It seems like most people are not amused by mimes. I mean . . . how many times can you watch someone with a white face doing a pantomime of walking down stairs, pulling a rope, or pressing their hands against a glass wall? Back in the 1970s, SHIELDS AND YARNELL had a TV show that centered around mime acts. It didn't last very long. I guess Marcel Marceau was amusing in his brief appearance in SILENT MOVIE. Over the years, I have seen mimes on busy street corners (Boston, Las Vegas, Paris, Belo Horizonte). I might stop and watch them for a minute or two, but then I quickly move on. How about you? Do you love mimes? Do you hate mimes? Do you fear mimes? ARE YOU a mime? (I suspect Circus Circus has mime-like tendencies . . . )
IMHO, they have their uses.
The silent film era wasn't exactly driven by long monologues in Dolby 8.1
As an actor, knowing one can help you get out of the stiff-backed, frozen faced look popular in '50s sci-fi.
They're under-appreciated to say the least.
Quote from: A.J. Bauer on November 12, 2011, 09:40:59 PM
19:49 - The movie has given up. We're hoping midget mimes are amusing the pea-brained audience now.
I love the movie Shakes the Clown, although many hate it. The movie classifies clowns into cliques and hierarchies. The rodeo clowns are the tough bully clique and beat up on party clowns. The party clowns are in the middle. They're afraid of the rodeo clowns, but beat up mimes whenever they see them. Observe:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5srwCNx2Ti0
No.
:thumbdown:
I have never seen a live mime in action. Only on TV.
Do I like mimes? I don't know. Never gave them much thought.
I love Shakes the Clown. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakes_the_Clown)
I think there is a very slim period of time wherein mimes were popular enough to both be mocked and be visible in popular culture. Some time in the late '70s or early '80s. That period has ended, and I would be surprised to see a mime anywhere outside of the Cirque du Soleil in the present era.
In that fashion, mimes are very similar to hare krishnas, who were alive and visible during the same time period. Both movements, once ubiquitous (I guess?) have now died. But their comedy value lives on. I was born in '78, and I couldn't tell you that I've ever seen a mime or hare krishna in real life. And yet now, thirty years later, they are still recognizable people we can lay heaps of derision on.
That's staying power, but probably not in the way they would have hoped.
They're funny for about 1 minute and then you've pretty much had all you need for a lifetime. A friend of mine was talking about making a slasher movie with mimes, called "Dead Silence".
The only times that I've ever found a mime funny in a movie are:
1. The Marcel Marceau scene in Silent Movie where he says the only word in the film [No!] :teddyr:
2. The mime holdup scene where an evil mime is holding a finger to Whoopi Goldberg's head in National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon 1 :teddyr: and
3. The scene in Die Hard With A Vengeance where Bruce Willis nearly runs one over in Central Park. :teddyr:
I recall a mime coming to my high school to perform and it being one of the funniest things I've ever seen. He immitated, by request of the crowd, a freshman with a condom. We easily won over the crowd thought the faculty probalbly were going out of their mind.
I love mimes. They're delicious when grilled with fresh vegetables. :twirl:
I'd probably watch a mime for a minute or two before moving on. The same applies to most street performers, really (do you sit and listen to a busker's full song list? Probably not. Maybe a song or two at most).
Quote from: Jack on November 18, 2011, 08:25:22 AM
They're funny for about 1 minute and then you've pretty much had all you need for a lifetime. A friend of mine was talking about making a slasher movie with mimes, called "Dead Silence".
I agree....and I love the movie idea. :wink:
Quote from: Jack on November 18, 2011, 08:25:22 AM
They're funny for about 1 minute and then you've pretty much had all you need for a lifetime. A friend of mine was talking about making a slasher movie with mimes, called "Dead Silence".
(http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR_bIHF-vieYhFFAt1Gag4y7vRDjK3sw0oQzIfBbAR8Ty-VXB6JzKmXTTXYdw)
Growing up in Los Angeles, I went down to the (in)famous Venice Beach boardwalk (freakshow?) from time to time. There was a mime that performed there that I saw a couple of times, and I have to be honest, he was good. He was funny, and he always drew a pretty big crowd, and it wasn't difficult to see that they were all genuinely entertained.
We make fun of mimes, and that's all good, so do I. However, I actually do recognize the artform, although it's one of those artforms that like sitting through an open mic night. About 95% of the performers are going to be annoying, or pathetic, or unintentionally funny, or like getting your gums scraped. Then there will be that one performer that actually entertains you.
So that's my analogy of mimes: they are like an open mic night.
Like all other forms of entertainment, it all depends on whether or not they have an act.
Did a short film about mimes once. Untrustworthy folk...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YgElOEZZ2s
No. Can't stand them. :thumbdown: