Humour and the heart

Comedic couple laugh their way to the altar

Colin Mochrie and Deb McGrath know a thing or two about romantic comedy. She, a veteran of the Canadian small screen, and he, a quick-witted castmate of shows including Whose Line Is It Anyway? and This Hour Has 22 Minutes, the Toronto twosome have been happily hitched for more than two decades.

With Mochrie set to star in the Canstage production of Art and McGrath carrying on her role in CBC’s Little Mosque on the Prairie, the duo discuss how a little funny business set the stage for a leap into love.

How they met
We met at the Second City comedy theatre in Toronto. Deb was the director of the touring company and they were looking to find a newcast member. After a gruelling audition, she picked me over “the cute guy.” Those were her words.

The first date
Our first date was in 1987 in Toronto at the Cineplex in the Eaton Centre. We went to see Dirty Dancing.
 

What happened
We fell in love. Or maybe we were in love before that and we just got caught up in the Patrick Swayze–Jennifer Grey chemistry.

The courtship
Our courtship was full of possibilities. We both knew the kind of life we wanted. It was a relationship of instant ease with each other.

The proposal
Our proposal was a discussion about marriage we quickly entered into after we knew how we both felt. Neither of us remembers bringing it up. We just knew we both wanted to marry each other and have a family. The formal proposal was me giving Deb a ring while she had a bubble bath. I think I saw that in an episode of Dallas.

The Wedding
We were married in Toronto at the Enoch Turner Schoolhouse on the eighth of January 1989, and we went to Barbados for the honeymoon.

Kids
We have a son, Luke, who is 18.

Their lives today
Our lives now are that of empty nesters. We miss our son so much, but we are having a wonderful time doing new and interesting things and getting to recapture that time of young marrieds. We are both actors by trade, and we both love going to the movies and travelling and eating and wine and skiing and swimming and dancing. The high points in our relationship have been any time that we are together laughing ourselves sick, which, we are happy to say, is often.

Shared goals
To do only what we want to do, which seems simple in theory but hard to put into practice.

Where they live
We have lived in the area for about 13 years.

Secret of success as a couple
The secret of our success comes down to a quote I read and live by, “Marriage is falling in love many times but always with the same person.” And there is work involved. Never take your partner or relationship for granted. There are always things to work on.

Relationship advice
Always shoot for the most romantic moment you can think of together, then be happily surprised when you find that it’s as you’re cleaning out the garage. That and find the person you’re most compatible with. The rest is gravy.

Article exclusive to STREETS OF TORONTO