- Byname of:
- Richard Vincent Mercer
- Born:
- October 17, 1969, St. John’s, Newfoundland [now Newfoundland and Labrador], Canada (age 57)
Rick Mercer
-
Who is Rick Mercer?
Rick Mercer, born in St. John’s, Newfoundland, is a celebrated Canadian comedian, satirist, actor, and writer known for his insightful commentary on Canadian politics.
Mercer gained prominence with his one-man shows and his role on CBC's This Hour Has 22 Minutes, where his "Talking to Americans" segment hilariously exposed American ignorance of Canada. He co-created Made in Canada and later launched Rick Mercer's Monday Report, drawing comparisons to Jon Stewart's The Daily Show. Mercer's rants, delivered in a rapid-fire monologue, became a signature element of his show, The Rick Mercer Report, influencing young voters and showcasing Canadian culture. After 15 seasons, he concluded the series in April 2018, leaving behind a legacy of political satire and cultural commentary.
1 Britannica SourceCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
What is Rick Mercer best known for?
Rick Mercer is a Canadian satirist, comedian, actor, and writer celebrated for his insightful lampooning of Canadian politics, establishing him as a national icon.
He co-created This Hour Has 22 Minutes, a sketch-comedy TV show, and his "Talking to Americans" segment humorously exposed U.S. ignorance of Canada. Mercer also co-created Made in Canada, a sitcom about the Canadian film industry.
Additionally, Mercer hosted Rick Mercer's Monday Report, a comedic news program, drawing comparisons to Jon Stewart's The Daily Show. His rants, rapid-fire monologues on various topics, became a signature element, later compiled into best-selling books. On The Rick Mercer Report, his political encounters and promotion of youth voting further solidified his impact.
1 Britannica SourceCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
What popular TV shows has Rick Mercer created or starred in?
Rick Mercer is a Canadian comedian, actor, and writer known for his satirical takes on Canadian politics. He co-created and starred in the sketch-comedy show This Hour Has 22 Minutes on CBC, where he launched the segment "Talking to Americans," which revealed Americans' ignorance of Canada. Mercer and Gerald Lunz also created Made in Canada, a sitcom about the Canadian film industry, with Mercer playing the main character. From 2004 to 2018, Mercer hosted Rick Mercer's Monday Report, later renamed The Rick Mercer Report, a news-focused comedy show.
1 Britannica SourceCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
How does Rick Mercer use comedy in his work?
Rick Mercer is a Canadian comedian and satirist known for his insightful lampooning of Canadian politics. He gained national recognition through his work on the show This Hour Has 22 Minutes, where he created the segment "Talking to Americans," which humorously exposed American ignorance of Canada. Mercer also used online petitions to engage Canadians, such as one compelling a political leader to change his name.
Mercer's Rick Mercer Report featured his trademark rants, rapid-fire monologues on various topics, from politics to bullying, delivered in a graffiti-splattered alley. His comedic approach extended to encounters with politicians, like eating fast food with Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, blending humor with political commentary.
1 Britannica SourceCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
What topics or issues does Rick Mercer often talk about in his writing or TV shows?
Rick Mercer, the Canadian satirist, comedian, actor, and writer, often focuses on Canadian politics in his insightful lampooning, which has made him a national icon. He is also known for his "Talking to Americans" segment, which hilariously revealed U.S. ignorance of Canada. Mercer's comedic news-focused program, Rick Mercer's Monday Report, drew comparisons to The Daily Show. Many of his rants were collected in his best-selling book Streeters. His rants covered topics from the state of the Liberal Party to bullying. The Rick Mercer Report also showed Mercer traveling the country, reveling in all manner of Canadiana. Politics remained his forte.
1 Britannica SourceCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
How has Rick Mercer influenced Canadian culture and media?
Rick Mercer, a Canadian satirist, comedian, actor, and writer, has significantly impacted Canadian culture and media through his comedic lampooning of Canadian politics.
Mercer's contributions to This Hour Has 22 Minutes included "Talking to Americans," which highlighted U.S. ignorance of Canada. He also created Made in Canada, a sitcom about the Canadian film industry. Rick Mercer's Monday Report, later renamed The Rick Mercer Report, drew comparisons to The Daily Show. His rants, delivered without a teleprompter, covered various topics, and his encouragement for young people to vote led to increased participation in the federal election in 2011.
1 Britannica SourceCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Rick Mercer (born October 17, 1969, St. John’s, Newfoundland [now Newfoundland and Labrador], Canada) is a Canadian satirist, comedian, actor, and writer whose insightful lampooning of Canadian politics made him a national icon.
Mercer grew up in an exurb of St. John’s in a middle-class family that loved to discuss politics. While in high school (which he departed one credit short of graduation), he wrote and performed in an award-winning one-act play and cofounded Corey and Wade’s Playhouse, a theatre troupe that performed around St. John’s. In 1990 he won praise for Show Me the Button, I’ll Push It (or, Charles Lynch Must Die), the one-person show he first presented as an angry young man of 21. After touring with it and, later, another one-man show, I’ve Killed Before, I’ll Kill Again, in 1993 Mercer began an eight-season run on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) in This Hour Has 22 Minutes, an inventive sketch-comedy-based television show he created with several fellow Newfoundlanders.
Among Mercer’s memorable contributions to the show was an online petition (signed by about a million Canadians) to compel Canadian Alliance leader Stockwell Day to change his name to Doris. On This Hour, Mercer also introduced the recurring feature “Talking to Americans,” interviews that hilariously revealed U.S. ignorance of Canada—including an ambush of then presidential candidate George W. Bush, who accepted the endorsement of fictitious Canadian Prime Minister Jean Poutine. In 2001 an hour-long version of “Talking to Americans” gained the largest audience (2.7 million viewers) for a comedy special in CBC history.
In 1998 Mercer and his life partner, writer-producer Gerald Lunz, created Made in Canada, a situation comedy about the Canadian film and television industry, with Mercer as its ruthless protagonist. After that show’s five-season run, Mercer and Lunz in 2004 introduced Rick Mercer’s Monday Report, a comedic news-focused program that drew comparisons to American television’s The Daily Show. Like that program’s host, Jon Stewart, Mercer was commended not only as a satirist but as a trustworthy news source. Mercer, however, was quick to define his role as that of an editorial cartoonist, except when performing his rant, the rapid-fire monologue he originated on This Hour. Many of those rants were collected in Mercer’s best-selling book Streeters (1998), and later rants appeared in The Rick Mercer Report: The Book (2007).
In a typical rant on The Rick Mercer Report (renamed when it switched broadcast nights), for roughly two minutes the teleprompter-less Mercer would frenetically prowl a graffiti-splattered alley in Toronto, delivering heartfelt harangues to a backpedaling cameraman on everything from the state of the Liberal Party to bullying. In 2011 his admonishment to young people to vote prompted “vote mobs” of college students celebrating the franchise and resulted in landmark levels of participation by younger voters in the federal election. The Rick Mercer Report also showed Mercer traveling the country, reveling in all manner of Canadiana, from moose tagging to witnessing the Arctic Winter Games. But politics remained his forte. Among his many offbeat encounters with politicians have been several famous interludes with prime ministers, including eating fast food with Jean Chrétien, instructing Paul Martin in window insulation, and being read a bedtime story by Stephen Harper.
In September 2017 Mercer announced that the next season of The Rick Mercer Report would be its last, saying, “I’ve always known that I had the best job in the country.” After 15 seasons and 277 episodes, he brought the series to an end in April 2018. Later that year he published Final Report, which collected previously unpublished rants from the last five years of his show along with some of the best rants from earlier years and included essays on the making of the program.