His monologues (called rants) about the ills and oddities of the world leave viewers breathless, trying to follow his every move (as the camera operator does) and trying to keep from laughing out loud. Neither has been easy over 15 years of the Rick Mercer Report.
The Newfoundland-born comedian and social commentator will be bringing his act to
TiFT Artistic Producer Arkady Spivak proudly told BarrieToday this week that snagging Mercer involved a lot of effort and time. “Sometimes it takes years of persuasion and eventually targets run out of reasons to decline.”
Mercer will perform stand up comedy, what Spivak calls “a humourous lecture. (But) really, it’s not a rant.”
Mercer initially made his name as one of the panelists presenting the “news” on the satirical program This Hour Has 22 Minutes, before developing his man-on-the-street formula and taking it across the border for the short-lived Talking to Americans. Viewers still recall his making a reference to then presidential candidate George W. Bush about Canadian Prime Minister “Jean Poutine”, with Bush not stopping to correct Mercer, but going on to try and answer his question.
On a later episode, Mercer queried former Vice-President Al Gore about coming to “
Talking to Americans netted Mercer a nomination for a Gemini Award, which he declined in the wake of 9-11.
“I think that underneath all the ranting and sarcasm, Rick is a very, human, kind man. It’s well-hidden sometimes, but at the end of the day, he’s really a Teddy Bear.”
And it appears Georgian’s stage is the only one that could hold him.
“We needed something intimate, but also something that can hold almost 700 people.”
And those seeking tickets to the May event had better get a move on. “We are expecting a sellout in a couple of weeks.”
