"Onstage I do all the stuff I'd never do in real life, like lashing out at people who make me mad or freaking out in a long bank lineup. Performing allows me to fulfill all the sicko fantasies I've ever had"
About this Quote
There is a sneaky honesty to Colin Mochrie admitting that performance is basically sanctioned misbehavior. Coming from an improv icon, the line works because it treats the stage less like a pedestal and more like a pressure valve: a place where civility can be turned off without consequences. The joke lands on the mundane details (a bank lineup, petty anger) because they’re the kinds of frustrations most adults swallow daily. He’s not confessing to monstrous impulses; he’s puncturing the myth that “good” people don’t have them.
Calling them “sicko fantasies” is key. It’s deliberately overcooked, a comedic exaggeration that both dramatizes the urge and defuses it. Mochrie isn’t glamorizing cruelty so much as mocking the tight, performative politeness of real life. The subtext is that everyday society requires constant self-editing, and improv flips that: you’re rewarded for immediacy, escalation, and saying the thing you’d normally censor. In that world, “lashing out” becomes a bit, not a breach.
Context matters: Mochrie’s persona on Whose Line Is It Anyway? is famously controlled, quick, and genial. That calm surface makes the confession funnier and sharper. It hints at the craft behind improv, too: you don’t just vent; you channel. The stage doesn’t reveal the “real” Mochrie so much as it gives him a safe container to rehearse chaos, letting audiences enjoy transgression without paying the price of it.
Calling them “sicko fantasies” is key. It’s deliberately overcooked, a comedic exaggeration that both dramatizes the urge and defuses it. Mochrie isn’t glamorizing cruelty so much as mocking the tight, performative politeness of real life. The subtext is that everyday society requires constant self-editing, and improv flips that: you’re rewarded for immediacy, escalation, and saying the thing you’d normally censor. In that world, “lashing out” becomes a bit, not a breach.
Context matters: Mochrie’s persona on Whose Line Is It Anyway? is famously controlled, quick, and genial. That calm surface makes the confession funnier and sharper. It hints at the craft behind improv, too: you don’t just vent; you channel. The stage doesn’t reveal the “real” Mochrie so much as it gives him a safe container to rehearse chaos, letting audiences enjoy transgression without paying the price of it.
Quote Details
| Topic | Funny |
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