Well-known Canadian funny man Rick Mercer won the 2022 Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour on Saturday night.
Widely known for being the co-creator and star of CBC’s This Hour Has 22 Minutes, Made in Canada, Talking to Americans, and Rick Mercer Report, Mercer was awarded the $25,000 prize for his memoir, Talking to Canadians, published by DoubleDay Canada.
“There were a number of Stephen Leacock award winners on my parents' bookshelf when I was a kid,” he said after being announced as the winner at Saturday night's gala in the marquee erected on the grounds of the Stephen Leacock Memorial Home in Orillia.
“Once you go into the business of humour — whether it’s on stage, on screen, in books, or in articles, or if you are a student at all — you learn about Stephen Leacock.”
Mercer says it is "an honour" to be recognized at the Leacock Museum, a national historic site.
“I didn’t realize how incredibly prolific he was,” he said of Orillia's most famous author. “Today I went to the library and saw the collection of his work and it’s astounding; I don’t know how one individual could write that many books.”
@LeacockMedal finalists @rickmercer and @markcritch stopped by today for a visit. They are "busting" to know who will take home the honours this evening! pic.twitter.com/jDGRFEpthL
— Orillia Public Library (@orillialibrary) September 17, 2022
Writing his award-winning memoir wasn’t exactly easy, Mercer said with a laugh.
“It was a learning curve, it was different for me, and it was something I was very nervous about," he said. "This is like having humour's stamp of approval from the best people in the business.”
Mercer says he will cherish the award for the rest of his life.
Mark Critch, one of two runners-up for his memoir, An Embarrassment of Critch’s, published by Viking Canada, received a $4,000 prize on Saturday night.
“This was a wonderful time,” he said. “It was great to see so many people gathered here together to celebrate writing and the writing of humour especially.”
Critch says books are sometimes given the reputation of being about serious or important topics.
“It’s good to have a laugh,” he said. “There was certainly a lot of laughter here tonight."
Critch has known Mercer since he was 15; they both started at the same small theatre in St. John’s, and both starred on This Hour Has 22 Minutes.
“I’m just delighted to be here with a friend,” he said. “I would probably be here tonight to support Rick anyways, even if I wasn’t a nominee.”
Dawn Dumont was the other award runner-up for her novel, The Prairie Chicken Dance Tour, published by Freehand Books. She was unable to attend Saturday’s event.
Stephen Leacock Associates president Mike Hill says the award’s relevance continues to grow with the popularity of literary humour.
“I’d like to think that people still read books and are interested in who’s writing the funniest material,” he said. “It’s very much so a cultural thing.”
Like Mercer, Hill says past Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour award recipients are some of Canada’s most well-known writers.
“The fact that (Mercer's) a well-known comedian in Canada, still touring the country, doing stand-up, might give this award some attention that it needs,” he said. “I think that’s the best thing about him winning this year.”
