The Rick Mercer Report: cross-country satire
By Alex Griffith, Staff Writer
Issue date: 11/10/09 Section: Arts and Culture
When Rick Mercer entered the CBC studio, the first thing that caught my attention was how short he actually is. For someone who looms like the CN Tower in Canadian television, Mercer's short stature was initially underwhelming. The surprise faded as Mercer launched his show, demonstrating why he is arguably Canada's most popular comic.
The CBC studio teemed with ushers coordinating the audience into seats. The entire room throbbed with energy as Mercer made his appearance and said a few welcoming words.
The Rick Mercer Report, was a brew of cross-country Canadiana and sharp satire. Among the week's lineup was Tie Domi, Taser-proof undergarments, a swine flu rant, and pumpkin boats. Mercer declared: "It's orange and it's sinking. I feel like Jack Layton."
Most of The Report was filmed beforehand. All the segments were shown to the audience in between shots of Mercer talking from the studio. Between tapings there were pauses filled with the crew's technical tinkering. A group director cued us to clap and shout whenever the program returned from a commercial break.
Between takes, Mercer interacted with the audience, spouting witticisms in his trademark deadpan. "What's good for the country and what's good for me are two entirely different things," he quipped. As Mercer walked among the first row, he asked where people are from, discussed the "balloon boy" phenomenon, and encouraged a staff member to describe a wedding he attended.
After the show, audience members were invited to talk to Mercer. The comedian made an effort to connect with fans both during the taping and after the curtain fell. His political smarts and jovial likability have made him enormously popular - the Canuck equivalent to John Stewart or Stephen Colbert.
There is something distinctly Canadian in the way Mercer crafts his weekly jaunts and jabs. He celebrates our regional quirks, making himself the klutz amid the experts. In a flash he switches to biting satirist, blasting the political spectrum left, right and center. Mercer's attacks flow with the urgency of street rants or poke lighter fun at the latest Tory policy. Sometimes, Mercer lets the ridiculous take over, like sleeping over at 24 Sussex or skinny-dipping with Bob Rae.
Ever since Mercer's first one-man show in 1990, Show Me the Button, I'll Push It, he has been reshaping comedy. Mercer describes his early acts as him "standing in the middle of a stage yelling for an hour." But something clearly clicked with his audience.
Mercer has brought more iconic hilarities than any other Canadian comic in recent history, whether petitioning Stockwell Day to change his first name to Doris or exploring cultural misrepresentation in "Talking to Americans." Mercer's growth as a singular personality on This Hour Has 22 Minutes lead to an inevitable solo career that began in 2004 with the first season of his show, then called Rick Mercer's Monday Report.
The Rick Mercer Report is now in its seventh season (and on a Tuesday), and kicking off the year with 1.3 million viewers, its highest ratings yet. In this week's episode, Mercer does fashion week with Jeanne Beker in Toronto, visits EA Canada headquarters in Burnaby B.C., and continues ranting against the government's treatment of swine flu vaccination. "In times of crisis we get our information from the media and the government, which is ironic because we don't trust either of them."
As I watched this week's show and as I walked out of The Report's studio, it was clear that while Mercer may jet around the country every week, he will not leave our cultural stratosphere anytime soon.
The CBC studio teemed with ushers coordinating the audience into seats. The entire room throbbed with energy as Mercer made his appearance and said a few welcoming words.
The Rick Mercer Report, was a brew of cross-country Canadiana and sharp satire. Among the week's lineup was Tie Domi, Taser-proof undergarments, a swine flu rant, and pumpkin boats. Mercer declared: "It's orange and it's sinking. I feel like Jack Layton."
Most of The Report was filmed beforehand. All the segments were shown to the audience in between shots of Mercer talking from the studio. Between tapings there were pauses filled with the crew's technical tinkering. A group director cued us to clap and shout whenever the program returned from a commercial break.
Between takes, Mercer interacted with the audience, spouting witticisms in his trademark deadpan. "What's good for the country and what's good for me are two entirely different things," he quipped. As Mercer walked among the first row, he asked where people are from, discussed the "balloon boy" phenomenon, and encouraged a staff member to describe a wedding he attended.
After the show, audience members were invited to talk to Mercer. The comedian made an effort to connect with fans both during the taping and after the curtain fell. His political smarts and jovial likability have made him enormously popular - the Canuck equivalent to John Stewart or Stephen Colbert.
There is something distinctly Canadian in the way Mercer crafts his weekly jaunts and jabs. He celebrates our regional quirks, making himself the klutz amid the experts. In a flash he switches to biting satirist, blasting the political spectrum left, right and center. Mercer's attacks flow with the urgency of street rants or poke lighter fun at the latest Tory policy. Sometimes, Mercer lets the ridiculous take over, like sleeping over at 24 Sussex or skinny-dipping with Bob Rae.
Ever since Mercer's first one-man show in 1990, Show Me the Button, I'll Push It, he has been reshaping comedy. Mercer describes his early acts as him "standing in the middle of a stage yelling for an hour." But something clearly clicked with his audience.
Mercer has brought more iconic hilarities than any other Canadian comic in recent history, whether petitioning Stockwell Day to change his first name to Doris or exploring cultural misrepresentation in "Talking to Americans." Mercer's growth as a singular personality on This Hour Has 22 Minutes lead to an inevitable solo career that began in 2004 with the first season of his show, then called Rick Mercer's Monday Report.
The Rick Mercer Report is now in its seventh season (and on a Tuesday), and kicking off the year with 1.3 million viewers, its highest ratings yet. In this week's episode, Mercer does fashion week with Jeanne Beker in Toronto, visits EA Canada headquarters in Burnaby B.C., and continues ranting against the government's treatment of swine flu vaccination. "In times of crisis we get our information from the media and the government, which is ironic because we don't trust either of them."
As I watched this week's show and as I walked out of The Report's studio, it was clear that while Mercer may jet around the country every week, he will not leave our cultural stratosphere anytime soon.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
quality essay
posted 11/28/09 @ 3:03 AM EST
Thanks for a very interesting article!
Art Dissertation
posted 2/05/10 @ 7:26 AM EST
Great stuff. Thanks!
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