After a sold out run and massive criticial acclaim in 2009, Mimi (Rebecca Northan) returned to World Stage last night for two scintillating weeks of Blind Date. In the show, Mimi is stood up by her date and randomly selects a man from the audience to be her romantic stand-in. What follows is awkward, unpredictable, hilarious and sexy! Every show is as different as that night’s “date”. A skilled artist with exceptional timing and balance, Rebecca embraces the social awkwardness of the blind date in this wholly original piece. What follows is a first-person account of the process of creating and developing the Mimi clown character.
I confessed to a friend at lunch recently that I really get the willies when it comes to discussing my “process”. I’ve always felt that it’s PRIVATE, and for anyone outside the acting profession, probably a bit boring, or worse, self-indulgent! And yet, I’m asked again and again, “How did you develop the character of Mimi?
The short answer is I don’t really know, and the medium answer is I had a red dress I wanted to wear, then I added a clown nose and a French accent. The long answer is . . .
I really didn’t know anything about the clown world before I was asked to create a piece for the Spiegelshow at Harbourfront Centre in 2007 — well, I did know that I thought most clowns are sort of creepy! — and yes, much to my horror, I discovered that there IS a clown world, second in creepiness only to the world of mimes.
The idea of using a clown character came directly from the environment of the Spiegeltent — I thought it looked and felt like a sexy, adult circus, and I thought that I might fit in by providing the element of a sexy, adult clown. I’m an actor and an improviser so I figured, “How hard can it be to just throw on a clown nose and go?!”
The original 10-minute piece, where I pulled a man from the audience to go on a date with me to see how far we could take it, was so successful that I wondered if it might have legs as a full length show where we actually take the time to get to know the man who comes up on stage.
Since the inception of the full length Blind Date I’ve taken some training in clown from John Turner of Mump and Smoot fame. That was very cool and quite helpful in confirming a few of my gut instincts. I still think a lot of clowns are creepy, though if you’ve ever had the chance to see a GREAT clown, you will know that nothing compares to the open-hearted, hilarious, raw humanity of a world class, capital C, Clown.
As for Mimi, she still wears my favourite red dress and has a French accent because who better to seduce an audience than a saucy French girl? She’s all the best parts of myself, which is to say that Mimi is all innocence and experience, strength and vulnerability, loneliness and courage, hilarity and heartbreak. That little red nose, often referred to as the smallest mask in the world, gives me permission, and gives my date permission to open up and play and have some fun and just be ourselves because in the end, I’m just a f-ing clown! And hey, maybe we’ll fall in love.
WHERE/WHEN: Blind Date is at Harbourfront Centre’s World Stage (235 Queens Quay West, 416-973-400) February 23 – March 6 at 8 pm; $30. NOTE: This is a 19+ event.
Photos by Dale Simmons
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Saw it once last summer and never laughed so hard! You can’t help but feel for the nervous guy on stage. Mimi has a gift that transforms awkward moments into the most comical situations with her dates for premium entertainment. I’m going back next week!
Rolande
Ottawa
I’m so grateful for this blog and the many wonderful productions, events, and people it regularly highlights. You’ve highlighted so many treasures I otherwise might not know about.