White-face and black tights...
1
f
Comedy
Story by VANESSA KOKESH
Photos by BOB BAKER
Russ Fish grimaces and strains in a herculean effort to lift an imaginary barbell Fish teaches a class on
mime and performs in Eugene
7
A mask of white paint hides a
lighting salesman No one
knows who he is, but everyone
knows what he is
Once he steps in front of a
crowd, Russ Fish transforms
from a merchant into a silent
comedian — a mime
Fish began miming two years
ago under the instruction of
Vaugn Avery, a 14-year veteran
of mime and owner of the
Theatre of Movement mime
troupe Fish and Avery formed
the four-member Eugene group
that once claimed 11 actors
Fish and co-instructor Kate
Holcomb teach a two-hour class
on mime in hopes of recruiting
more members to the troupe
Mime is the art of silent ex
pression, although it is not al
ways silent It is one of the fas
test growing and changing arts
in the United States," Fish says
When most people think of
mimes, they imagine a silent,
white-faced figure dressed in
black
Although a mime's mask may
be paper-mache or plaster
gauze, white grease paint —
called white-face — more com
monly is used This mask gives
the face a look of neutrality and
anonymity
"Once you put on your white
face, no one knows who you
are And that makes it easier to
perform You can act crazy and
it doesn't matter," Fish says
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Mtmes highlight their faces
with black lines Each mime
draws a different face They ex
periment until they find one they
like the best
"I'm still drawing different
lines all the time, and I probably
will until I find the right face "
Holcomb says
The class taught by Fish and
Holcomb stresses performance
They would like to see everyone
get involved in shows
Class member Marty Eastman
says she wants to be a member
of the Theater of Movement
troupe She became interested
when she started sewing cos
tumes for the mimes
"I use mime with the kids,"
says Eastman, an education
supervisor in the Eugene Head
Start program "They love it "
Each class begins with a
warm-up Isolation exercises
develop movement control of
each body part
Students then move on to dif
ferent walks, but they don't go
too far Fish teaches three stan
dard walks done in place Once
these fancy steps are mastered,
students advance to other
movements
Mimes incorporate move
ments into illusions such as
tugging on an imaginary rope
or climbing an invisible wall.
Ultimately, students will inte
grate movement and illusions
into character development
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Fish says people attracted to
mime usually are theater
oriented He has taught drama
students, jugglers and dancers
He stresses being in good
physical shape
The better you are in tune
with your body, the more aware
you are of your body." he ex
plains
Mime takes a lot of time You
need time with yourself to think
of what you're doing and a lot of
physical practice "
The mime trend has grown
here, ironically by word-of
mouth, says Fish, who says he
performs not for money but for
his love of performance Cur
rently two mime groups display
their silent prowess around
Eugene
The Theater of Movement
group appeals to a more adult
audience in terms of subject
matter, he says Fish claims
mime has a serious and even
philosophical side that a mature
audience would appreciate All
their acts come from the
members' creative imagina
tions
“You can contrast mime with
television, which lays everthing
out for you,” he says. “Mime
makes you think. That's why
mime lends itself better to adult
audiences "
Fish says he feels that he's
often on stage, even in
everyday, one-on-one conver
sations
“After you get into mime, it
almost becomes a way of life
"You find yourself performing
and you don't even know it.”
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