{"id":1151,"date":"2019-12-12T22:30:17","date_gmt":"2019-12-12T22:30:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vpms1.humber.smartmanagedservers.com\/convergencemag\/?p=1151"},"modified":"2023-04-05T18:18:16","modified_gmt":"2023-04-05T18:18:16","slug":"rick-mercer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/convergencemag\/rick-mercer\/","title":{"rendered":"Rick Mercer: Talking national unity, comedy and political correctness"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Druv Sareen<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

After completing a cross-Canada comedy tour, Rick Mercer has a more nuanced perspective on the issues of comedy and political correctness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mercer says he has a better understanding of both sides of the issues. \u201cI\u2019ve become educated in a certain way. I don\u2019t think that\u2019s a bad thing, I understand how some people find it very frustrating. And I understand that some people take it too far,\u201d says Mercer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s been over a year and half since Rick Mercer delivered his final report. After 15 seasons on air, the graffiti-laden walls of Toronto\u2019s back-alleys have been silent in his absence. However you refer to Mercer, as a comedian, author or political satirist, Canadian media is not the same without him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For those unaware or uninitiated to the legend of Rick Mercer, there are few voices in Canadian politics as iconic as the ranting Newfoundlander. Starting in 2004, Rick Mercer\u2019s Monday Report was a half-hour show that aired every Monday across Canada. On the show, which featured news parody, sketch comedy, rants and travel features among many other segments, Mercer examined all the goings on in Canadian politics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Report, which would later move to Tuesday nights, featured many iconic members of Canadian politics. From Bob Rae jumping in a lake naked to grabbing a burger at Harvey\u2019s with Jean Chretien, Rick Mercer was able to break through the protective shell of politicians and humanize them in front of a national audience. Mercer\u2019s final rant was delivered on April 10, 2018, after 255 episodes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These days, Mercer is enjoying the freedom granted him, post-Mercer Report. He recently finished the Just for Laughs Comedy Night in Canada tour which saw him perform 23 shows in 17 cities over 28 days. Despite his busy schedule, Mercer took time to talk with Convergence about all the issues surrounding Canadian politics. From political correctness, to a divided Canada post-election and the importance of celebrating Canada, Rick Mercer shared some of his insights. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always been a clean act and so I never had those kinds of concerns that other people, I think, or at least it\u2019s not something I worry about,\u201d Mercer says. \u201cThe language is always changing. Attitudes are always changing. There\u2019s nobody in this business who has 30 years under their belt, who can look back at things they performed on stage and thought, \u2018Oh I wouldn\u2019t do that today,\u2019 because attitudes have changed.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere has always been these people who\nsay you shouldn\u2019t say that. But those people\nwere out 30 years ago. Now they just have a\ngreater platform because they can create an\nanonymous Twitter profile and start chirping\nat you all day.\u201d\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mercer thinks it\u2019s important to cultivate\na non-partisan voice to help escape the echo\nchamber.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI always try to remain non-partisan,\nwhich is because the world has become more\nand more and more partisan,\u201d says Mercer.\n\u201cThere are certainly political figures that I just\ndidn\u2019t like, or certain attitudes that I didn\u2019t\nlike, but I was always aware of the fact that\nin order for people to listen, you have to be\nsomewhat non partisan, or you least have to\nappear fair. Because once people determine\nyou\u2019re not fair, they\u2019ll just stop listening and\nthen the only people listening are the people\nwho agree with you and then you\u2019re just in an\necho-chamber.\u201d\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Escaping the echo chamber was important\nfor Mercer when it came to performing the\nrants, a favourite segment for many fans of\nthe Mercer Report.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe rant was never performed in an echo\nchamber. It was performed to a pretty wide\naudience, and the numbers would indicate if\nthe audience was that wide and they would be\nall over the political spectrum. This is what\nsatirists and columnists are facing now more\nthan ever, the idea of an echo chamber,\u201d says\nMercer.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI love Bill Maher, but nobody really knows\nif anyone\u2019s watching Bill Maher who doesn\u2019t\nagree with Bill Maher 90 per cent of the time,\u201d\nhe says. \u201cOnce upon a time, you would get all\nsorts of people tuning in. But of course, times\nhave changed and now everyone can just pick\ntheir comedians and their commentators and\ntheir news in a bespoke way where they\u2019re\nconsuming content that sees the world the\nway they see the world.\u201d\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI consider myself very lucky that I had that platform to do a rant,\u201d says Mercer, \u201cbecause it was wrapped around the travel in the show, which was a very popular part of the show, the adventure part of the show.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Mercer Report\u2019s travel segments highlighted the beauty of Canada and showcased all the different people that made Canada beautiful from coast to coast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Rick Mercer was a popular voice in Canadian politics who was able to break down the barriers surrounding many politicians. Courtesy of Rick Mercer.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n


\u201c[Gerald Lunz] created the show with me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He just said, we\u2019re always going to celebrate, celebrate Canada. That\u2019s what we\u2019re going to do, like the whole show is going to be cel brating,\u201d says Mercer. \u201cThat may sound cliche but it\u2019s something that never comes naturally to anyone in comedy. That\u2019s not where funny comedy comes from.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mercer recalled talking to a writer about\nthe philosophy of the show a year after its in-\nception.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re sitting down, having a cup of coffee, discussing him coming to work on the show. He asked me if there was a philosophy behind the show. Of course, I\u2019ve never asked myself a question like that ever,\u201d he says. \u201cThe answer I came up with was, like, we go to Thunder Bay, it\u2019s because it\u2019s the greatest place on earth. And that\u2019s what we\u2019re going to tell people. And we\u2019re going to believe it. We\u2019re gonna find out why people love being in Thunder Bay and what makes it a great place to be, whether it\u2019s the winter, spring or whatever. And that\u2019s something that we carried with us every single day. And look, because it\u2019s comedy. Lots of comedy, funny comedy comes from a place where you\u2019re tearing something down or you\u2019re making fun of something. We just\nnever did that.\u201d\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mercer attributes this celebratory nature as the reason why he was able to get politicians and regular people alike to open up and share their stories. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI feel like almost everyone who came on the show, whether they were a prime minister, or whether they were an oyster fishermen or a farmer because of the time that I\u2019d been on the air, I felt that there was a level of trust there that people never thought I was going to be out to get them and that they were going to be okay. And so that kind of would weigh heavily on me too because I wanted them to look great,\u201d says Mercer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI wanted everyone to think \u2018Man that oyster fisherman is one cool guy, I\u2019d like to spend time with him.\u2019 And likewise the politicians, I wanted to cut through the BS in the veneer that they created as public personalities and maybe show another side of them. I believe they allowed themselves to relax around me. In Bob Rae\u2019s case to the point that he got naked and jumped in a lake with me,\u201d says Mercer. \u201cSo if I have one superpower, I can talk to people, I can get them to relax to the point where they will get naked and jump in a lake.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mercer says that he\u2019s not comfortable\nsaying that everyone should celebrate every-\nthing at all times, but admits it was what he\nwas comfortable with.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCelebrating does not come naturally to\nany comedian or comedy writer. It\u2019s a tough\none. So I would never say \u2018Oh, everyone\nshould just go out and celebrate, celebrate,\ncelebrate.\u2019 It\u2019s just what I was comfortable with\nand what I wanted to do, especially as I was\ntraveling around the country, and have been\ngiven this opportunity to do that,\u201d he says.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Traveling seems to be something Mercer\nenjoys. The Just for Laughs comedy tour took\nhim across Canada where he could see the\npost-election schism many are pointing to\nfollowing the election. Mercer says that these\nissues are not new to Canada though.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re certainly going through some serious issues on the United Canada front. But these issues have always been there. They\u2019re just bubbling to the surface a bit more these days than normal.\u201d says Mercer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI sat at home just like many people of my generation and older and watched the needle stuck basically at 49 between 49 and 50 per cent. And we watched to see whether Quebec was going to separate from the rest of Canada. So at that moment, I will say that was a historic low in the Canadian unity front.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRight now. Certainly there\u2019s, there\u2019s some serious issues that need to be dealt with. And certainly, it was always in my mind as I was going across the country, because context is everything. I\u2019ve played in Alberta, Calgary, Edmonton. hundreds of times, but in light of the election, I was wondering, would there be\na different reactions or what the vibe would\nbe,\u201d he says.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s certainly not a good time and feelings\nare hurt. People are angry and some people\nare sowing the seeds of discontent for their\nown, you know, their own political gains,\nwhich is always something that people have\ndone in this country.\u201d\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the 2019 federal election in our rear- view mirrors and the American election on the horizon, Mercer says he still receives re- quests to bring back one of his more popu- lar segments, Talking with Americans. In the segments, Mercer would stop Americans and ask them innocuous questions about the true north, strong and free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


\u201cTalking to Americans was such a phenomenal success that I\u2019ve been offered that opportunity every six months since, to bring it back. Someone gets the brilliant idea \u2018 Hey I got a great idea, You do Talking to Americans again!\u2019 And, I just, I stopped doing it.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Rickk Mercer\u2019s rants were a Monday night feature for many people who grew up watching Rick Mercer.\nCourtesy of Rick Mercer.\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe time had come to move on because I\nthought there was a risk that it could just end\nup defining the rest of my career and I wanted\nto do other things,\u201d he says.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mercer thinks that the segment would be\nharder to pull off in the age of YouTube.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think it would work now quite\nfrankly,\u201d he says. \u201cThe context of when it was\ndone. It was pre-YouTube, if you can believe\nit. I used to justify in my mind I\u2019d say \u2018These\npoor people. Well, it doesn\u2019t matter that\nthere\u2019s no chance they\u2019ll ever see this because\nis going to air on the Canadian Broadcasting\nCorporation exactly one time\u2019. Of course then\nit was a special. And then years later people\nstarted putting it on the internet. Now it\u2019s\nalive forever. Every week I talk to numerous\nyoung people who weren\u2019t alive when it was\nmade, you know, and they watch it for what-\never reason. So it lives forever. But I don\u2019t\nthink it would work now. I think people are\nmore wary,\u201d says Mercer.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For many people, like myself, the Mercer Report represented an important part of the news cycle but Mercer says he never saw the show as someone\u2019s primary news source. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI kind of always equated the show with\nan editorial cartoon, in the sense that I felt\nthat most people that liked my show were\nthe type of people that liked being informed\nsomewhat about current events. If you picked\nup a newspaper, and you never ever read any\npart of the newspaper other than the editorial\ncartoon, you really wouldn\u2019t understand what\nthe editorial cartoon was about,\u201d he says. \u201cI\nalways viewed us as an editorial cartoon.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo I think I never believed that we were anyone\u2019s primary source. \u201cCertainly, some- times we did things on the show. And people weren\u2019t aware of something because some- times I was very fortunate. I got to bring attention to something. But by and large, I was reflecting what was going on that week,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo I don\u2019t think we were ever people\u2019s primary source. But I think it was probably one of their favorite sources because if you watch conventional newscast or you\u2019re getting your news from wherever, it\u2019s not entertaining.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not meant to be but we would do it in a way that was entertaining and so therefore, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

it was probably people\u2019s favorite news source,\u201d\nsays Mercer.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While many people view Rick Mercer as\nan iconic legend, he has a hard time putting\nhimself on the Mt. Rushmore of Canadian\nmedia.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf anyone sits around and starts thinking about where they fit in the stratosphere, the atmosphere, I think that\u2019s just a waste of time,\u201d Mercer says, \u201cBecause I\u2019m still working. You know, I am a working guy. I just have never spent any time thinking about that. I mean, that\u2019s very flattering. It\u2019s very flattering to talk to people like yourself who might have grown up watching me because, of course, like anyone.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI really feel like I started 10 minutes ago but I started 30 years ago. So I\u2019m always surprised that I\u2019m talking to someone who says they grew up watching me,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI remember, of course, talking to people that I grew up watching and what that was like. I think if you\u2019re serious, you got other things to do it and sit around and wonder where you fit in the grand scheme of things,\u201d says Mercer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re Canadian and you work in entertainment, or in any creative field, you\u2019re always worried about what you\u2019re going to do next. There\u2019s no time to sit around and think about what you\u2019ve accomplished.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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