Silent Rocco | Blog

What you see above is my latest take on self-advertisement (something you should constantly try to master in your career as a freelancer). It’s a small decal for in- and outdoor use. I just ordered it and would now love to give you some insights on its creation process.

Short back story: In 2006, I already designed a decal which simply said “I’m your personal robot” in reminiscence of my Man Machines robot act with nothing on it but the sentence and the logo of my company. It was quite successful, people were sticking it on microwaves, mobile phones, laptops … and although not a direct ad for me in the first place, people loved it. But since I’m out of stock now, I thought about going one step further and came up with the new concept of having a blank space instead of the “robot” for several reasons: Read more

Although this is still a very young blog, I already have to post something quite off-topic. But if you use your imagination while watching the main protagonist in the pic above, you’ll have to admit that there is a certain similarity to Charlie Chaplin or even Pan Tau (German and Czech readers should know him). So, we are back on track. But I really have got a strong urge to share this little web treasure with you. The Company of Myself is a beautiful little flash game with 20 rather short levels. Nevertheless, some minutes ago it just fucked my mind and broke my heart. Right now, I’m totally speechless and I simply want to pass this emotional experience on.

Since I don’t want to spoil anything, just one advice: don’t skip any in-game text. Seriously, please take your time like you would with a glass of good wine, a great movie or a wonderful mime performance (to close the circle). And once you reach the end, please leave a comment and tell me what you think. Now enjoy! Read more

A strange mechanized entity appears – left on its own – and starts to play with an imaginary sphere. Losing itself in this solitary game it falls asleep – dreaming about love. Suddenly, its fantasies assume shape, come into existence. In a globe of glass a fairy slowly awakes and begins to dance, absent-minded and withdrawn in her own universe. At this very moment, she encounters the robot. A collision of two counterpole worlds takes its course…

For this nonverbal show I teamed up with the fantastic Emilie Bajard from Spheric E-motion. We created it especially for an intimate corporate event of LG Romania (you might have noticed the branded robot). Fun fact: the responsible agency in Bucharest has booked us separately and after a first phone call, we just realized that we are practically neighbors. Quite handy for rehearsals. Regarding Star-crossed, both of us are pretty much in love with this 13-min stage play and the response from audiences was always positively overwhelming. So, we really wish to get many more chances to perform it in the future. I mean, a fairy in a bubble flirting with a man machine, who on earth doesn’t want to see that?

Some days ago, on a grey and cold evening, I was going to the nearest movie theater to watch Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. Btw, if you haven’t done it already, go and see this brilliant movie. Now! But boy was I surprised, when I saw the use of mime in a commercial for a major brand running before the feature film.

Of course, for many of you this ad isn’t anything special. But I got really excited, since this short video is devoting quite some attention to this pretty untrendy art. And although this won’t arouse a wave of new mime schools, it’s an important step to present mime in the proper light. That already makes me very happy. So, if you are searching for some professional preparation to worm your way out of an equally embarrassing situation: I teach mime courses.

Update aka some additional thoughts on the video: I really like about this ad that they don’t show the typical mime stereotype as usual. Here, it’s all about some good technique and anything else. Everyone can do it and it doesn’t lose its magic or coolness without any silly costume. Dear agency, nice move! And in conclusion, I have to admit that her technique is damn great!

Oh boy, I cannot tell you how many times I’ve watched his videos. Michel Courtemanche is a Canadian comedian and actor. But most of all, he is a one of a kind mime artist. I saw him in 90s German television where he presented his best sketches to millions of people. With him mime became pop culture. Besides laughing my head off, I was immediately intrigued by his blilliant skills, which I think are still unmatched to date. This, ladies and gentlemen, is mime technique in perfection. But simply see for yourselves. 2 videos showing my childhood hero in action. Timeless. Priceless.

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Birth of a passion

Chapter 1: It happened just some years after I was born. In 1987, my older brother got the idea of taking five-year-old Rocco on tour with his breakdance group. I loved this world: cool music, cool clothes and damn cool moves all around me. So I became a little robot and in each show in the many clubs around my hometown Grossenhain, my brother winded me up and I was running around like a little robot toy. Nothing special as far as I can recall. But the audience loved the fact, that I was very young. I remember loads of smiling faces around me, friendly masses, big rounds of applause and cheer in even bigger locations. Now I know, these places were mostly small village clubs. But in these days it felt awesome. Being up late at night, hanging around with people ten years older than me and having the chance to perform on a stage. What a fantastic time.

Chapter 2: 1995. I was 14 years old and the big talent contest of my school was calling for entries. Fuel to my fire! I created a little mime performance not knowing anything about this art form. To the title song of Beverly Hills Cop, Axel F, I entered he stage wearing strange black jogging clothes and some funny sun-glasses. The little robot was back again. Within three minutes, I presented some self-taught mime moves like doing the wall, pulling the rope etc. put together to a little story named “Clumsy Fellow”. Suddenly … Read more

Hello and thanks for stopping by. This is my first blog post. And this is even my first blog. But don’t worry, I’m not planning to start another isn’t-my-cat-cute site although I love cats. Furthermore, it will be a page about my big passion – which you can call mime, nonverbal theater or neomime (more on this soon) – with interesting insights, videos, interviews and stuff I simply don’t know yet. I’m quite excited and I hope to ignite your enthusiasm on this beautiful yet unrecognized topic. It would be cool to see you coming back from time to time. Now let’s head over to the official part: 3, 2, 1, 0 AND LIFT OFF!