mug1 m?g/ verbinformal gerund or present participle: mugging 1. attack and rob (someone) in a public place. "he was mugged by three men who stole his bike" synonyms: assault, attack, set upon, beat up, rob; More dated fight or hit (someone). 2. make faces, esp. silly or exaggerated ones, before an audience or a camera. "he mugged for the camera"
"Mug" is a slang term for "face." "Mugging" is using outrageous facial expressions to grab attention, as in the term "Mugging for the camera."
That's one explanation, at least. I'm sure the greater minds here will have others, as well. (< example of "mugging.)
Cheyenne Jackson tickled me. AFTER ordering SoMMS a drink but NOT tickling him, and hanging out with Girly in his dressing room (where he DIDN'T tickle her) but BEFORE we got married. To others. And then he tweeted Boobs. He also tweeted he's good friends with some chick on "The Voice" who just happens to be good friends with Tink's ex. And I'm still married. Oh, and this just in: "Pettiness, spite, malice ....Such ugly emotions... So sad." - After Eight, talking about MEEEEEEEE!!! I'm so honored! :-)
Lucille Ball in "I Love Lucy" was the perfect example of mugging. In fact, she had different names for her mugging.
When she screwed up her face and cried "But Ricky" she called that the Puddle.
When she curled up her lip and went "Ewwwww" that was the Spider.
The third one I've forgotten the name for, but it was when she knew something was wrong and she got that open mouth and bug eyes.
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
I don't consider what Lucy did as mugging because I look at the term "mugging" as something negative, as I pointed out with Kathy lee Gifford. It is done by performers who are extremely self conscious and not a comedic genius such asLucille Ball.
I would agree - I have always thought of mugging as a negative thing. Face pulling that takes you out of the moment. If it works in context I wouldn't call it mugging.
Actually mugging wasn't negative until the "acting" teachers made it so. Uta Hagen, Lee Strasberg, Stella Adler, etc all came along and brought natural acting to the theater which didn't include mugging.
Mugging was very popular in the British Music Halls, in American Vaudeville, in Yiddish Theatre. What Lucille Ball did was mugging because it was instinctual and she hadn't been taught natural acting. You will also see Carol Burnett do it to great effect, especially when she is playing the parody of Norma Desmond.
Mugging is a negative thing when done out of the context of comedy (you see it in soap operas) or when it's done one too many times (yes I'm looking at you Nathan Lane).
With Kathy Lee Gifford, she hasn't refined the technique of mugging and doesn't know how to properly use it, therefore she doesn't do it correctly.
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
Mugging is very much by instinct. I took an acting class where one of the students was a black woman who really had the instinct for it. With one look, she could have the audience screaming with laughter. It was wonderful watching her because she knew how to control it and work it for maximum effect in a scene.
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
I am not a fan of Kathy Lee but she isn't really an actress, is she? She's a television host. I've never seen her on stage or in a movie where I would say she was "mugging". I am just wondering why people are singling her out for mugging when she isn't even primarily an actress.
Actually, a lot of people get mugging mixed up with "signaling". Signaling is when you tell the audience what you're about to do. "I'm getting ready to cry. Watch me cry." You see this a lot in community theater because they don't trust themselves to be in the moment.
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
" I am just wondering why people are singling her out for mugging when she isn't even primarily an actress."
You're arguing semantics. I don't care what you call her. She's on tv, there's a camera. She's quite well known for mugging. Haven't you ever seen one of the skits on SNL making fun of her constant mugging?
"Actually, a lot of people get mugging mixed up with "signaling". Signaling is when you tell the audience what you're about to do. "I'm getting ready to cry. Watch me cry."
Well, I know that I"m DEFINITELY not talking about Kathy Lee Gifford doing that. God, if HOda says something, Gifford will roll her eyes out of her head into the camera. oy vey
Kathy Lee's problem is that she doesn't know how to fit her performance to her co-host. She still thinks she's playing off of Regis where all those larger than life reactions worked in the context of relating to him.
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
Nope. I haven't seen a SNL skit about Kathy Lee, and I think the performance of a celebrity on TV on a talk show is not the same as the performance of an actor on stage.