‘Mimi from France’ clowns around on Blind Date
Improv places audience member in hot seat for rendezvous
Developed by Canadian improv actor Rebecca Northan in 2009, Blind Date places a member of the audience onstage for a 90-minute improvisational blind date with a clown named Mimi.
Since Northan launched the show in 2007, there have been more than 700 performances with various actresses playing Mimi.
One of the most recent is Regina-raised Tess Degenstein, who is bringing the show to Vancouver (and, from Jan. 2 to Feb. 3, 2019, to various other locations in the Lower Mainland).
We talked to the 31-yearold actor about any insights into human nature she might have gleaned since beginning to do the show, and why the clown nose.
Q After having done this show, are you better able to read people?
A I don’t know if I’ve learned to read people. I guess I’ve just learned to sit with people, if that makes sense. It’s definitely helped me get over my own social anxiety.
I feel like I could be thrown into any conversation at this point and be OK, which has been a huge gift. Getting over that social anxiety enables you to see the other person more clearly, to get out of yourself and be present with them. That’s my job in the show. And that has a trickle effect into my life.
Q Is there a difference between meeting someone onstage and randomly out in the real world?
A Definitely. I use content from my real life onstage. If I’m onstage and expecting someone to share their real selves, then it only seems fair that I’m not making up stuff.
Having said that, we have some parameters for everyone’s safety, and in the interest of play and fun.
Though I am being honest and sharing of myself, I’m also doing it with a clown nose, and as this person with another name, Mimi from France. That’s the only little lie I tell.
Q What is the purpose of the clown nose?
A It’s to remind the audience and the gentleman I’m sitting across from that this is all just about play and theatre. If it was just two people sitting across from each other, sharing their real lives, the boundaries could start to blur.
Q How do you select the audience member?
A I put the nose on and take on this clown character and then we mingle with people as they’re coming into the theatre about half an hour before the show. We’re looking for that spark. If you were at a cocktail party and having conversations with a bunch of people, who is the person you would want to go back and talk to, who you had great rapport with?
Q How did the producers find you, or did you find them?
A I met Rebecca (Northan) when I was 18 or 19 at an improv theatre in Calgary. We had various intersections over the past 10 years, and they were looking for someone to train to take on Mimi. About three-and-a-half years ago I got an email that said, “Hey, do you want to learn how to do the show?”
Q What, if anything, have you learned about human nature from Blind Date?
A: That everyone is interesting, and everyone is lovable.