to continue doing that.”
With the possible exception of Jeff Bezos, mortality creeps into our middle-aged thoughts. He doesn’t dwell on it. But Mercer knows he is on the back-nine.
“I don’t know if this is fit for consumption” he says. “But over the last 10 years — and I think this happens to everyone as they approach their mid-40s into their mid-50s — is that some people don’t make it. And so my takeaway is I’m glad that I’m still here and I’m glad that I’m still working.”
The new work comes to Toronto on Friday. But the mission statement has remained the same throughout his career.
“It’s all about celebrating Canada.”
