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Rick Mercer (born October 17, 1969 in St. John's,
Newfoundland and Labrador), is a Canada|Canadian
comedian.

Mercer first came to national attention in 1990,
when he premiered his one-man show Show Me the
Button, I'll Push It, or Charles Lynch Must Die at
the National Arts Centre in Ottawa,
Ontario|Ottawa. A pointed, satirical political
commentary on Canadian life after Meech Lake
Accord|Meech Lake, Show Me the Button made Mercer
a national star as he toured the show across
Canada. 

In 1992, he created and performed his second show,
I've Killed Before, I'll Kill Again, which was
also a popular touring show. Also in that year, he
began to work with former CODCO members Cathy
Jones, Mary Walsh, and with fellow Newfoundlander
Greg Thomey, to create a new television series for
CBC Television which became This Hour Has 22
Minutes. 


In the first eight seasons of 22 Minutes, Mercer
provided some of the show's signature moments,
including having lunch at a Harvey's fast food
restaurant with former Canadian Prime Minister,
Jean Chrétien, an Internet petition (on the  22
Minutes website) to force Canadian Alliance leader
Stockwell Day to change his first name to Doris,
and on and on.

Mercer's one-minute "rants", in which he would
speak directly to the camera about a current
political issue, quickly became the show's
signature segment. In 1998, he published a book,
Streeters, which compiled many of his most famous
22 Minutes rants. It quickly became a national
bestseller.
http://pictures.abebooks.com/JOHNMCCORMICK/4107903
98.jpg view Streeters cover page

Also in 1998, Mercer created, wrote and performed
on his own sitcom, Made In Canada, which ended its
run in 2003. Made in Canada was produced by Island
Edge Inc. Mercers own production company. A satire
of the Canadian film and television industry, the
show aired outside of Canada as The Industry.
There were 65 episodes of Made In Canada produced.
The last episode, entitled "The Last Show", was
written by Mercer. Mercer won a  Gemini
Awards|Gemini Award for writing the episode. It
was also Mercer's directorial debut. This show was
actually written, directed and produced by Mercer.

One of Mercer's trademark comedy routines on 22
Miniutes was "Talking to Americans" in which he
would travel to major American cities and conduct
on-the-street interviews with average Americans
regarding Canadian politics, the weather, etc.,
often with hilarious results as the subject's
ignorance about Canada was illustrated. One famous
example saw Mercer asking Americans' opinion about
the alleged decision by the Parliament of Canada
to reduce the number of seasons in Canada to only
two: Summer and Dark. On another occasion he got
the support of Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee in
calling on Canadians to save the "National Igloo."

Mercer made international headlines in 2000 when
he pulled a "Talking to Americans" stunt on
then-presidental candidate George W. Bush. He
successfully got Bush to answer questions about
non-existent Canadian Prime Minister "Jean
Poutine" (a play on the real politician's name,
Jean Chrétien). Bush was not amused at the time,
though he would make a joking reference to this
incident during his state visit to Canada in 2004.
To be fair, Mercer also got Democratic candidate
Al Gore to promise to visit the Canadian capital
city of Toronto after his election (Canada's
capital is Ottawa). (See the article on "Talking
to Americans" for more information about this
stunt.)

In 2001, Mercer co-produced a CBC special based on
"Talking to Americans", which attracted 2.7
million Canadian viewers - the highest-rated
comedy special in the history of CBC. This was his
last major project related to 22 Minutes -- at the
end of the 2000-2001 season, he announced his
departure from that show.  It was rumoured that
part of the reason he had decided to leave was due
to a long-standing feud with his co-star Mary
Walsh.

In 2003, Made in Canada ended its run as well, and
Mercer began to work on a new CBC series, Rick
Mercer Report, which debuted in January 2004. Also
in 2003, Mercer went to Afghanistan to visit the
Canadian troops stationed there (See: Operation
Athena), resulting in the television special
Christmas in Kabul.

Despite reports of a long-standing feud Mercer
invited Walsh to appear on Monday Report as a
special guest to to promote her own series
Hatching, Matching and Dispatching. 

During his press tour to promote the series,
Mercer was outed as gay in the Globe and Mail
newspaper. This was not by Mercer's own choice. In
subsequent interviews, he has accepted that his
sexuality is now on the public record, but he
continues to insist on his right to keep his
personal life as private as possible.

At the end of its second season, Rick Mercer
Report was the highest rated arts and
entertainment show on the CBC. Mercer has had a
who's who from the world of Canadian entertainment
and politics appear as guests on his show. Prime
Minister Paul Martin gave him a private tour of 24
Sussex Drive and former New Democratic Party
leader Ed Broadbent made snow angels with Mercer
on Parliament Hill. Other prominent guests were
NDP leader Jack Layton, Conservative Party of
Canada|Conservative Party leader Stephen Harper,
Conservative MPs Belinda Stronach and Peter
MacKay, Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny
Williams, Olympic gold medalist Kyle Shewfelt, and
recording artists Jann Arden and Sarah McLachlan. 
When Mercer hosted a relief benefit concert for
the victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean
earthquake|2004 Indian Ocean tsunami at the
Pengrowth Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta|Calgary,
musical guests Barenaked Ladies appeared in a
segment Mercer shot backstage completely naked.  

Mercer has received more than 20 Gemini Awards for
his television work. He has also been a winner of
the prestigious Sir Peter Ustinov Award, presented
to him at the 2003 Banff Television Festival. In
1993, Newfoundland premier Clyde Wells honoured
Mercer with the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts
Council's Artist of the Year award. In 2004,
Mercer was presented with the Governor General's
Performing Arts Award.  Mercer donated his $15,000
cash prize to the LSPU hall, the theatre in
Newfoundland where Mercer performed his early
work.

In December, 2004, Mercer appeared on the
commercials advertising the one-tonne challenge
for the Government of Canada.
http://www.climatechange.gc.ca/onetonne/english/me
dia_room/media.asp View the one-ton media room
Mercer also appeared as a model in a national ad
for men's clothing store Harry Rosen wearing a
Canelli suit. All of Mercer's fees for the
campaign went to Casey House, a hospice in Toronto
for people living with AIDS. Casey House was
founded by June Callwood, who also appeared as a
celebrity guest on Monday Report.

Mercer holds honorary degrees from Laurentian
University in Greater Sudbury, Ontario|Greater
Sudbury and Memorial University of Newfoundland in
St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador|St. John's.

== External links ==
*http://www.cbc.ca/mondayreport Rick Mercer Report
Official Website
*imdb name|id=0580300|name=Rick Mercer
*http://www.thelavinagency.com/canada/rickmercer.h
tml Rick Mercer - Speaker Profile at The Lavin
Agency
*http://rickmercer.blogspot.com/ Rick Mercer's
Blog
*http://www.angelfire.com/celeb/rickmercer/main.ht
ml  Tribute to Rick Mercer Website
*http://www.cbc.ca/disclosure/archives/040210_pop/
mercer.html Rick Mercer's Disclosure interview
*http://quote.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Mercer Rick
Mercer quotes on Wikiquote
*http://www.dewit.ca/archs/poutine/index.html
Archived news report about the "Jean Poutine"
incident
*http://www.macleans.ca/culture/television/article
.jsp?content=20040216_75361_75361 Maclean's
interview including discussion of Mercer's coming
out