Miming It, While You Say It.
-a master's secret for holding a crowd.
Today we are going to be talking about, adding mime to your patter.
Miming what you say, as you say it.
A good mime can say anything without saying a word. By using his facial expressions, hand gestures, and body movements, a Mime could perform an entire silent opera all by himself.
Most of my spoken act is mimed while I speak.
In a sense I'm always saying it twice at the same time.
This has many advantages.
First of all, if I ever need to go into a silent act, I simply stop speaking and most of my script (and the things that I do) are already mimed out for me.
This means instead of writing a spoken show and then having to write a silent show, I only have to write one show, both of which have the same strength and reliability.
Think about it, all the fine tuning in rehearsal and practice are all the same, so both shows are already rehearsed and tight.
This is handy if the pitch is too noisy or if I find myself in a country where people do not speak my language.
Secondly, any spectator who doesn't speak your language can now understand much of your show.
Thirdly, even if a spectator does speak your language, it can be very difficult sometimes for audiences out there on the street, to catch everything you're doing or trying to lay out for them.
Remember they didn’t come prepared to see a show on a street corner.
They may even be very nervous or have a lot on their minds.
If you mime while you speak, it will make the show clear and simple for them, and believe me, people will appreciate it.
But Miming while you speak does much more, it also allows you to create more material and bits of funny business that wouldn’t be possible otherwise.
Check out how I use mime and patter the wrong way, to add a funny business to my show.
Masters Always Focus On The Subtleties.
Miming while you speak is one of those subtleties that goes unnoticed, but it tells the spectator (subconsciously), that they are watching a professional act.
This makes them feel like they made the right decision stopping to watch some guy on the street.
It also has a strong holding power.
The onlooker just can't look away or think of a reason to walk off.
This of course isn't absolute, but any edge the busker has to hold their audience is a valuable tool they keep in their mental toolbox.
This technique gives the performer a little edge over the rest of the other acts out there.
Important Tips.
When you go into Silent Mime mode, you may have to reposition a couple of your routines to better suit the structure of a silent show, but don't worry you'll be able to feel it out as you go.
Also remember when shifting into Silent Mime mode, to be more charismatic with your face and body, and show a little more emphasis with your gestures, remember you no longer have your voice to hold their attention. You will have to make up for this with Mime Techniques instead.
See my article on being mime loud HERE and scroll down to the section -Learn To Mime Loud. This section teaches techniques Mimes use to get and hold people’s attention without speaking.
It Makes Your Show Bigger Then Life.
Another great thing Miming with patter does, is it makes your show a lot bigger.
People in the back who can’t hear you (especially if you choose not to use an amp) can still understand what’s going on in your show.
Lastly, Miming what you say, can put huge emphasis on what you are saying and better illustrate what you mean.
All these things are critical in show business, because it is one step in making your show bigger than life.
When I was competing in Sankt Wendel Germany at The International Street Magician’s Competition, I had the pleasure of watching the legendary Ted McCoy.
Besides doing mind blowing magic that fooled even all of us Magi out there, he had the unbelievable ability to to do his show in German yet everyone was able to understand the entire show. Remember it was an international competition and we all spoke different languages.
I had already been miming with patter for many years by that time, but it wasn’t until I saw his mastery at it, that I realized the great power it had over an audience.
His show had a way of absolutely hypnotizing his audience, I’ve never seen anything like it. Of course it wasn’t just miming his script that hypnotized them, it was also several other techniques in showmanship that he had mastered over the years, but this doesn’t take away from the point. He was using this technique, because he understood it’s power.
It’s no wonder He won first place, I came in a grateful second.
Ted is an old friend and road buddy of The Late Great Jim Cellini, it was a great honor to work with Ted, and I will cherish that memory all my life.
If you still have any doubts on the validity of my argument here, I submit one Will Flederman, who has made a career at it, even booking himself as The Loud Mime. He is considered the king in New Orleans, pulling huge crowds even in impossible conditions.
You can check out the write up I did on him HERE.
So the next time you tell someone to take a card, point at the cards and mime pulling one out and looking at it, as you tell them to pull one out and look at it.
Ha.
Your Pal Jimmy
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