Yes—Ryan Stiles and Colin Mochrie have described themselves as close friends, not merely longtime colleagues. Their friendship grew out of Vancouver’s improv scene, where their onstage connection became a partnership that continued through Second City and Whose Line Is It Anyway? Their public accounts also make an important distinction: friendship did not necessarily mean frequent contact.
They met in Vancouver’s improv scene
Their story begins at Vancouver TheatreSports League. Langara College’s alumni profile says Colin Mochrie studied at Studio 58 from 1977 to 1980, joined TheatreSports in 1980, and met Stiles there. The Second City biography likewise places Stiles at Vancouver TheatreSports and says that is where he met Mochrie.
The exact date and circumstances of their introduction are not established. In a 2002 interview, Stiles offered a retrospective estimate: “I knew Colin in Vancouver, so I’ve known him for 24 years.” That points to about 1978 as the start of their acquaintance by his calculation, not a documented meeting date. Lollipop Magazine’s 2002 interview; The Second City’s Ryan Stiles biography; Langara Voice, November 5, 2013.
They clicked onstage—and kept working together
In an April 1, 2026 interview with Orlando Weekly, Mochrie recalled that a mutual friend brought Stiles to an improv show and that they “just immediately clicked on stage for whatever reason.” Mochrie described that connection as developing into lifelong friendship. He also remembered Stiles as a stand-up comic when they met. These are Mochrie’s retrospective recollections, rather than a separately documented account of their first meeting. Orlando Weekly’s interview with Colin Mochrie.
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Their collaboration expanded as their careers moved beyond Vancouver. According to The Second City, Stiles joined the company for Vancouver Expo in 1986, later worked in Toronto, moved to Los Angeles in 1989, and appeared on the British Whose Line Is It Anyway? until that version ended in 1998. Langara’s profile says Mochrie followed Stiles to Toronto after performing at Expo 86 and joined Second City. The Second City’s Ryan Stiles biography; Langara Voice, November 5, 2013.
Stiles helped Mochrie get another chance on Whose Line
Mochrie has credited Stiles with helping him enter the show that made their partnership familiar to a much wider audience. In the 2026 Orlando Weekly interview, Mochrie recalled that he initially failed auditions. Stiles persuaded the producers to give him another chance; Mochrie then became a recurring guest and later a regular cast member. Langara’s alumni profile also credits Stiles with helping him get onto the program. The accounts support a specific form of professional advocacy: Stiles helped secure another audition opportunity. Orlando Weekly’s interview with Colin Mochrie; Langara Voice, November 5, 2013.
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Mochrie summed up Stiles’s importance in a 2013 Langara Voice profile: “He’s responsible for my career and my marriage … and still not sure about the son,” he joked. The remark captures the breadth of Mochrie’s gratitude, while the audition story is the clearest account of Stiles’s role in his Whose Line career.
Close friends did not mean constant contact
There is public evidence that the friendship extended beyond work, but not that the two spent their private lives together continually. In a Georgia Straight profile, Mochrie said: “And Ryan, who is actually one of my best friends, I rarely see.” That is a dated snapshot of how Mochrie described their contact at the time—not evidence of their current routine. Georgia Straight profile of Colin Mochrie.
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The contrast matters: Mochrie called Stiles one of his best friends while also saying they rarely saw each other. Their friendship is best understood through what they have publicly said about it—lasting affection and a deep creative connection—rather than assumptions about how often they met away from work.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Years of shared improvising built creative familiarity
Stiles described how working together over many years could make a new scene feel familiar. In the 2002 Lollipop Magazine interview, he said: “Colin and I have worked together for so long – not just with Whose Line… but in Second City before that – and we start to second guess ourselves…” He was talking about the way repeated collaboration could make them wonder whether they had already done a similar scene. It is evidence of accumulated stage familiarity, not proof that every performance or private interaction was shared.
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Taken together, their public accounts trace a friendship formed in Vancouver improv, strengthened by years of performance, and sustained across major stages of both careers. They support calling Stiles and Mochrie friends offstage, while leaving the details of their private lives—and their present-day frequency of contact—private.
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- A British show in which actors and comedians improvise sketches in various "theatre-sports"-type games, based on audience suggestions. The games might include singing a Hoedown about Tory Politicians, acting out a soap opera as hamsters, becoming bizarre super-heroes, or making up a musical about the life of an audience member. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION Rating: N
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