(Posted November 3, 2003)


HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- The audience at Juniata College will get a chance to participate in its own entertainment by shouting out improvisation situations to comedians Colin Mochrie and Chip Esten, both veterans of the ABC comedy ?Whose Line is It Anyway?? at 8 p.m., Friday, Nov. 7 in Rosenberger Auditorium in Oller Hall on the Juniata campus.

Tickets are $15 for general admission. Tickets for Juniata students are $10. Tickets are available for purchase to the general public Wednesday, Oct. 29. Tickets can be purchased with cash, checks or credit cards from 8 a.m. to midnight Monday through Saturday and from noon to midnight on Sunday at the Information Desk at Ellis College Center on the Juniata campus. To charge by phone, please call (814) 641-3000.

Mochrie and Esten are regulars on the television show ?Whose Line is It Anyway?? hosted by Drew Carey on ABC-TV. The show, based on a popular British show of the same name, relies on improvisational comedy. The show?s premise asks a group of performers to react to improvisational suggestions supplied by the audience.

The concert by Mochrie and Esten will follow the same structure as the television show, allowing audience members to participate in the moment.

Colin Mochrie was born in Scotland and his family moved to Canada when he was 7 years old. In high school and college, he became interested in theater and comedy. One of his first performing jobs teamed him with Ryan Stiles, one of the regular performers on ?Whose Line? and a co-star on ?The Drew Carey Show.? Mochrie later joined The Second City comedy group, working with them for three years.

Mochrie first appeared on ?Whose Line? in 1991 in Britain and was added to the ABC version for U.S. markets in its first year on the air.

Charles ?Chip? Esten has been a guest on ?Whose Line? many times, performing with Mochrie, Ryan Stiles and Wayne Brady. Esten came by his improvisational skills by performing with The Groundlings, an improvisational troupe that produced such performers as Jon Lovitz and Phil Hartman.

He also works regularly as an actor. He made his acting debut in London, playing Buddy Holly in the West End musical ?Buddy.? He also appeared in the British version of ?Whose Line? in 1992. He also has appeared in the movies ?The Postman,? ?Thirteen Days,? and ?61.?

In addition, he has a recurring role on the soap opera ?All My Children and has appeared in the television series ?Star Trek: The Next Generation? and ?Star Trek: Voyager.?

Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.