Recently tagged Rick Mercer
Rick Mercer goes to Niagara Falls ... and digs a really big hole
“It’s not a gazebo,” Rick Mercer says as he heads 450 feet below the surface and takes the control of a boring machine working on one of the biggest infrastructure projects in the country. (Or elsewhere.)
Best line: “Journey to the centre of the Earth, in a yellow school bus.”
Check it out.
Tags: Daily smile, Rick Mercer
Republic of Doyle gets a third season
Jake, Malachy & Rose, Des & Tinny … the hardest-working private investigators in St. John’s will be back on the job in 2012.
Republic of Doyle got the nod today for a third season. This is big news for fans, of course, but it’s also an important story in the local production community, which works flat-out between June and December when the show is shooting around St. John’s multi-coloured backgrounds. (And that’s not counting how hard Allan Hawco and the pre-production and post-production teams work before and after the cameras are rolling.)
Meanwhile, CBC announced that two other shows with a strong local flavour will also be returning next season. Both 22 Minutes and The Rick Mercer Report will be back.
Tags: Republic of Doyle, Rick Mercer
Rick Mercer: The federal Conservatives, and all the days ahead
Freshly posted from the Mercer Report, a quick bit of scorching humour aimed at Ottawa:
Ouch. You can keep up with Rick on Monday nights, of course, and right here.
Tags: Daily smile, Rick Mercer
The debt snuggie
From the funny folks at the Rick Mercer Report, a product with a recessionary appeal.
Tags: Daily smile, Rick Mercer
Oh yeah! Jake Doyle has a date with the red carpet
Nominations for the Gemini Awards were announced today, and there was some good news for Republic of Doyle, the St. John’s-set detective show where the characters are as colourful as the houses.
Here are the relevant nominations, with - where applicable - the episode titles that brought the nominations.
*Best Dramatic Series * Republic of Doyle (Republic Season II Inc., Malachy Season 1, Inc.) Allan Hawco, Rob Blackie, John Vatcher
Best Performance by an Actor in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role Allan Hawco - Republic of Doyle - The Fall of the Republic
Best Performance by an Actress in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role Lynda Boyd - Republic of Doyle - He Sleeps With the Chips
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic Series Rachel Wilson - Republic of Doyle - Return of the Grievous Angel, Blood is Thicker Than Blood
Best Photography in a Dramatic Program or Series Michael Storey - Republic of Doyle - The Fall of the Republic
Here are some details from CBC Arts’ coverage of the nominations:
Allan Hawco, star of the Republic of Doyle as well as creator and producer, said he was delighted to see the show get five nominations and “very proud” to see cast members honoured for their performances.
“I’m not surprised, especially in the case of Rachel [Wilson] and Lynda [Boyd] - they are such great talent,” he said. “They bring such truth and honesty to the work.”
Wilson is nominated for best supporting actress in a drama and Boyd for best lead actress in a drama. Hawco also has a nomination.
“People in St. John’s have been very supportive,” he said. “All I’ve been trying to do is tell stories as best I can and try to make it as entertaining and fun to watch as possible.”*
Some had been hoping that Gordon Pinsent would get a nomination for the rum-running rogue he played earlier this year, but it was not to be.
The Rick Mercer Report, meanwhile, picked up four nominations, including best comedy, best individual performance, best direction and best photography.
A full list of nominations can be seen here.
The Gemini Awards will be presented in Toronto in November.
Tags: Allan Hawco, Republic of Doyle, Rick Mercer
Slap-chop (minority parliament edition)
Last week, when a public opinion poll showed that the federal Conservatives’ lead had pretty much evaporated, the words “minority Parliament” seemed to be looming again.
Which brought to mind this sketch from the Rick Mercer Report:
Tags: Morning funny, Rick Mercer, politics
Rick Mercer lays it all out for Jann Arden
A few weeks ago, Jann Arden - who’s hosting Being Jann, one of CBC Radio’s summer series, brought Rick Mercer into the studio. You knew there was probably going to be more good stuff than they could squeeze into the segment … and there indeed was.
Here it is.
Tags: Rick Mercer
A morning funny: Rick Mercer at the Paralympics
Rick Mercer will be back in the fall with new episodes, but from time to time this summer we’ll bring you some great laughs that have already gone to air.
Tags: Morning funny, Rick Mercer
Rick Mercer rocks LSPU Hall benefit
Rick Mercer has come a long way from the days in the 1980s, when he and a bunch of high school friends put on a low-budget comedy show in downtown St. John’s, all thanks to the LSPU Hall agreeing to take a chance on them. The troupe, Corey and Wade’s Playhouse, is remembered to this day by people who had a chance to see them (Mercer’s colleagues were Ashley Billard, Christine Taylor and Andrew Younghusband).
Don’t think for a second Mercer hasn’t forgotten what the LSPU Hall meant for his career. Last night, he played a full house at the Arts & Culture Centre, which raised at least $50,000 for the Resource Centre for the Arts, the nonprofit that owns the Hall and is just clewing up an extensive renovation.
Rick was as funny as always, a little more profane than we tend to see on the Mercer Report and generous with the anecdotes about different moments in his career. He had stories about why Jean Chretien took him up on a burger date for Harvey’s in Ottawa, getting then-Arkansas governor (and potential future Republican presidential nominee) Mike Huckabee to salute the protection of Canada’s legislative igloo, and - movingly - working with troops abroad in Bosnia and Kabul.
He had a story or two about the Hall, too, and why it matters. When they approached the Hall about an early show, the kids were offered an 80-20 split of the door proceeds.
He was new, Rick told the audience, but knew enough to ask for 50-50.
The punchline? The Hall was offering 80 per cent of the gate.
It was a grand night. Canada AM host Seamus O’Regan set up Rick’s routine, and the Eight-Track Favourites opened the show with a set.
Rick was Ramona Dearing’s guest on Radio Noon’s Crosstalk on Wednesday. Click here to hear the archived version of the show.
Click the video below to see David Cochrane’s interview with Rick last night for Here & Now.
Tags: David Cochrane, LSPU Hall, Radio Noon, Ramona Dearing, Rick Mercer, arts
A guy who made you laugh at Rick Mercer (among others)
Irwin Barker may not have been a household name, but just about everybody in comedy knew him … and admired him. Barker wrote for both This Hour Has 22 Minutes and The Rick Mercer Report, among other outlets.
There’s a bit in the news today that Barker, who died of cancer in June, is being honoured with an award for up-and-coming comedians, as part of the Just For Laughs Festival. It’s a great idea.
To get a sense of Barker’s mind worked, here’s a 2002 performance from Just For Laughs.
