Confession time ... I am a mime. I have been a mime my whole life. I have a Master's degree in mime. I should know my fair share about mime. I also live in a mime bubble so questions time.
So man am I surprised by the most commonly googled questions starting "are mimes...".
Well let me answer all your questions and maybe even some more in this short article:
1. Are mimes clowns?
The short answer to this question is simply no. But the long one is yes, why the hell not?
Mimes are their own genre, kind or species if you like, but on the other hand clowns as many other like actors and dancers take a lot of influences and basis from mimes.
So a clown can be silent and not speak a word. A clown can have a white face make-up that is very similar to a classical white face mime make-up. A clown can be a master of his body and expressions and even use imaginary mime techniques to his advantage.
But nontheless a clown will be clown and a mime will be mime. Clown is not a mime. Clown can become a mime and use clown principles in his mime performance and a mime can become a clown and use his mime tricks to enhance his clown performance. And many famous clowns are great mimes and also many mimes are great clowns.
For example one of the biggest names in mime Marcel Marceau's most famous character was "Bip" or "Bip, the clown".
And this makes a perfect bridge to the second question.
2. Are mime artists French?
The short answer to this question is again no. But the long one is that the mime as we know it is here because of the french mimes of the last centuries.
Mime originated in ancient Greece and Rome, but it reached its peak of popularity in France during the 17th and 18th centuries when Jean-Gaspard Deburau developed it to the level we would recognise as a mime and he made himself and mime famous in his lifetime.
Later in the mid 20th century came Marcel Marceau and brought mime to the biggest fame and popularity worldwide. He developed imaginary mime and helped Michael Jackson with his signature moonwalk. His mime was full of symbols and the audience needed to know the vocabulary of his modern mime to be able to read it and follow all the nuances of his performances.
But to get to the question at hand. No. Mime artists don't need to be French. There are mime artists in the most countries in the world nowadays. All of them unique and with their own style. Many follow the teachings of Marcel Marceau to this day and you will easily recognise them by their almost uniform Marceau style of mime, grand gestures and specific movement vocabulary also refered to as a "French mime".
3. Are mimes real?
I hope I won't say anything I shouldn't. But yes. Mimes are very real.
It's probably a similar sort of question like if Finland is a real country. And that is also yes because I live there, so I would not exist on many levels if mimes and Finland weren't real.
And also, mimes are responsible for making the invisible visible for you so if they didn't exist and were invisible themselves, they would have a really tough job to do.
But to be at least a little bit serious with this question, someone who didn't see a mime in their life could be curious if it's a real thing and I get it. The way mime is represented with the costume and white face and a berret is so weird that the question is on point.
So the truth is that mimes are real and most of them don't wear that costume or use white face anymore so it is harder to spot and identify them. And there is a lot of mimes who are not professionals but they still did or do mime and they look like ordinary people. But they have some extraordinary imagination and other skills that your everyday folk don't have.
4. Are mimes still a thing?
Let's get back to the short answer: Yes. And the long one: Hell yeah.
Mimes are very much a thing to this day all over the world. There are not that many super famous mimes or anything like that but the interest in mime is at a very high level.
There are not only many mime performers in the world but there even some mime teachers who are spreading mime at their workshops across the world to people of all ages and professions. Only I teach hundreds of people every year and there are more mimes making workshops throughout the world then just myself.
There are also many dedicated mime festivals full of mime enthusiasts, performers and people who just love mime art in all shapes and forms. For example in this year (2023) we celebrate 30th anniversary of one of the oldest pantomime festivals, Festival PAN in Slovakia where there's more than 300 children, teens and adults learning and performing pantomime every year for 30 years now. But there are many more mime festivals around the world to explore.
5. Are mimes in circus?
There is only one answer to this question and the answer is yes. Although it can also be clowns using mime as a tool to on top of their usual clown tools.
But there can be occasionally real mimes instead of clowns having their own number or filling the spot between the dangerous circus numbers. Mimes definitely have their place in circus with the other artists even though it is not a high adrenaline performance. It is because they can mime the dangerous performances and parody them to ease the pressure of the show.
You can nowadays see plenty of mimes in the most famous circus of our time, Cirque du Soleil. They use mimes extensively in their shows mostly as a thread that sew's together the whole show, circus number by circus number so in the end, there is a storyline and a feeling of a complete performance. So in this case, mimes are very important part of circus.
I hope all your "ARE" questions were answered here.
But if you have still more questions don't hesitate to drop by my website www.contemporarymime.com or contact me @contemporarymime on any social media and ask me more or get an online class of mime with a glass of wine.