Rick Mercer has gone skinny dipping with former MP Bob Rae; he’s fed sea turtles at Ripley’s Aquarium in Toronto; he’s trained with some of Canada’s top Olympians and Paralympians; and he had a sleepover with Stephen Harper and his family at 24 Sussex.
In 15 seasons of hosting the Rick Mercer Report, Mercer experienced more of Canada than most people could even imagine. Since the last episode of the show aired in April this year, Mercer has focused on new projects, including his brand new book, Rick Mercer Final Report.
The book reflects on some of his memorable experiences from hosting the Rick Mercer Report, providing a behind-the-scenes look at the show’s production team and transcriptions from the show’s rant segments.
Ahead of a book launch in Ottawa on Nov. 8, he spoke to the Charlatan.
The Charlatan (TC): What’s different about not doing the Rick Mercer Report this year?
Rick Mercer (RM): We would [normally] be dragging our ass somewhere across the country, and I miss it. It’s interesting to not be doing it, for sure, because that’s a long time, 15 years . . . it’s nice that there’s not this thing in my life that is all-encompassing and so dominating, and it also has given me time to think about what’s next and do some writing. It’s a real luxury if you can exit a project on your own terms, so I’m very comfortable with the decision I made.
TC: What sort of things have you been up to in the time since the show ended?
RM: I have a bunch of projects in my hard drive that I work on at my leisure, which is not working out very well at all because I have only ever functioned by having a tight deadline. I don’t consider myself a journalist, but I’ve very much lived a journalist’s life where everything is to deadline.
I wouldn’t say that’s where I do my best work—it’s where I do my only work. I absolutely need a deadline. This book, for example, [was] very deadline-centric. I met them all, like I always do, but the other projects that I have meandering around on my hard drive [are] not quite as successful because no deadlines. That’s what I have to work on next.
TC: When you look at the whole Rick Mercer Report, would you say that you had a goal that you managed to accomplish in those 15 years?
RM: In terms of what I wanted the show to achieve, culturally, I felt we hit it in year two or three . . . I was in the interior of British Columbia in a small town, and this kid recognized me, and he said, “Hey, you’re Rick Mercer!” and I said, “Yeah,” and he said, “I knew you’d show up eventually!”
That’s when I felt like people were getting it. It was a show that was going to travel the country and go off the beaten path, and talk to regular Canadians in their homes and in their communities, and we certainly achieved that.
TC: If you could summarize it, what is the book about?
RM: The backbone of the book are the rants. I always thought that everything about the Mercer Report—all the sketches, all the road pieces—were actually all wrapped around the rant. The rant happened every single week. It was topical; it was entirely by opinion. It was the part of the show I would write entirely on my own . . . there’s some storytelling, some reflections, and some rants.
TC: Any rants stand out in particular?
RM: The interesting thing is, you never knew what would be controversial or what would be popular. I rarely was at a loss of things to rant about, but one week, I kind of was, and they happened to be doing flu shots across the hall. I went over and got my flu shot, and I came back and said, “Free flu shots, guys! Hey everyone! Free flu shots!” and everyone started shuffling their papers. I was like, “Isn’t everyone getting their flu shot?” And then my buddy said, “I don’t believe in the science.” I’d worked with him for 20 years, I never once heard him mention science in any way, shape or form . . . I wrote a rant about all these lame excuses for not getting a flu shot and why people should get a flu shot [which] became tensely controversial with the anti-vax community, and I was harassed for ages.
TC: What’s next for you? Do you have any final thoughts?
RM: I really liked this experience writing the book. I’m not a reflective guy, but I liked looking back and telling these stories. I’ve found lately that I’m telling a lot of stories, as you can attest. I think there might be another book, but I don’t know. I’m really lucky. I get to basically do whatever I want, and I have no crystal ball, I have no idea any more than you about what the future holds, in terms of TV or broadcasting. Once I figure that out, I’ll figure out what the next project is.
Photo by Jeff Pelletier
