Join us for an actual in person event with Canada’s beloved comic genius, Rick Mercer in conversation with author and journalist Linden MacIntyre! All tickets include a hardcover book, with a signed bookplate.
SEATING IS LIMITED: Proof of full COVID-19 vaccination (double vaccination plus 14 days) will be required for all guests 12 years of age and older to enter the venue. Once inside, masks are required and reduced capacity will be in place to ensure social distancing can be maintained.
Most people park for free at the Supreme Court of Canada on Wellington St.
Ticket holders unable to attend in person can request access to the livestream.
What is Rick Mercer going to do now? That was the question on everyone's lips when the beloved comedian retired his hugely successful TV show after 15 seasons - and at the peak of its popularity. The answer came not long after, when he roared back in a new role as stand-up-comedian, playing to sold-out houses wherever he appeared.
And then COVID-19 struck. And his legions of fans began asking again: What is Rick Mercer going to do now? Well, for one thing, he's been writing a comic masterpiece. For the first time, this most private of public figures has turned the spotlight on himself, in a memoir that's as revealing as it is hilarious. In riveting anecdotal style, Rick charts his rise from highly unpromising schoolboy (in his reports "the word 'disappointment' appeared a fair bit") to the heights of TV fame. Along the way came an amazing break when, not long out of his teens, his one-man show Show Me the Button, I'll Push It. Or, Charles Lynch Must Die, became an overnight sensation - thanks in part to a bizarre ambush by its target, Charles Lynch himself. That's one story you won’t soon forget, and this book is full of them.
There's a tale of how little Rick helped himself to a tree from the neighbors' garden that's set to become a new Christmas classic. There's Rick, the aspiring actor, braving "the scariest thing I have ever done in my life" by performing with the Newfoundland Shakespeare Company; unforgettable scenes with politicians of every variety, from Jean Chretien to George W. Bush to Stockwell Day; and a wealth of behind-the-scenes revelations about the origins and making of This Hour Has 22 Minutes, Made in Canada, and Talking to Americans. All leading of course to the greenlighting of that mega-hit, Rick Mercer Report....
It's a life so packed with incident (did we mention Bosnia and Kabul?) and laughter we can only hope that a future answer to "What is Rick Mercer going to do now?" is: "Write volume two”.
All proceeds from this event will support The Republic of Childhood, our intensive hands-on youth literacy and self expression workshops in 2022.
Books are available from our friends at Perfect Books.
The Ottawa International Writers Festival is supported by generous individuals like you. Please consider subscribing to our newsletter and making a donation to support our programming and children’s literacy initiatives.
I laughed so much reading this, I kept waking up my dog in bed. Rick is a determined writer—he never stops pulling you into his stories and he never stops looking for the punchlines in everyday life. He made me realize how funny ordinary things are, how funny and how incredibly interesting. It's heartfelt and honest and generous and edgy—just like Mercer himself. Read it! It's fabulous!
Join us for an actual in person event with Canada’s beloved comic genius, Rick Mercer in conversation with author and journalist Linden MacIntyre! All tickets include a hardcover book, with a signed bookplate.
SEATING IS LIMITED: Proof of full COVID-19 vaccination (double vaccination plus 14 days) will be required for all guests 12 years of age and older to enter the venue. Once inside, masks are required and reduced capacity will be in place to ensure social distancing can be maintained.
Most people park for free at the Supreme Court of Canada on Wellington St.
Ticket holders unable to attend in person can request access to the livestream.
What is Rick Mercer going to do now? That was the question on everyone's lips when the beloved comedian retired his hugely successful TV show after 15 seasons - and at the peak of its popularity. The answer came not long after, when he roared back in a new role as stand-up-comedian, playing to sold-out houses wherever he appeared.
And then COVID-19 struck. And his legions of fans began asking again: What is Rick Mercer going to do now? Well, for one thing, he's been writing a comic masterpiece. For the first time, this most private of public figures has turned the spotlight on himself, in a memoir that's as revealing as it is hilarious. In riveting anecdotal style, Rick charts his rise from highly unpromising schoolboy (in his reports "the word 'disappointment' appeared a fair bit") to the heights of TV fame. Along the way came an amazing break when, not long out of his teens, his one-man show Show Me the Button, I'll Push It. Or, Charles Lynch Must Die, became an overnight sensation - thanks in part to a bizarre ambush by its target, Charles Lynch himself. That's one story you won’t soon forget, and this book is full of them.
There's a tale of how little Rick helped himself to a tree from the neighbors' garden that's set to become a new Christmas classic. There's Rick, the aspiring actor, braving "the scariest thing I have ever done in my life" by performing with the Newfoundland Shakespeare Company; unforgettable scenes with politicians of every variety, from Jean Chretien to George W. Bush to Stockwell Day; and a wealth of behind-the-scenes revelations about the origins and making of This Hour Has 22 Minutes, Made in Canada, and Talking to Americans. All leading of course to the greenlighting of that mega-hit, Rick Mercer Report....
It's a life so packed with incident (did we mention Bosnia and Kabul?) and laughter we can only hope that a future answer to "What is Rick Mercer going to do now?" is: "Write volume two”.
All proceeds from this event will support The Republic of Childhood, our intensive hands-on youth literacy and self expression workshops in 2022.
Books are available from our friends at Perfect Books.
The Ottawa International Writers Festival is supported by generous individuals like you. Please consider subscribing to our newsletter and making a donation to support our programming and children’s literacy initiatives.
