A mime artist is someone who uses mime as performance art, involving miming, or the acting out a story through body motions, without use of speech. The word Mime comes from the Greek word “mimos” which means imitator or actor. In earlier times, in English, such a performer was referred to as a mummer. The performance of the pantomime comes from Ancient Greece; the name is taken from a single masked dancer called Pantomimus, although performances were not necessarily silent. In early nineteenth century Paris, Jean Gaspar Deburau solidified the many attributes that we have come to know in modern times such as the silent figure in whiteface.

A man by the name of Jacques Copeau, strongly influenced by "Commedia dell'arte" and "Japanese Noh theatre" which we covered in class, used masks in the training of his actors. A man names Étienne Decroux started exploring and developing the “mime” and also developed corporeal mime into a sculptural form, taking it outside of the realms of naturalism. Another man named Jacques Lecoq contributed to the development of mime and physical theatre with his unique training methods.

Before the twentieth century performances were largely conjecture, based on interpretation of diverse sources. However, the twentieth century also brought the motion picture. The restrictions of early motion picture technology meant that stories had to be told with minimal dialogue. This demanded a stylized form of physical acting that largely came from the stage. The mime played an important role in films prior to invention of talkies (films with sound or speech).

Silent film comedians like Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd and Buster Keaton learned the craft of mime in the theatre and they would have a profound influence on mimes working in live theatre even decades after their death. Charlie Chaplin may be the most well documented mime in history. Without mimes we would not have theater as we know it today!

Two interesting facts about mimes
Never speaks
Lives in their own world