Colin Keeps It Fresh

I wish there was more of Colin in the show. The Edmonton improv artists on stage with him were very talented but seemed to take over and it felt like Colin had hardly any chances to join into the improv. I feel like Colin is a name grab and I really wish he could have been at the forefront.

Colin Mochrie, how we love you. How we grow tired of you being forced to only work with troupes who try to take over the show for themselves. There is so much improv at the fringe, it's a shame that Colin doesn't get to play in their sandboxes.

I hadn’t previously seen Colin outside of Whose Line Is It Anyway?, so I was pretty excited about this one. I wasn’t let down by Colin—whenever he was doing improv, he was amazing.

Unfortunately, I saw a performance where he was working with Scratch, and the result was a show where Colin felt a little more in the background while the Scratch guys largely ran the show, dictating the direction and structure and, at times, shutting down Colin’s jokes. I’d love to see Colin again next year with a different group, because he’s a legend.

Colin’s shows are always hilarious and always sell out!

They changed up the format a little bit this year. (I guess that’s why it’s fresh)

I truly appreciated the format of this show. I had a great time, and Colin is still as sharp and hilarious as ever! It’s truly a gift to see him perform and the other performers were fantastic as well! Each night will be different, but if you come in with just a love of improv I think you will have a great time :-)

Seeing Colin Mochrie’s show at the Fringe is now a tradition! He’s 68 years young and still runs circles around other improvisers! You can clearly see his professionalism and pedigree and of course he’s hilarious! In the show I saw he played multiple characters, did accents, and sang songs. What a national treasure!

I was excited about seeing world class Improv performer, Colin Mochrie perform! I was sorely disappointed in this show. The idea of including local improv actors was good - handing the show over and telling them it was their show was not. The group was from Rapid Fire Theatre and Colin was just a prop. He did not have much of a chance to say much, although it was mostly funny the few times he did. The show was dominated by the local group. They had some good skits to begin with but the last few were too long and not as funny as I expected a Colin Mochrie show to be. Largely because it was not his show - I wanted and expected to see Colin. I would not recommend if you want to see Colin perform.

Keeping It Fresh - Sydney Boisvert

There is something special about watching a well-known improviser share the stage with local talent, and Colin Keeps It Fresh does exactly that. This year, Colin Mochrie teams up with different local improv groups throughout the festival, meaning no two performances are quite the same. The performance I attended featured Edmonton’s Gordon’s Big Bald Head, and the collaboration made for an incredibly fun night of improv.

One of my favourite aspects of the show is the concept itself. Seeing an established performer like Mochrie use his platform to perform alongside smaller local groups is a wonderful way to introduce audiences to artists they may not have discovered otherwise. Gordon’s Big Bald Head certainly made the most of that opportunity, keeping the energy high from beginning to end.

The performers were incredibly quick on their feet, particularly when bringing back callbacks to earlier jokes and scenes. These moments felt intentional and rewarding, giving the performance a sense of connection despite being entirely improvised. The improvised songs and musical moments were another highlight. Watching the performers create genuinely clever lyrics and musical bits completely on the spot was both hilarious and impressive.

While I would have loved to see Mochrie involved a little more throughout the performance, Gordon’s Big Bald Head proved they could easily command the stage alongside him.

Colin Keeps It Fresh celebrates what makes improv so exciting: collaboration, spontaneity and performers willing to follow an idea wherever it takes them. With different guests each night, it truly keeps its promise of keeping things fresh.

I saw him playing with Blackground and it was truly so fun. Classic Colin hijinks with a really talented troupe!

The show was dominated by Gordon’s Big Bald Head, and Colin Mochrie felt more like a supporting player than the main attraction. I was disappointed that there was so little opportunity to see Colin do what he does best.

The performance focused on one central idea and was stretched out for the entire hour. Unfortunately, I didn’t find the direction that Gordon' Big Bald Head took the show particularly funny, and as it continued, the show became increasingly long and tedious rather than entertaining. The other performers did not connect with me, and I found much of the humor and performance style difficult to enjoy.

Improv is unpredictable, and not every show will appeal to every audience member. However, when a show is promoted around a performer of Colin Mochrie’s caliber, I expected to see substantially more of him and his particular brand of comedic talent.

If I had wanted to see Gordon’s Big Bald Head, I would have bought a ticket to see their show. I specifically paid to see Colin Mochrie perform and I left feeling that I got very little of what I came to see.