From playing a pirate to his love of punk rock, 5 things we learned about Rick Mercer
In a Q interview, the Canadian comedian shares a few hilarious stories from his new memoir
During the pandemic, Rick Mercer got back in touch with old friends and family to compare notes on some stories from the past. Now, he's collected those memories in a new book, Talking to Canadians: A Memoir, which is out Nov. 2.
The Canadian comedian sat down with Q's Tom Power live in studio to reflect on his incredible life and career. Here are a few things we learned along the way.
WATCH | Rick Mercer's full interview with Tom Power:
A Grade 3 play about pirates determined his destiny
When Mercer was a grade schooler, his class was visited by members of the famous Newfoundland theatre troupe Sheila's Brush, who put on a play for the kids in the school library. It was the first thing Mercer had ever found interesting.
The play's lead, comedian Andy Jones, asked if there were any pirate children in the room who'd like to volunteer.
It was the first time I thought, 'Wow, this is what I want to do for the rest of my life.'- Rick Mercer
"I was like, 'Oh my God. Yes! I'm a pirate, I'm a pirate,'" recalled Mercer. "[I] got dragged up on stage where I got to perform as a pirate and it was the greatest moment of my life. And, you know, backstage was the greatest thing I ever saw. And it was the first time I thought, 'Wow, this is what I want to do for the rest of my life.'"
He met his partner working backstage at one of Cathy Jones's shows
At age 18 or 19, Mercer was hired by his future This Hour Has 22 Minutes and CODCO co-star Cathy Jones to work as a technician on her one-woman show, Wedding in Texas. Gerald Lunz was brought on as the show's producer and stage manager.
"He thought I was the laziest, worst ever," said Mercer. "And two years later, we ended up in a relationship. He came back. I was no longer working backstage. And we started a professional and personal relationship. We've been together for well over 30 years now. And he's produced everything of any consequence that I've ever done, right up through the Mercer Report."
Punk rock music was a guiding light for him in his life and career
In high school, Mercer was given the opportunity to write his own play, which featured a punk band and went on to win a provincial drama festival. A few years later, he played the lead singer of a punk band in William D. MacGillivray's 1989 film The Vacant Lot.
"That was the music we listened to," explained Mercer. "My brother introduced me to the Ramones and the Stiff Little Fingers and that, of course, led me to the friends that I hung out with in high school — in junior high and high school. They were all in the punk music scene and a lot of them were musicians. And yeah, it was really important."
A one-man show put him in the national spotlight
Mercer rose to fame with his one-man show Show Me The Button, I'll Push It (or Charles Lynch Must Die), which put him right in the centre of a national debate. The title was inspired by journalist Charles Lynch, who wrote a column that insulted Newfoundland.
"When I launched the show, Charles took this ball and ran with it," said Mercer. "He said, 'Oh my God, there's this young man doing this show in Ottawa. He's declared a fatwa on my head! I'm the Salman Rushdie of Newfoundland.' And he started writing columns about my show."
The show ended up touring the country and Mercer became a star in the Canadian theatre and comedy communities. "[It] led directly to the creation of This Hour Has 22 Minutes," he said.
The original proposal for 22 Minutes was different from what went to air
Mercer said in the six weeks leading up to the launch of This Hour Has 22 Minutes, he thought the show was "destined for the rocks." In his book, he describes the original proposal for the show as a sort of Canadian Saturday Night Live, but worse and with no money.
"We started with nothing except this proposal — no one really knows who wrote it," he said. "And it was like, there's going to be a country band every week and they're going to sing songs from the headlines. I mean, how awful is that?... It was just a show I wouldn't want to watch."
But when Mercer saw the first episode, he was pleasantly surprised.
"It was the greatest TV show I ever saw — and I was in it," said Mercer. "I mean, you can't imagine what that felt like…. And I thought this show could run forever. It's that good."
Listen to the full interview with Rick Mercer near the top of this page.
Written by Vivian Rashotte. Produced by Matt Murphy.