Is it an insult to be called a "ham"?
Tue, 28 Apr 2009, 06:05 pmPffft24 posts in thread
Is it an insult to be called a "ham"?
Tue, 28 Apr 2009, 06:05 pmAm I over reacting? I've just completed a season of comedy/thriller "Tip Toe Through the Tombstones". I'm under no illusion that the play is anything but pure entertainment, the characters are one dimentional and were portrayed as such. We had full houses every night and lots of fantastic audience reaction and feedback.
I've read 2 reviews by the same author. One was featured on this website (not sure if you can view it under reviews but it's called "ham_4_t"). The other mention of the play was in the Garrick Theatre newsletter. In both reviews he called the cast "hams". Some of his comments were very personal and 2 cast members were extremely insulted by them, however I'm not going into that. My beef (pun intended) lays with the fact that he called us "ham actors". Examples of his work are:
"it had a cast of the hammiest actors every to grace the boards"
"the overwhelming smell of pork in the air"
"excessive ham acting on stage"
"clearly put into perspective what it truly means to be a ham"
Two online dictionary definitions for "ham actor" are:
"An incompetent actor who over plays and is incapable of subtility. An over-actor"
"An unskilled actor"
Of course, he's entitled to his opinion and all reviews are subjective but why try to mask the fact that he hated the play and the acting by writing "I loved it".
So, my question is.... is it an insult to be called a ham actor. I certainly feel insulted. Would you?
Indeed Jeff, I think there
Tue, 28 Apr 2009, 09:09 pmIndeed Jeff, I think there are certainly times when 'hamming it up' can be a lot of fun for both the actor and the audience. I haven't done pantomime (yet), but I've appeared in one or two of Johnny Grim's comedies where 'hamminess' is almost a necessity! I've never (thus far at least) been called a ham, but I was once described as 'cartoonish' in a review of a Johnny Grim play. It was intended as criticism, but since it was evident that the reviewer missed the point of the play's ridiculous premise, I took it as a back-handed compliment. It certainly didn't bother me or persuade me to tone my performance down at all.
Although I unfortunately wasn't able to see 'Tiptoe Through The Tombstones', I did hear about it from others who did and, of course, I read your comments on it. I didn't think your observations were at all intended to cause offence and I would have thought it was patently obvious that references to ham acting were tongue-in-cheek and perfectly in context. As far as I can see, you have nothing to apologise for. So don't!
If the play had been a serious drama, then that would have been different altogether. Suggestions of ham acting would indeed have been seen as offensive (certainly to those they were aimed at!), but even then I'm sure you would have exercised a little more tact in your choice of words . . . being the likeable fellow that you are, of course!
Per Ardua Ad Astra