One of Canada’s funniest well-known men is Colin Mochrie, whom I had the great opportunity to talk to. But if you’ve read the title of this article, you already must’ve figured that out. So why am I opening up by stating that? Because this is Colin Mochrie, a man of both TV and Internet fame. EVERYONE knows him (except for one particular person I’m always affiliated with). From the humble days of live improv being telecast to the absurd Flash animations where still images of celebrities were cheaply animated in Flash to do things they probably wouldn’t even do if someone offered such a role for twice their usual rate. Truth to be told, I never could quite understand those animutations; the animation of mouth movements was unsettling, and I failed to see the funny in the so-called soramimi for any that featured songs in another language. But it may have been a light contribution in developing my interest in music from other countries.
But why am I dwelling on the past of the Olde Timey Internet? My first introduction to Colin was Whose Line Is It Anyway?, which was the TV series I mentioned earlier, and remarkably only one student in my high school drama class was familiar with it. But a few clips fascinated me, and later on, they fascinated my younger brother, and I got to relive the funny moments again in my years at Art Institute when a cute girl sitting next to me in Entrepreneurial Business Practices shared some WLIIA compilations on my Facebook timeline before class, and we laughed out loud the whole way through. Okay, I just broke out a big grin, and she laughed out loud, going pink in the face. But it was a fun moment before the dullness of the course, where even our instructor was bored out of her skull while explaining the lessons. Less than a year later, and I’m attending an Improv show he hosted on Granville Island.
Fast forward to over a decade later where the series Old Enough! from Japan made it to Canada. Children are sent on their very first errands to pick up something (usually some food) for their parents and are rewarded for doing a good job. Meanwhile, an undercover film crew captures every moment as the kids always see something that distracts them. I should know, it’s hard for my guest writers to stay focused when they go places, and the improvised roleplay games we do are seldom linear and always convoluted thanks to their surprise elements. But hey, I can throw some curveballs at ‘em too.
Old Enough! is on its 3rd season as of this week, having just premiered on TVO a few days ago. Before it did, I got an opportunity to chat with Colin Mochrie via Zoom, because if it had been in person I probably would’ve been kneeling in his presence to the point where he’d tell me to rise. It wouldn’t take too long for him to do so. So here’s how our chat went, regarding Old Enough! and other subjects. Expect some humour, because Colin had me smiling widely through a lot of this, which is hard for me to do.
HNMAG: Congratulations on the recurring narration role. What do you enjoy most about it?
Colin Mochrie: That I’m unshowered, unclothed, sitting in a booth having fun. (laughs) It really is such a relaxing job. You just go into this booth, watching the video of these cute little kids doing their stuff and just playing along with it.
HNMAG: And what drew you to taking on the narration role given your background in improv comedy?
Colin Mochrie: They hired me. Whenever somebody wants me, I’m there. It’s not often. I auditioned for it, they sent a script, and I put it on tape, and I got it. Immediately, I started watching some of the Japanese ones to sort of get a feel for it. It’s an incredibly charming show.
I told Colin how I saw some episode segments and loved his involvement in the show, as well as how I was familiar with the original show in Japan (it’s interesting how I discovered it actually) but something else I knew about Colin was this wasn’t his first venture in children’s entertainment, as he was a big part of both my youth and my brother’s. We didn’t watch Whose Line Is It Anyway? in the evenings until my brother hit his teenage years and tuned into some of the revival (and I may have incorporated some elements of the classic show in our playtimes before that), but we did catch his voice in some of our afternoon cartoon viewings.
HNMAG: I understand you’ve done voice acting before in children’s entertainment, especially Seven Little Monsters, where I could hear a lot of enthusiasm in your role as 2, the long-nosed monster. Was this just as fun?
Colin Mochrie: Yeah, also my wife played my mother in that, which was weird. She was also Beetlejuice’s mother; she was in all of [the children’s shows]. I did Seven Little Monsters, also George and Martha. It’s fun, but it’s a different muscle that I got to use, so that’s always fun.
HNMAG: Do you get a lot of chances to flex your improv skills when working in the booth?
Colin Mochrie: I try to keep it down to when they ask me to. My intention is to get the intent of what the writer has written; sometimes they’ll go, “You know what? Maybe we can find something that can go a little stronger here” or “We don’t have anything for this section, can you make up something?” and of course I feel really relaxed doing that, so I’m there. It’s fun, but it’s hard to improvise all by yourself, and also you have to keep a mindful check on things. These are little kids I’m watching; I can’t be slamming them like “Oh NO, look at what THIS dummy just did,” so it’s a different kind of improv too.
HNMAG: How do you approach voicing documentary style?
Colin Mochrie: This one has emotional content, because you’re rooting for the kids and you want them to do well. I think the narration is a little warmer than usual documentaries where you’re giving facts or usually dealing with murderers. Something much nicer (laughs)
HNMAG: Are there any favourite moments of yours you’ve experienced on the show?
Colin Mochrie: They’re all so unique and different in whatever difficulties they come up against or how they improvise their ways out of it. I do enjoy the ones where it’s siblings that have to do it together, because there’s a lot more going on with hierarchy of who’s in charge and hierarchy of who’s being bossed around and watching them sort of navigate that, as well as what to do, is a lot of fun.
HNMAG: Is there always lots of fun happening behind the scenes?
Colin Mochrie: There may be as they’re filming, but my part is I’m in a booth by myself with the directors outside watching and making sure I’m getting words right, names right, keeping within a certain amount of time. There’s one part of every show that is a REAL challenge for me. It’s when they show the map of where they have to go and what to do. Because I’m reading the script and also have to watch the map and make sure what I’m saying kind of syncs up with it. That one usually takes 3 or 4 takes before I get it.
HNMAG: Sounds like a challenge, but still fun?
Colin Mochrie: Oh, absolutely! If it was just all easy, you’d get bored with that. And you set little challenges for yourself; it’s like “I’m going to have it perfect so that when they line up with the little dots, they’re in the right place.
HNMAG: Do you get a chance to meet any crew members or families involved in the show?
Colin Mochrie: No, I’ve never met a kid. It’s all done in Ontario, and I’ve toured through a lot of places; there’s Chatham and Windsor, so I keep expecting to bump into either a parent or one of the kids, but I haven’t yet.
HNMAG: As you’re a parent yourself, do you feel this kind of experience would’ve been nerve-wracking for your family if it were done?
Colin Mochrie: Definitely, it would’ve been nerve-wracking for us. I mean, in most of the shows, both parents are really intimate. One parent is ready for it, and one isn’t. I think in our case, neither one of us would’ve been ready. When our daughter went to school for the first time by herself, my wife was hiding behind bushes and jumping behind mailboxes to make sure she was safe.
HNMAG: Speaking of parenting, how else do you feel these families differentiate?
Colin Mochrie: A lot of parents grew up in different cultures, so maybe they grew up with a more regulated upbringing where it was expected that they would do chores like this, and others haven’t. It’s interesting to see these cultures fitting into these kids in Canada. It’s great; I do believe everyone sort of learns something in these shows. The kids learn what they can do, and I think the parents also learn what the kids can do and give them more responsibility. Sometimes it’s a little too much for them to do, but still they did quite well. There’s also something about when you kind of fail, before you do a lot of learning. There’s always times where failure has become a bad word, but especially in Improv, failure is something we cherish because it helps us learn from that and move on to the next thing. We have a saying in improv where you embrace the bomb, and that way it sort of affects you less in a way like “I destroyed myself there” and more like “Okay, I failed, next one will be good”.
I agreed with Colin on that statement, as I have done a wide array of improv both in YouTube videos and in acting classes, and of course, a little bit on stage as well. It made me think back to the days of taking drama classes in high school, and we were subjected to a few segments of Whose Line Is It Anyway, where, of course, we saw Colin and other people working their clever, witty ways in improv. Now that I think about it, Colin and these other individuals were the ones who gave me inspiration. I should’ve thanked him during the interview. I hope he accepts this written version. Back then, it was just a couple of years after I myself was allowed to go out on errands. Yeah, my mother wouldn’t even let me walk to school myself until after a few practice trips during summer break when I was 9. My brother managed to do just fine on his errands to corner stores, but our mother insisted I accompany him on his first refund for safety reasons. He actually handled it like a professional and didn’t demand to file a complaint like some uptight snob.
HNMAG: What about your own childhood experiences? Did you ever have to do anything like that? Sans camera crew, of course
Colin Mochrie: I grew up in the last century, so things were different. There were times I’d be gone for the whole day during the summer, and my parents had no idea where I was. It was accepted; I was with my friends. I didn’t go on complicated chores as these kids are doing, but definitely going to the corner store to pick up some pop or chips or something. That was also a time where parents would send their kids to the store to get cigarettes for them, and I’m sure booze too. It was kind of a weird, relaxed time; I’d not totally approve of it. But it was a different time, and as the world changed, people got a little more nervous about sending their kids out doing this kind of thing. I mean, the thing about the show is that the kids are so protected by the camera crew around them. Everyone they go to is expecting them, so they know a 3-year-old is going to come in and ask for an ice cream.
HNMAG: And the show originated in Japan, where it’s safer for kids to be out, with the crime rate being a lot lower out there.
Colin Mochrie: Yeah, watching the Japan shows, you see them almost crossing super highways by themselves! But it’s a whole different culture where kids are given more responsibility and taught at an early age what to do.
HNMAG: Now since you are returning to Old Enough, you must be on good terms with everyone. How have relationships evolved through the show run?
Colin Mochrie: Y’know, whenever you have a show that goes well, everyone’s really happy *laughs* and it’s exciting to come back! The show’s been doing well, on the net, on YouTube it’s getting millions of hits. When you have that kind of success, it takes the pressure off in one way. There’s a little pressure off, but then we have to find other ways to sort of top it. Aside from that, everyone is really chill and supportive, which is all you can ask for in these sort of projects.
HNMAG: And I understand you recently underwent some surgery this year. First you had to get a detached retina fixed, then you had knee replacement surgery. Have you managed to recover well enough from both so that there isn’t any persistent pain?
Colin Mochrie: Yeah, the retina. I still have maybe, like… 97% vision. Still a little blurry, takes up to a year or more, they say. It was horrific; there’s some sort of primal fear about working on your eyes. The knee surgery was like a walk in the park! There wasn’t a lot of pain; I wasn’t using a cane or walker in 4 weeks, and within 7 weeks I was doing the Edmonton Fringe Festival. It was so much fun; I’m having the other one done next year.
Colin tries not to be cocky, but he’s looking forward to it going as smoothly as the earlier one from this year. Or should I say going forward with the feeling that it goes smoothly?
HNMAG: So what can we expect from Season 3 of Old Enough?
Colin Mochrie: More of the same, I think we’ve actually had one of our longest chores, a little more complicated, involving bus rides, which is a whole different thing too. Still, that little adventure. They’re doing all this, and they’re going into a land where everyone is towering over them. Truly, it’s like they’re in some weird fantasy world where everyone is giant. It must be terrifying in a way.
HNMAG: Have you noticed any positive reactions from the audience and how they feel?
Colin Mochrie: Yeah, I do get a lot of people coming up and saying how much they enjoy the show and how endearing it is. It’s inspiring, and I think it’s actually helping some people think, “You know what? Maybe we’ve been coddling our kids a little too much. Maybe even just get them to do chores around the house gives them a sense of pride when they’ve done something, and it also helps the parents go, “Oh, alright. That was a little help I needed, so I could do this little job.” When the family works together, it just makes life easier.
HNMAG: So Old Enough! has really improved these past few seasons?
Colin Mochrie: Yeah, it’s going really well, and who knows? Maybe Old Enough Season 10 will probably have robots and AI.
HNMAG: Goodness, I hope AI doesn’t take all the children’s jobs.
Colin Mochrie: (laughs) No, no, we’ll win against AI.
HNMAG: Aside from the challenges these kids are set on, how is it different from other shows featuring children?
Colin Mochrie: It’s very positive; you get to see a little slice of their life. They’re doing the chore, but they’re also doing this while they get distracted by other things. They go, “Look at the tree with the funny branch, so I’ll look at that for a while,” and that also makes you think they’re literally stopping and smelling the roses as they’re doing this. It’s hard to stay in a bad mood once you’ve watched one of these shows. It’s a feel-good show; it shows the kids in a really good light, it shows what they can do when they put their mind to it. It shows they actually grow a little bit during it. Some of them start off nervous and unsure, and by the end they’re proud of a job well done.
HNMAG: It takes place mostly in Toronto, but do you believe there will be more episodes taking place in BC or other provinces?
Colin Mochrie: Yeah, I don’t see why not. I mean, there’s parents and children everywhere. I think every city offers different challenges which will make it interesting for the production crew and the people creating these scenarios. I would hope for all across Canada. As long as I’m hosting all of them, I’m fine with that.
HNMAG: Are there any other projects of your own you will be working on as well?
Colin Mochrie: I’m doing a couple of tours with Brad Sherwood, him and I have been touring for 25 years now. Still growing strong. I just came back from Tennessee. I also do another show called Hyprov with a hypnotist. We’re actually doing a Canadian tour starting in November, mostly the East Coast, and then we’re doing the West Coast next year, like January-February. Vancouver, Victoria, and other places. So yeah, there’s always something going on.
Of course, if the show keeps progressing, I am confident that AI won’t take all the jobs from us, especially simple jobs that the minors can look to tackle. Anyways, this show just goes to show there are those who think about the children as Old Enough! gives them encouragement to gain independence and prove themselves. I’ve gotten a look at what’s to come and I have to say it’s very interesting. Of course, I don’t know if my two young guest contributors would be able to do something like that by themselves. The parents are way too unsure about even leaving them alone with me for a day. (Believe me)
Catch Old Enough! on TVO Sunday nights at 6:30 PM ET (3:30 PM PST), or if you’re more of an online type like I am, it uploads at 11 AM ET (8 AM PST) on the YouTube channels TVOkids and TVO Docs. The first episode is already out, so go watch.