Mime artist

A Mime artist on the Ponte Sant'Angelo

A mime artist is someone who uses mime as a theatrical medium or as a performance art.

Mimes in film

Silent film comedians like Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd and Buster Keaton learned the craft of mime in the theatre but through film had a profound influence on mimes who work in live theatre even decades after their death. Indeed, Chaplin may be the best documented mime in history.

The famous French comedian, writer and director Jacques Tati achieved his initial popularity working as a mime, and indeed his later films had only minimal dialogue, relying instead on many subtle expertly choreographed visual gags. Tati, like Chaplin before him, would mime out the movements of every single character in his films and ask his actors to repeat them.

Mimes have often appeared in science fiction and fantasy films. The physical training of the mime when combined with a well designed costume can result in a fantastic, yet believable creature. In this regard, the distinction between mime and puppeteer has become blurred. More recent developments in computer animation such as motion capture or mocap technology allow for actors' movements to be used in creating animated characters. As a result, some mimes are beginning to work with animators in creating characters.

Mimes have also been portrayed in film, most notably in Les Enfants du Paradis, which featured both Jean-Louis Barrault in the role of Jean-Gaspard Deburau and Decroux as his father. However, when mimes are portrayed in film, it is just as common for filmmakers to have actors with little mime training to perform a stereotype of a mime as it is possible for a skilled artist to either perform or choreograph the performance on screen.

Well known mime artists/movement theatre artists

• Alejandro Jodorowsky
• Achille Zavatta
• Adrian Pecknold
• Bill Bowers
• Bill Irwin
• Blue Man Group
• Buster Keaton
• Carlos Martínez
• Charles Chaplin
• Claude Kipnis
• Dan Kamin
• Daniel Stein
• Dario Fo
• Ennio Marchetto
• Etienne Decroux
• Gene Sheldon (banjoist)
• George L. Fox
• Gregg Goldston
• Harpo Marx (The Marx Brothers)
• Henryk Tomaszewski
• James Donlon
• Jacques Lecoq
• Jacques Tati
• Janet Carafa
• Jean-Gaspard Debureau
• Jean-Louis Barrault
• Jean-Jacques Menais
• K&K Mime
• Kate Bush
• Ladislav Fialka
• Marcel Marceau
• Michael Lee
• Mikael Rudolph
• Mimey McMime
• Mummenschanz
• Oleg Popov
• Pablo Zibes
• Pan Tau
• Samuel Avital
• Samy Molcho
• Shields And Yarnell
• Stan Laurel
• Stefan Niedzialkowski
• Teller (magician) (Penn and Teller)
• Thomas Leabhart
• Toma (mime artist) Thomas Johnson
• Tik and Tok
• Tony Montanaro
• Wolfe Bowart

Trivia

• David Bowie studied mime with Lindsay Kemp in 1967 to add another element to his performances.

See also

• Clown
• Corporeal mime
• Coulrophobia, the fear of clowns and clown-like characteristics (inc. mimes)
• Etienne Decroux
• Floating (dance)
• Liquid dancing
• Popping (dance)

External links

Information

• Classic Mime Artist Characters
• Pantomime in Ukraine
• Information on Etienne Decroux's Corporeal mime
• The World of Mime Theatre International mime theatre information, including a library, resources, performer contacts, and events calendar.

mimes are also people who dont speak when thay are an the job