Mercer first came to national attention in 1990 when he created and presented his one-man stage show Show Me the Button, I'll Push It, or Charles Lynch Must Die at the National Arts Centre's Atelier in Ottawa. A satirical political commentary on Canadian life after Meech Lake, Show Me the Button made Mercer a national star as he toured the show across Canada. In 1992, he created and performed his second stage show, I've Killed Before, I'll Kill Again at the National Arts Centre's Studio Theatre, which also became a popular touring show.
In 1992, he began to work with former CODCO members Cathy Jones and Mary Walsh, and fellow Newfoundlander Greg Thomey, to create a new television series for CBC Television which became This Hour Has 22 Minutes. In the first eight seasons of 22 Minutes, Mercer provided some of the show's signature moments, including an Internet petition (on the 22 Minutes website) to force Canadian Alliance leader Stockwell Day to change his first name to Doris. The website used for the petition was later repurposed as a way to have Canadians send Christmas cards to peacekeepers in Bosnia. Mercer hand delivered these to the troops in a December 2000 special. In 2001, following an incident in which an aide to federal MP Rahim Jaffer posed as the politician in a radio interview, Mercer performed a parody rap based on Eminem's "The Real Slim Shady", with the lyrics "Will the real Rahim Jaffer please stand up?
Mercer's two-minute "rants", in which he would speak directly to the camera about a current political issue, shot in a style similar to those Denis Leary used in MTV commercials, quickly became the show's signature segment. In 1998, he published a book, Streeters, which compiled many of his most famous 22 Minutes rants. It became a national bestseller. In 2007 he published his second book, Rick Mercer Report: The Book.

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