Host: Phyllis Bowdwin

Phyllis: [00:00:03] Welcome to The Moth Podcast. I'm Phyllis Bowdwin, a storyteller and your host for this week. 

You may have heard my story, Quiet Fire. Sometimes a story is all about perspective. Two people can look at the same thing and have wildly different takeaways. That's one of the special things about storytelling. Getting to see something in a whole new light. 

This week, we've got two stories about the exact same event. We'll be doing something a little different this episode. We'll be starting with one storyteller, Cathy Gasiorowicz. We'll pause in the middle to share another story from Janet Clarke that might just shed new light on what happened. Then, we'll finish up with Cathy’s story. We hope you'll enjoy this shift in perspective. 

We're using 2022 to take a look back at each of the first 25 years of The Moth. So, both of these stories are from 2021. 

First up is Cathy Gasiorowicz. She told this story in the Twin Cities. The theme of the night was Celebration. Here's Cathy, live at The Moth.

[cheers and applause]  

Cathy: [00:01:21] Thanks. Thank you. This was spring of 1993, I got a call one day from a gentleman who identified himself as the marketing director for the St. Paul Saints Minor League Baseball team. I heard a bit about them. I don't come from a sports family, but I knew that that was like the one with the bat and the small ball and the guys with the mitts. I don't have any brothers. I know that sounds so, like, sexist. But honestly, my dad was not a good sports role model. 

So, anyway, but I knew a little bit about them. And he said, “So, you're going to get a call from a guy named Mike Veeck. He and Bill Murray are co-owners of the St. Paul Saints and just want to make sure you're a mime, right?” And I said, “That's right.” It didn't sound like an accusation, but I'm always a little bit sensitive to that. 

Anyway, shortly after that, I got a call from a guy named Mike Veeck. And he said, “Hey, can I call you Gaz?” And I said, “Absolutely.” He said, “So, I got this idea. Okay, so our motto is fun is good. Whatever happens at the Saints game, it's supposed to happen. What's happening on the field, that's great. But what happens in the stands, that's what we care about.” 

So, for example, he told me about they have this nun wandering around in the stands who gives haircuts. [audience laughter] And then, between innings they have a mascot, Paulo the pig, and they have pig races. They have people in giant inflatable fat suits and they do wrestling. They did like a six-minute play where they do 60 second scenes between innings, all sorts of stuff. So, he said, “I really don't care if more than one person sees you. But what I want is for all the home games, it's like 40 home games, I want you to do mime in the stands. Got it?” So, I said “Okay. And what would the pay for that be?” “Well, I'm thinking 50 bucks a game.” 

So, now, to give you some perspective as a mime, it would not be my hourly fee. But at the time, 1993, the only thing beneath me was not getting paid. This would have been, by the end of the summer, like two grand, which is bank if you're a mime. [audience laughter] So, I said, “Yeah, I'm in. That sounds really fun.” But then, he said, “But I got a second proposal for you. In addition to that, here's what I want to do. I want to kick the whole thing off, the whole summer of mime off with you and a bunch of your mime friends [audience laughter] entertaining during this game.” 

So, he said, “But wait, here's what I'm thinking, is that we don't have a giant screen at the Saints game, right? So, the mimes are going to do slow motion instant replay. Got it? Every time there's a play, instant.” I said, “Yeah.” He said, “Think it's a good idea?” And I said, “Sure.” I said the only problem is that I'm doing a musical up in northern Minnesota little summer stock theater, so I'm going to miss that night, but I'll be back in time for all the home games, the other home games. And he said, “That's all right. Just take care of it.” 

Phyllis: [00:04:39] Now, before hearing the rest of Cathy's story, let's hear how that day actually went down. Janet Clarke told this story in the Twin Cities too, but the theme of that night was Adventure. Here's Janet, live at The Moth. 

[cheers and applause] 

Janet: [00:05:01] Hi. I'm Janet. If you look at me, you can see that I have dark hair, a slim build, expressive facial features, and let's face it, big hands. I was destined to be a mime. [audience laughter] The year is 1993. I'm wearing a striped shirt and white-faced mime makeup. I'm standing in the infield of the St. Paul Saints baseball team at Midway Stadium. A famous producer has hired six of us mimes to do what he calls Silent Night. His idea is that we're supposed to do Mime-O-Vision, which is instant replays of plays or instant. Yes, instant replays. Because they don't have a video screen. 

Me, I am totally out of my element. There are 5,000 rowdy fans here. Me, I mime at church. 

[audience laughter] But our group has decided that we, even if Mime-O-Vision isn't the most potential entertaining, we are going to give it our best shot. We are going to entertain these folks and win over their hearts with our artistry. So, we've put together this little sketch. It's an improv on a baseball game. We're doing it in the infield to warm up the crowd. It's got all the best mime bits in it. It's got walking against the wind and the moonwalk. We are rocking it, and we start to hear the crowd chant from behind home [unintelligible [00:06:46] They're chanting, “Kill the mimes. Kill the mimes. [audience laughter] Kill the mimes.” So, we finish our sketch, and then it gets worse. 

Instead of going into the crowd in pairs, so we can do Mime-O-Vision together, they say, “No, we're going to send you each into a section. You get to improv with strangers alone.” This is not my skillset. So, I go over there and I just resolve, you know what? I'm just going to keep a low profile, avoid the drunks and just avoid more humiliation. So, I sit and watch the game. [audience laughter] 

I feel guilty. So, I get up, and I brush off the seat next to me and offer it to somebody and I get a smile, I'm like, “Okay. Maybe I can do some of this.” So, I move through the audience, I sit there, I watch, and then I interact with people and I start getting smiles. I'm like, “Okay, keep a low profile, avoid the drunks and don't get humiliated.” It's all going pretty good until the end of the game. 

It's the last inning. And bang. A fly ball comes arcing over to our section. This little kid, about eight or nine, puts out his glove to catch it. Just as he's about to get the ball, whoosh. This big galoot has run down the aisle and snags it out right from in front of him. The crowd is incensed. I hear people muttering, “That jerk. Kid should have had the ball.” He walks back up the aisle and sits down with the ball, and nobody is doing anything. Something deep down inside of me [audience laughter] wells up. This is a job for a mime. [audience laughter]

So, the next thing I know, I'm running down the stairs, I'm kneeling in front of the kid, his chin's quivering, I commiserate. And then, I reenact what just happened. It's the only time Mime-O-Vision made any sense. [audience laughter] 

So, I end with a gesture, wait here. I walk up the steps to where the big guy is sitting with the ball, and he's gloating with his friend. At his feet are a bunch of empty beer cups. Oh-oh, regardless, I get his attention. I replay what just happened and I end with and the child was sad. I put out my hand for the ball and he goes [onomatopoeia] turns away. And I wait. The crowd starts to chant. Only this time they're not chanting, “Kill the mime.” [audience laughter] 

This time they're chanting, “Give the mime the ball. Give the mime the ball. Give the mime the ball.” And boom, he gives it to me. I run down the aisle and I give it to the kid. He all smiles. The crowd around him starts to clap. I take a little bow. I go back to my seat and I'm going, “What just happened?” All I can think is in that moment, artistry overcame humiliation and I didn't get killed. [audience laughter] 

[cheers and applause]

Phyllis: [00:10:24] That was Janet Clarke. We'll tell you more about Janet in a bit. But first, let's hear the rest of Cathy Gasiorowicz story. Remember, she just left the city to do summer stock and didn't know how the Mime-O-Vision night would actually go. Here's Cathy. 

Cathy: [00:10:43] My roommate's boyfriend and a couple of his friends came up to see the show. After the performance, we were sitting around, they said, “Oh, my God, you have no idea. Two nights ago, we were at the Saints game.” And they're like, “All these mimes, just all the mimes in the stand. By the third inning, people were throwing their hot dogs at them.” [audience laughter] Wait. And then, by the fourth inning, they had to send the security detail in to pull them out, because the whole crowd was chanting, ‘Kill the mimes. Kill the mimes. Kill the mimes.’” 

So, we were all laughing and I'm thinking, “Shit.” Totally dodged a bullet on the one hand. On the other hand, I'm thinking that probably is going to just kill my summer of bank. I mean, there's no way Veeck is going to bring me in. 

So, anyway, got back to Minneapolis and I started calling Mike Veeck, just want to make sure that the mime gig was still on and he was not returning my calls. I kept calling and I thought, this is so rude. And finally, he called me back and he said, “Gaz, you steered me wrong. You told me this would be a great idea.” And I said, “Mike, I just agreed with you. I wanted the money.” And he said, “Anyway, so yeah, the gig is off,” which was disappointing, but understandable. 

And then, a while later, I think it was maybe a couple years later, I read in the paper there was an article about all the cool things that the Saints do, with the exception of if there is a bad idea that's tossed around in the promo room, anybody has the right to invoke the mime clause, [audience laughter] which is an indication of a really bad idea. 

A few years later, like long after I had given away my berets and my clown white and most of my striped shoes, shorts, I mean shirts, I got a call from the marketing director at the Saints. And he said, “You still doing mime?” And I said, “Under duress, but sure.” And he said, “All right, I got a gig for you.” 

A couple weeks later in my outfit, I pulled up to a house, hid behind a tree and then when a giant limo pulled up with Mike Veeck and his new bride celebrating their wedding, I jumped out from behind the tree and started doing the mime, the whole thing. [audience laughter] It was delightful. He gave me a huge hug and all was forgiven. Thank you. 

[cheers and applause] 

Phyllis: [00:13:28] That was Cathy Gasiorowicz. Cathy is a Minneapolis based marketing writer, recovering mime and storyteller who's performed at the Minnesota Fringe Festival, The Moth, Patrick's Cabaret, TedX and Story Club. She first went public with her mime, Misadventures in Confessions of a Mime: The Yoplait Years. 

And Janet Clarke, who you heard just before Cathy, is a creative communicator who discovered her voice through mime. She currently coordinates customized community education classes in the Minneapolis suburbs and aspires to make space for people to be inspired. 

To see photos of Janet and Cathy in their mime getup, head to themoth.org/extras. And surprisingly, these aren't the only stories from The Moth that involve the phrase, “Kill the mime.” I told the story a while back about a mime that actually deserved all the hate. 

But when he got two feet away, I lifted my can of pepper spray and I sprayed him in his face. [audience cheers and applause] To hear the rest of that story, we'll have a link in this episode's Extras. Just go to themoth.org/extras. That's all for this episode. We hope you'll come with us as we continue to take a look back at some of our favorite stories from The Moth's 25-year history. From all of us here at The Moth, have a story worthy week. 

Marc: [00:15:18] Sorry, I tried to mime the credits but that doesn't really work in audio. Phyllis Marie Bowdwin, a Bronx born artist, jewelry designer and griot, captures her people stories through her writing and her art. She was a teacher trainer for the New York City Department of Education, Crisis Intervention Counselor for the Marble Collegiate Church, and coordinator of Daytime casting at ABC. Phyllis told her mime story all around the country. 

This episode of The Moth Podcast was produced by Sarah Austin Jenness, Sarah Jane Johnson, Davy Sumner and me Marc Sollinger. The rest of The Moth's leadership team includes Catherine Burns, Sarah Haberman, Jenifer Hixson, Meg Bowles, Kate Tellers, Jennifer Birmingham, Marina Klutse, Inga Glodowski and Aldi Kaza. All Moth stories are true, as remembered and affirmed by their storytellers. 

For more about our podcast, information on pitching your own story and everything else, go to our website, themoth.org. The Moth Podcast is presented by PRX, the Public Radio Exchange, helping make public radio more public at prx.org.