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Monday Magazine
Victoria, BC, September 3, 1998
Mime Out Loud
By Rob Wipond

Do mimes get any better than this? There’s something for every sensibility in Trent Arterberry’s show, from a melodramatic cowboy shoot-em-up to an ethereal rendition of the tragic flight of Icarus.

Whether he’s swimming underwater or trying to drive while high, Arterberry deconstructs our physical world and reveals the absurdity and magic within it. Even when he occasionally employs mime “standards”, like jerking robotic movements, his uncommon technical proficiency makes every twitch intriguing and humorous.

Along with terrific physical skills, Arterberry makes amusing use of musical accompaniment to drive the narrative, engagingly blends storytelling with traditional mime, and relaxes the audience between scenes with lighthearted and provocative banter. Quite simply, he’s a highly trained and experienced performer who Victorians are fortunate to get a chance to see for such a bargain price.

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The Boston Globe
Trent Arterberry works his silent magic
By John Engstrom

The local mime Trent Arterberry gave a solo performance Saturday that managed to warm the audience even with the nearly arctic temperature in the outdoor Publick Theatre, next to the Charles River.

A proven crowd-pleaser, Arterberry is highly skilled at what he does, which ranges between descriptive mime and interpretive dance, and sometimes combines the two. The introduction saw Arterberry, an angular blond in his usual whiteface and tight-fitting outfit, frantically trying to align his head with his body, both of which refused to stay put. The audience responded happily, as they did toward the end of the program when the artist enlisted one of the number to perform opposite him in a piece about waitering called “Dinner for Two.” After that piece he got several members of various ages to participate in a conga line around the theater. Not my idea of audience involvement (give me “Marat/Sade” any day), but silly, harmless fun.

Then in “Desperado” one saw flashes of silent film clowns Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin as Arterberry played a comically self-regarding cowboy in all the stock situations — a card game, a shoot-out, girl-chasing, riding a horse — and parodying the clichés even as he aped them. Arterberry is funny without being cute, and like a cartoonist his lines of gesture and movement are broad but precise and speedy as a whiplash. He moves outrageously fast, but not so fast that the movement slurs.

“Black Magic” was an eye-catching if familiar circus trick consisting of phosphorescent strips of tape on a darkened stage. Of all the numbers, “War” was closest to dance, a series of portentous ritual gestures enacted under a red light. The evening’s one gem was a satirical sketch called “TV” in which the mime hilariously alternated between playing television personalities, including Julia Child, and a very mindless consumer.

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The Grove Examiner
Spruce Grove, Alberta Jan 28, 2000
No joke—this mime impresses
By Christopher Nash


All too often when mime pops up in everyday conversation, it ends up being the butt of jokes. But last weekend a master of mime showed what’s so great about the performance art form. It’s just plain fun to watch.

Trent Arterberry is a rubber-faced, rubber-limbed performer who clearly knew more than how to escape out of imaginary walls or walk against the wind. He’s been miming for nearly a quarter century, and even studied with famed mime icon Marcel Marceau. It showed on Jan. 22 when he was in Spruce Grove.

The American performer who is nearly 50 years old showed both impressive flexibility in his movements and imagination in the choreography of his routines. Several were set to music, while others were performed while he narrated a story. But the standouts were the opening number, when Arterberry came out as Robo-man complete with grinding sound effects as he moved about checking out audience members, and Arterberry’s interpretation of the circle of life beginning and ending in the womb.

There were other memorable moments, like a journey under the sea in search of mermaids, or a dance sequence done while wearing glow in the dark material. The crowd was left in stitches with two numbers that had volunteers from the audience involved. One had three young children telling the story of Jack and the Beanstalk while receiving on-stage cues from Arterberry. The other closed the show, and left a man sitting in the front row with a red face—even through the white clown makeup that was applied in an amazingly short time by Arterberry.

The pace was quick, the material was varied enough to keep the audience interested, and the show’s length, about 70 minutes, seemed just right. The audience, which was about half-full at Horizon Stage, was mostly of the younger variety, and the show seemed particularly targeted at them, though there were a few jokes with more adult connotations thrown in for the parents and grandparents as well. I’d wager anyone who saw the performance won’t be quick to poke fun of mimes after seeing one so enjoyable to watch.

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Penticton Herald
Penticton, BC—January 15, 2008
Mime provided fine finish to Showcase season
by Alanna Matthew

The Children's Showcase season closed with a brilliant performance by a seasoned mime artist, Trent Arterberry.

For one hour, Arterberry peopled the stage with a variety of characters in his "Big Show," and held his audience enthralled and delighted. From toddlers to grandparents, we all got involved in our own fashion, calling out suggestions, clapping, and of course, using our imaginations.

Arterberry is a trim, athletic figure with an expressive face. His movements, honed by long practice to convey meaning and emotion, are as precise and controlled as a dancer's. He used sound to create mood, either the accompaniment of music (a Strauss gallop, a Scott Joplin rag or mouth noises of his own).

We saw him portray a robot, a father changing a baby's diaper (Arterberry told us he has recently become a first-time father), and a series of sports activities for the youngsters to guess.

In "Scuba Dude," he played three characters, the love-smitten diver, the sexy mermaid and the ravening shark; the whole story choreographed to a watery score. The classic encounter between a wimp and a bully was staged with a black screen, so Arterberry could disappear and reappear, changing his stature and demeanour.

He also did a television sequence, showing with his gestures what programs he was watching; western, news, comedy, horror and finally, something so boring that he fell asleep.

As a man trapped in an ever-shrinking box, his hands moved desperately over the invisible surfaces and one was reminded of a Marcel Marceau routine. (Arterberry actually studied mime with the master.)

One of the highlights was when the performer acted on suggestions from the audience. "Give me names of three objects," he said.

Young voices called out from all over the theatre. "Gherkin!" "Plane!" "Toaster!" These were the words picked, and one would think a challenge to act on. In "Gherkin," Arterberry grew and ripened in an imaginary garden and then shriveled in vinegar. As a plane he had fun being both pilot and the nosediving plane.

The funniest was "Toast," in which he started as a self-satisfied slice of Wonderbread that first enjoyed the heat, smearing himself with sun-tan lotion and then, gradually seized with panic, ended up as a burnt square.

One must congratulate the dad from the audience who was conscripted to improvise a tug-of-war with the performer onstage. He followed directions very well and even added his own touches. What a sport! He ended up with a white clown face as Arterberry demonstrated the traditional mime make-up. Luckily this wiped off easily.

The theme of this Big Show, turned out to be Mr. Bigg, a puppet who danced to different styles of music. Not half as clever as Arterberry himself, in my opinion.

Arterberry is a skilled professional who sparked our imaginations.

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