Mime hire in Australia: the complete guide

Mime is mostly misunderstood as a booking. People picture a birthday party and a painted face, and what the category actually delivers in Australia is a roving festival and corporate act: silent comedy that follows people, mirrors their walk, forms a crowd out of nothing and gets a laugh from strangers who never intended to stop.

It is a small listed category and the performers in it tend to be experienced physical comedians rather than beginners. Live prices are below by city. The work clusters where the festival and event calendars are busiest, which is worth knowing before you plan a regional booking.

The common form is roving: the performer moves through a crowd in silence, playing off whoever is nearest, following someone for ten paces, building a small scene and then dissolving it. There is no script and no set list, so the same two hours are different every time depending on who walks past.

The other form is the human statue, a performer holding a pose on a plinth and moving only when someone drops a coin or stands close enough to be surprised. It is a different discipline with different physical demands, and it fills a space rather than working a crowd. Say which you want, because performers rarely do both equally well.

It shines at street festivals, arts events, gallery openings, product launches, shopping centre activations and corporate functions where guests are moving between spaces. Anywhere people are milling with a drink in hand and nothing in particular to look at, a mime turns the dead time into something.

It works poorly as a children's party act, which is the mismatch that brings most people to this page. A room of five year olds wants noise, prizes and something to hold, and a silent performer has none of those. For a party, one of the other children's categories on this site will serve you better.

If you do book a silent performer for a school or a family day, ask which working-with-children clearance they hold and ask to sight the card, because the schemes differ in every state and territory. We list acts here and check nobody, so that part is yours to do.

The live figures by city are below, and fewer performers in this category publish a starting price than in most, so enquiring is more necessary here than usual. Roving is priced by the hour with a minimum, typically in blocks with a break, because silent physical comedy for two hours straight is exhausting.

A brief adds to the cost. If you want the performer in your brand's colours, working a specific product or interacting with a set piece at a launch, that is preparation and often a costume build, and it belongs in the quote rather than in a phone call the week before.

Corporate work is where mime earns its best rates and where it is easiest to get wrong. The act depends on gently embarrassing people in front of their colleagues, and that lands very differently at a young creative agency than at a formal awards dinner with clients in the room.

Talk it through honestly. A good performer will ask about the audience, the seniority in the room, whether anyone is off limits, and how far they can push. If they do not ask, ask them. The performers who have done a lot of corporate work have a clear sense of the line and will describe it to you.

There is almost nothing to set up, which is the whole appeal for an organiser. No power, no sound, no stage. What the performer needs instead is a changing room, somewhere to rest between blocks, and a staff briefing so security and venue staff know who they are and do not move them on.

Tell your photographer too. A roving act produces the best candid pictures of the day and they happen quickly, so a photographer who knows the mime is working will catch them. One who does not will miss every one.