Rick Mercer wins $25K Stephen Leacock Medal for best Canadian humour writing

Comedian and former CBC personality Rick Mercer has won the 2022 Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for his memoirTalking to Canadians. The $25,000 prize annually recognizes the best in Canadian humour writing.

In Talking to Canadians, Mercercharts his rise from highly unpromising schoolboy to the heights of TV fame.

Mercer rose to fame with his one-man showShow Me the Button I'll Push It, or Charles Lynch Must Diethat toured across Canada before co-creating and starring on CBC's long-running seriesThis Hour Has 22 Minutes.He was alsothehost ofThe Rick Mercer Reportfor 15 seasons. His newest project is the TV showComedy Night with Rick Mercer, which is now available on CBC Gem.

• Rick Mercer's memoirTalking to Canadiansreflects on a life building rapport with others

Mercer became known for his unique approach to comedy, which he reflects on inTalking to Canadians.

"When we startedThe Mercer Report, we decided the time had come to celebrate things we liked and celebrate things we thought were worth celebrating about the country," Mercer told Shelagh Rogers on The Next Chapter in 2021.

"That's an odd lane for comedians to take because comedy is never about building up.It's almost always about tearing down. And that's OK,but we just decided to go another way. So that was the rule. If we're going to go to Thunder Bay, we're going to go and explore why the people there love it and why they live there and why they think it's the best place in the world to live.

"We were going to celebrate, or nothing."

LISTEN | Rick Mercer discusses Talking to Canadians with Shelagh Rogers:

19:56Rick Mercer on Talking to Canadians

Rick Mercer talks to Shelagh Rogers about his memoir, Talking to Canadians.

Talking to Canadianswas selected from a total of 78 submissions, which was narrowed down to a longlist of 10 books and a shortlist of three books.

The other two finalists were This Hour Has 22 Minutes star MarkCritch for his memoirAn Embarrassment of Critch'sand Plains Cree writer and comedian Dawn Dumont for her novelThe Prairie Chicken Dance Tour.

As runners-up, Critch and Dumont will each receive $4,000.

The Leacock Medal celebrates its 75th anniversary this year. The award has been given out since 1947.

Last year's winner wasThomas King, for his novelIndians on Vacation.

Other past winners include Heidi L.M Jacobs, Robertson Davies, Pierre Berton, Farley Mowat, Paul Quarrington, Mordecai Richler, Stuart McLean, Terry Fallis, Susan Juby and Cassie Stocks.

WATCH | Rick Mercer reflects on his career on The National:

Rick Mercer on his new memoir, being useless during the pandemic

3 years ago

Duration 8:08

Comedian Rick Mercer talks to Adrienne Arsenault about writing his memoir, Talking To Canadians, why he felt useless during the COVID-19 pandemic and shares some thoughts on current Canadian politics.