Mime artist
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A Mime Artist performing in the street |
A
Mime artist is someone who uses
mime as a theatrical medium or as a
performance art. In earlier times, in English, such a performer was referred to as a
mummer.
Mime supposedly began in the
Theater of Dionysus in
Athens, perhaps as far back as the third century B.C.E. These mimes were not entirely silent, as we think of mimes today, but the spoken element was minimized. There was usually a chorus, typical of
Greek theatre of the time. Themes for Greek mimes, which were often tragedies that had a moral lesson, frequently included military/fighting, adultery, and various vices. Early mime artists in Greece were called
phylakes and included women as well as men. Well-known authors of mimes include
Decimus Laberius,
Epicharmus,
Sophron,
Publilius Syrus and
Herodas. [
1].
By the time of the fall of Rome, mimes were performing at banquets and courts all over Europe. Roman mime artists were called
mimus or
saltator, but the word "mime" by then was often used as a catch-all term for any sort of short dramatic or comedic acted entertainment, sometimes expanding to include sword swallowers and jugglers. Roman mime was called
fibula riciniata and was a mix of farce sketch, dancing, singing and acrobatics. Stock characters evolved (stupid husband, greedy pig, foolish old man, devious woman, etc). This sort of mime - a non-silent, satirical, often political farce - is still used by artists like the Tony award winning
San Francisco Mime Troupe.
Like actors and actresses of today, a mime's fame could bring them the attention of the rich and powerful. The Emperor
Justinian married
Theodora, a former
mimus (
mima?).
Various forms of
dumb show evolved from these classical roots, most notably the
Commedia dell'arte in
Italy.
Modern mime is a branch of theatre in which the performer usually uses no voice but instead performs using spacial and corporeal movement, full-body physical expressions, body language and gesture, often with little or no theatrical props. Mime routines frequently involve pretending to touch something but not actually doing so, or pretending to interact with imaginary objects. It is often, but not always, done in white face and the movements and expressions are heightened for greater effect.
Movement theatre is a related branch of theatre which merges elements of mime with that of
modern dance.
Classic or well-known mime moves include:
* glass walls: the mime opens their hand and pretends to touch (with their open palm) a flat wall in front of them. This motion includes a sudden stop at the end so as to indicate exactly where the wall is, much as people do when they actually slap a wall.
* rope: The mime grabs an invisible rope and pretends to pull the rope, sometimes with difficulty, indicating the rope is attached to something big or heavy.
* leaning wall: The mime positions their body to make it appear as if they are leaning against a wall, even though they are not.
* trapped in a box: The mime pretends to be in an invisible box that they cannot get out of.
The classic mime's costume includes black and white horizontal striped clothes, the vest from a 3 piece suit (but not the rest of the suit), a formal black top hat or beret, formal white gloves (to highlight the motions of the hands), and white
face paint (similar to that used by a
clown), with some accents in black. However, the costume is by no means required and many mime artists depart from it partially or completely.
Mime is common as a street performance medium. Amateur mime artists often use a very limited number of routines from the repertoire of mime artist
Marcel Marceau such as 'walking against the wind', 'peeling a banana', and especially 'pretending to be in an invisible box'. This has caused mimes to become a bit of a running gag, namely that nobody likes mimes or that mime acts are effete and uncreative. Another tradition holds that
clowns have a deep dislike of mimes and vice versa.
* Some of the moves in
breakdancing, such as the
moonwalk, have been borrowed from mime.
* Anyone who has played the well-known party game of
charades has been, for however brief a time, a mime artist.
*
The Joker resembles a mime and in fact his cronies in one scene of
Batman (film) are mimes. They silently go about their miming as they creep up on the Joker's enemy, who is giving a press release, until a limousine pulls up with
Jack Nicholson (Joker) in it. He gets out and declares that the pen truly is mightier than the sword before killing the man with what resembles a quill.
* In 2003 Canadian comedy group Very Tasteful created the film
Pantomimus, which aired nationally on
CBC television.
* Bobcat Goldthwaite's movie
Shakes The Clown dealt with the alleged rivalry/hostility between mimes and clowns
*
Michael Jackson was good friends with well-known mime artist
Marcel Marceau and used pantomime regularly in his concert performances; in
1995, Jackson and Marceau jointly choreographed a concert for HBO, but the project never got past the rehearsal stage.
* Motion pictures such as
Who Framed Roger Rabbit, in which live actors interact with animated cartoons, require the actors to practice mime skills in order to convincingly push or pull an imaginary object or character that will be added to the film later.
* On the
Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "
Hush", the Gentlemen were all played by mime artists.
* In a 1976 episode of
The Goodies (TV series) entitled
"Daylight Robbery of fhe Orient Express", the trio use
whiteface and perform mime routines in the French 'Le Boring' contest.
* In his television series, disc jockey and comedian
Kenny Everett often dressed as a whitefaced mime similar to Marceau's Bip The Clown, and performed routines based on Marceau's work.
* In
Terry Pratchett's
Discworld series, mime artists are banned in the city of Ankh-Morpork. Any found operating are hung upside down in a scorpion pit along with a sign saying "Learn the Words".
*
Mr MimeAndrew Mark Herbert of Hat Trick origin •
Berger and Diskin "The Chameleons" •
Kate Bush •
Jorn 'Le Bagette' Barger •
Jean-Louis Barrault •
Jean-Gaspard Debureau •
Ladislav Fialka •
Gregg Goldston •
Jacques Lecoq •
Tony Ceravolo •
Marcel Marceau •
Kari Margolis/Tony Brown •
Carlos Martínez •
Harpo Marx •
Samy Molcho •
Oleg Popow •
Mikael Rudolph •
Pan Tau •
Kenneth Fox •
Shields And Yarnell •
Michael Lee •
Daniel Stein •
Jeffrey straw •
Mummenschanz •
Jean Michel Jarre*
David Bowie was a mime before he became a singer.
*Mimes have long been the sworn enemies of so-called "
Blackface Minstrels" and there is still much rivalry between them when it comes to impromtu street performances - see
street theatre for more info.
*
Clown*
Coulrophobia, the fear of white face
*
Liquid dancing*
Popping (dance)*
Floating, gliding and slidingInformation
*
Roman Mime and Pantomime*
Greek Mime and Pantomime*
Classic Mime Artist CharactersMime artist/mime company home pages
*
The Chameleons*
Mummenschanz*
Ecole internationale de théâtre Jacques Lecoq*
Samy Molcho*
Marcel Marceau Foundation*
Pablo Zibes*
Carlos Martinez(Spain)*
Greg Goldston*
Mikael Rudolph*
Margols & Brown*
Mime the Gap*
Opus Mime Company*
Mime Ingrid Irrlicht's English page*
Miro Kasprzyk
