Buffalo Comedy: Improv legend working with hypnotist in Fallsview shows

By Jason Pomietlasz
(Image above: Mochrie, far left, and Mecci, far right, with HYPROVISERS. Photo by Carol Rosegg)

Colin Mochrie and hypnotist Asad Mecci bring their HYPROV international tour to the Fallsview Casino Friday night and Saturday afternoon. HYPROV is a show that fuses hypnosis with improv where twenty audience members voluntarily take the stage to be hypnotized and the most receptive hyprovisers then perform improv with Mochrie. 

Mochrie rose to fame through “Whose Line Is It Anyway” on TV and was nice enough to answer some questions, but he is Canadian so he has no choice but to be nice. Mochrie has won two Canadian Comedy Awards, a Gemini Award and a Writers Guild of Canada award, and he was named Canadian Comedy Person of the Year at the 2013 Canadian Comedy Awards.

Mecci has spent the last 25 years mastering the art and science of hypnosis and using it creatively for the entertainment of audiences around the world. He co-created HYPROV with Mochrie and answered my last question. 

Here is the ticket link for this weekend’s shows.

What was the best advice you received early in your career and what advice would you give to someone starting out in comedy now?

The best advice I got was only go into this career if there is nothing else you love. Do this because you have to do it, not to get rich, not to become famous, but because you need to. For someone starting out now I would say do it as much as you can do it in front of its many audiences as you can. Learn where your strengths and your weaknesses are. Watch people you admire, study them, analyze why they make you laugh or what it is about them that you enjoy. But the most important thing is just do it.

What are three traits you think you should have to be a successful improviser?   

The three traits you need are the ability to listen, the ability to put your ego aside for the sake of the scene and the ability to fully commit to the most idiotic and ridiculous ideas.

What is your favorite improv warmup and do you still do warmups before a show? 

I don’t do warm-ups before a show unless I’m guesting with an improv group. I like warm-ups that are fast and furious and verbal. And where I can sit down.

I know you have been to Buffalo before; do you have strong opinions about wings and the food in general? 

I’m a big fan of food. Buffalo has some great restaurants and, this may get me in trouble, I’m not a big wing guy. I like meat, big chunks of meat.

What was one of the best times you had on stage? 

Pretty much every time I go on stage is the best time. Because every show is different, every show is challenging. Even shows that go down the drain quickly have a certain kind of masochistic fun.

Would you consider Ryan Stiles your “comedy soulmate” and if so how does it feel to have found him? 

When I first met Ryan, he was doing stand-up and I was in the improv community and from the beginning we just hit it off. We find each other very amusing. We do seem to know what the other is thinking or where he is leading to in a scene. I’ve been very fortunate to be able to work with a lot of great people and Ryan has been great in that. He’s also one of my best friends and even though we go years without seeing each other, when we do, it’s like we just saw each other yesterday. He played a big part in my life. He was responsible for me meeting my wife, responsible for getting me on “Whose Line.” So a very important person in my life.

Where did the idea for HYPROV come from?

Asad Mecci:  As a stage hypnotist already performing my own show, I wanted to get even better at my craft. That led me to take courses at The Second City. There, one piece of advice always stood out: “Get out of your head.” Essentially, that meant letting go of the conscious effort to shape comedy and allowing it to flow from a more instinctive, unconscious place. I realized that by moving the conscious mind aside through hypnosis, I could tap directly into that unconscious creativity.  That’s how I came up with the idea for HYPROV: transforming people with no improv experience into natural, raw improvisers by tapping their unconscious mind. In short, HYPROV was born from blending hypnosis and improv, allowing the unconscious mind to take center stage and deliver comedy that is effortlessly captivating and truly one of a kind.