Colin Mochrie talks about the difference between the British and American "Whose Line" 

I remember looking forward to watching Whose Line on Channel 4 so much, like that was the total highlight of the evening. This was back when there weren't that many channels on TV and you didn't necessarily know if or when the show would return for another series, so opening the TV listings and seeing it there at around 9 on Channel 4 was an air punch moment.

why, are the flies speeding up?

Fuck, has it been that long?

I was -6 lmaoooo

Already 30 years since this got off the ground??? 😲

That's an Arthurian Legend.

In American version , it is funny.

Yeah that was before he signed the contract wich says he has to keep shaving his head 🤣

Colin was still bald but the host had less hair and no neck so the jokes tended to go in that direction. Also British audiences don't make a lot of noise so you can really draw out the scene and build up to a joke. American audiences laugh much more easily so you tend to get a lot of fairly quick lowest common denominator gags. Also there's the American tendency to talk down to the audience which I'm sure comes from some network executive (with apologies to my sister) so you get a lot more explaining of the format like the fact that the points don't matter.

wheyyyyyyy

*thizimiclyansunsengnIGHTGOODNIGHT

"Mykola Pawlak"

ikr lol

It happens in most other parts of television where live audiences are there too. The ones in the U.S. perhaps have the host or audience organisers focus the people into laughing more/harder, or clapping louder & longer or often times it's just filled with screaming & flappy/floppy bouncing. In the U.K. I absolutely agree that audiences in a sense take on the 'strict laughing rules' so that the performers/panel members, etc. are able to manoeuvre a bit more as they can then have guidelines moreso than rules.

It’s not that we laugh less, we’re having a great time but we don’t want to miss anything, which is why we might be seen as more uptight.

@@SecondValveSteam oh is that what it is?

@@flatterswhite Same goes for the scandinavian countries to.

also the American version is slightly dumbed-down, you have to be a bit more worldly than most Americans to get the British version

One of my favourite episodes!

This is the one scene that came to mind but I'm the opposite to you in I really didn't like it.

Slattery had a decent sin-off called S&M with Mike McShane.

“You shut your face”

The US version did indeed seem less random, and definitely slower.

@RockMeAmadeus that'd be his daughter, actually. why do you feel the need to misgender her?

@RockMeAmadeus how did you manage to fit so much hatred and misunderstanding into one short sentence? it's honestly impressive

Reagan Douglas why do you feel the need to be condescending

@@ericfloortje because there's no need to be bigoted, and they were being bigoted

@@itsvuffu I didn't see any bigotry. Just an honest recommendation. Well, at least before you initially replied. I think ya need to review what bigotry means. Just because someone didn't get the pronouns right doesn't make them bigoted; more often than not, it's ignorance or a slip of the tongue. Pls be more mindful before you throw out your buzzwords or accuse anyone in general. It's nice to defend someone's sexuality, but only when it is necessary, called for, and fits in the context. Tho in this case, I'd say they responded with too much venom than was necessary towards your condescending reply. Like, *calm tf down, human* levels. Then again, the toxic SJW culture ruins a lot of things for everyone (both for Americans and we from the rest of the world), so I'd understand the flatout scorn to some degree. Ironically, the definition of bigotry could be applied to most SJW twitter people nowadays. Why must they make something that should be about love and acceptance so intimidating to embrace genuinely? I honestly don't even see the point in replying to you as you'll just try to argue with indignance and some faux sense of self-righteousness or an ad hominem attack. Maybe it's cuz it's midnight and I'm feeling neutral but thoughtful. In the future, I hope the SJW toxicity finally dies down along with the patriarchal BS and we can all just experience *actual* equity. Not the passive aggressive or straight aggression we have even in a comment section for a beloved comedy show.

😆

By far. He’s at least a level or two above any of the other Whose Line cast, British or American version.

Colin is hilarious but that's completely false.

moch of the rie

Lol

That would be so awesome!.

Same! That’s one of my favorite British panel shows. I’d love to see him on Taskmaster too or Would I Lie to You

It's alright man, if it's any comfort you look pretty stupid too

@@HartyBiker Thanks man. Nice name, btw.

In the US, the comedian tells the joke. In the UK, the comedian is the joke.

@@nathanberrigan9839 I am become joke, destroyer of worlds

Thank you guys this helps separate and clarify the (to me very similar) two different ways. Good jokes by all btw 🤜🤛

Agreed. It took a while for it to find it's feet and get the right mix of guests. Also, I hated John Sessions who was a regular at the beginning; he was so up himself and determined to show off is educated background, and he wasn't even funny, his characters all sounded the same. The snappy improv and physical comedy of the Americans definitely helped, as well as some anarchic British elements like Paul Merton.

Yeah, I remember on the first and second series of the show you'd have Sandi Toksvig and John Sessions on it a lot of the time and they'd be doing improvs in the styles of authors and things, and I think that went over much of the audiences' head, or at least over mine.

I agree, especially after rewatching some seasons of the UK version recently. And not to be too pedantic, but Colin is actually Canadian (they make fun of him for it a lot on the UK version), and Ryan is dual (born to Canadian parents as well).

"I'm going to ask Roger and John to improvise a scene in which a man visits the dentist, in the style of a Sheridan restoration comedy" "Aha methinks forsooth perchance, that ye hath cometh verily for a checkup"

Just for the record, Colin is Canadian, not American. (And even Ryan's semi-Canadian.)

That was the first name that came to mind, but then I'm not sure if they would have done any episodes together as most of Paul Merton's appearances came quite early on in the shows run, whereas Colin didn't come in until later. Some of Caroline Quentin's stuff was, quite appropriately, along the same lines and she was on the show a bit longer.

@@chrisninety1 yeah I seem to remember Paul 'behaving' a bit more on his later appearances too

John Sessions was the king though- often creating a scene on his own and taking it wherever he wanted.

There are probably purists in every aspect of human existence. Bombay mix purists, bicycle valve cap purists, tape measure numbering font purists...but yeah, I'm with you. It would be nice to think it was just about laughing at funny stuff and nothing more.

@@MrJacobThrall Bombay mix purists hahaha

Colin alludes to it here- everything I've ever heard is that "real" improvisers don't like Whose Line and consider it banal. Whose Line does short-form improv and focuses on comedy- while long-form is considered more prestigious and challenging in the improv community and scenes can last up to 25 minutes. That said, I am of the complete 180 degree opinion. it's undeniable that Whose Line and shows like it are vastly more successful than any long-form improv has ever been. I also feel doing short-form comedy scenes (and actually being funny) is vastly more difficult than anything long-form. You can see this in how few performers on Whose Line are able to succeed in the environment. Colin, Ryan, and Wayne were/are masters at it while the rotating guest chair often struggles to keep up (and the host is so bad at improve comedy that their terribleness is often used as a joke in-and-of-itself).

@@MrJacobThrall you got a problem with bicycle valve cap purists?

@@Sam-ey1nn I agree, they have to think faster and that is what makes it so much harder

@Liam Berg (STUDENT) *"friends" in quotations.

to be fair, Drew was an amazing part of the show

I mean, Drew afaik wasn't a producer (found out he was, same as Ryan Stiles) and was told to be involved. That said, Drew had some of the best segments and the cast ripping on him was the cherry on top. Either way, he is way better than the latest host (who was pointed out to me below is Aisha Taylor).

@@anonomaly the latest host as in Aisha Taylor? and Yes while some hate Drew's involvement, that's why I love him. Good thing ppl have the UK version that they can enjoy instead of complaining so much. :)

Very well put. I couldn’t agree more.

I think its something to do with glue as we are apparantly schticky and they are not. Maybe?

@@lindagoad2163 it's different in that they use the carrot 🥕 and we use the shtick.

The American version is more rigid and comes across a little plastic and soulless, and everyone there seems to have little individual personality on display. They want to be seen as smooth, and as a result each episode seems the same, and it's very boring as a result.

@@phily8093 Nailed it.

@@phily8093 Exactly that, the US version seemed to do the same games every week and it got old fast. The UK version mixed it up so it was way more interesting and varied. Clive Anderson was also 1000 times better than Drew Carey - the points not mattering in the UK was a thing, just not really mentioned. In the US Drew overpushed it to a breaking point.

That's what I was looking for thank you

They have a whole bunch on UK Amazon Prime which had reignited my love for it

Here in the US, Hulu has the last 4 or 5 seasons, including the one that was filmed is Los Angeles.

Yeah. I remember Clive penalizing someone once for using an unauthorized prop (castanets, IIRC) whereas the US version has always pretty much said “screw the points.” Although, to its detriment, this meant that the “winner” would usually be the person that Drew or whoever thought would be least funny in the final skit.

I think the U.S. version was more regimented in repeating the same games way more often (and obviously maintaining a pretty consistent cast)

yeah, clive anderson was a pompas, upper class prick and should never have been allowed anywhere near the show. He was everything the performers were not.

With the exception of josie Lawrence and Tony Slattery, who were known at the time for the comedy store players the majority of the British panellist where legit actors, John sessions, Jonathan pryce. It’s only later on when the likes of Ryan and Colin came along and Paul Merton that it loosened up a bit.

@@meisterlymanu5214 Nope, he was far better than Drew Carey, who was cringey and tried to hog the spotlight from people with actual talent. Basically America's James Cordon, a tubby clown desperate for attention.

Seemed like Tony Slattery was on it all the time as well and every time he played the host on Party Quirks, he would ask the guests if they were Lionel Blair.

To be fair, I don't think you were meant to take Friar Tuck _too_ seriously...

I'm British and I prefer the American version.

I've watched them recently on streaming services. This will sound mean, but it was funny watching Wayne get older and less able to do the physical humor he so obviously loves doing.

Greg Props and Mike Macshane were on the uk version since series one. I love Greg and Colin the absolute best but Greg or Mike should be on the us version more they are really whats missing for me, I liked the bit of edge they brought.

I Fear that clever jokes are hard to come by these days, and all you need to do is just say cock. Don't get me wrong, I was brought up on Bottom, The Young One repeats etc which was more to with heavy satire. But these days we don't seem to get the clever sitcoms like Blackadder.

@@Cartoonman154 I guess you never watched Upstart Crow, Plebs, Quacks, Zapped, Blandings, Man Down, W1A or any of the other sitcoms of the past decade that have easily been as funny as Bottom or Blackadder? Let alone Friday Night Dinner, which is just liquid gold.

Only one 't' please! 😲

@@krashd I agree with all of those, other than Blandings, the source material of which is 100 years old, still funny though.

@@jamespasifull3424 Would you like milk with that? Sugar?

A bit like their sitcoms. Great British sitcoms last for two or three series. With some exceptions (Only Fools, Yes (Prime) Minister) the longer running ones just get less good as they go on and on. American sitcoms keep going until they can’t afford the cast.

Liver spot.

Its the on/off butten

He's a trainee Sikh

It's how Sean Connery described glue.

@@thequeenofspades LOL !!

@thequeenofspades 😂😂😂

To put it in a different medium, when you see a Wes Anderson film, you expect to see A, B, and C.

@@joemengelejr3712 Your reply, while a shite for shore eyesh, dush not purshuade me (Fact: Sean Connery delivered milk to my school).

@@richardlyon67 - Ish that a euphemishm?

@@RFC-3514 Thatsh positively shocking!

and lived in the US most of his life !

@@welshpete12 Colin Mochrie was born in Scotland, but actually lived in Canada most of his life. He's Candian, and lives in Toronto.

Yeah, Canadian citizen, actually, and lived in Canada for most of his life.

@@lemiless Being "Born in Scotland" makes you Scottish. Growing up elsewhere makes you miss not being in Scotland. ;)

@@welshpete12 Huh? He's Canadian. Very Canadian. Born in Scotland, immigrated to Canada as a small child, grew up in Canada and educated here and had a career here and so on and still as far as I know lives here. He has worked a bit in the US but he's worked a bit in the UK too. Still Canadian.

Sarah Hardy to improvise doesn't mean to have no rules it just means to make it up on the spot

there's generally loose structures to scenes, games, etc. the dialogue and how they interact is all made up! But you can definitely learn how NOT to play games, especially in short form improv.

Well, I'm not entirely sure what he means. In comedy terms it could be considered a not so complimentary word....like a contrivance or something that a comedian ALWAYS uses to get a laugh, so much so, that it eventually becomes tiresome. But, I think it does not always have to be viewed as a negative. Rodney Dangerfield's "I get no respect" was his shtick. That does not mean he wasn't funny. Laurel and Hardy had a shtick. You knew what you were going to get when you watched a Laurel and Hardy clip, but it was still funny.

@@clash5j ahh thank you!

He kind of rambled, but it seems like he was trying to say the British version was more experimental and varied, while the American version was more structured and formulaic.

yep! jimmycarrane.com/223-colin-mochrie/ also on apple podcasts, spotify, and google podcasts as well.

It(the US version) was also hampered at times by how the network handled certain content. ABC, when they carried it, were very hands-on in regard to certain subject matter. This is likely due to being owned by Disney, which was more "family-friendly", whereas the CW, which carries it now, is more mature-oriented in it's programming. Agree on the music, and i am not overly fond of the constant use of celebrity guests(although, one of the greatest episodes ever was the Richard Simmons episode during the Drew Carey run)

To me a lot of it drags because for some bizarre reason, Americans seem to love jokes that run on too long. (Yes, I'm American, too. It's an aspect of American comedy I deeply loathe.)

@@kalapiziks7561 fascinating. I've never had an issue with the long running jokes in the American version but that might be because I just love the cast so much and I get to enjoy the moment real time sorta. I sort of like British humour, but I have to be in a mood. Sometimes I want that fast pace, I go to British, other times I wanna wind down and go to American humor. I'm glad that even though you're American, you can find your type of humour elsewhere. Imagine if everyone had the same type of humour. You would be miserable!

@@ggundercover3681 oh, I adore the cast. They are incredibly talented. I just dislike seeing people with that much talent getting sucked into horrible, overused cliches like the run on joke.

@@kalapiziks7561 ah I see. Very interesting. Thank you for your opinion. I think I'll keep an eye out now and see if I can understand what you mean. :)

Heavy on the Cross.

@@diehardrvdfan22 jesus?

You have to admit you almost have enough crosses.

@@diehardrvdfan22 not enough to carry all of our sins

I presume that he means that in the UK we don't follow the rules so close. As the interviewer says that in the USA they are told to follow the rules and not be schticky. So I presume that the UK is opposite to that. But here in UK if you give a person some "stick" it means you five them insults in a joking way. Like roasting a person. So maybe he means that. I don't know.

@@Cobalt-Jester A comic routine inserted to gain a laugh or draw attention to oneself. A gimmick.

A comic routine inserted to gain a laugh or draw attention to oneself. A gimmick.

To be fair, he advertised talk about "sensors" I'm guessing there was some robotics engineering talk that got cut for time

The North Americans were definitely more consistently hilarious, especially the Holy trinity of Proops, Stiles and Mochrie,, but when the maniac that is Tony Slattery was on form he was an unparalleled force of insanity.

No, Bill Murray is the old Bill Murray.

As opposed to the freshly minted Bill Murray we have now...?

@@GrouchoCaesar please dont remind me about how melty he is