Small bodies, big heads

Here is a pastime that is sure to amuse you and your friends. It seems to me suitable for Carnival. It would also have a good effect in a conjuring session, during an intermission for example, or in a comic scene. Likewise, it would accompany very well a monologue that you recite. Finally, it can, in itself, constitute a sort of imitation act such as those presented, with true genius, by the famous Frégoli, king of the transformists and the imitators of this imitator and this creator.

At Carnival, we mask or we cross-dress, or we mask and we cross-dress. Here, it is little more than a kind of disguise... of the head, or rather of the bust. But to achieve it you have to be a designer combined with a colorist and a humorist. Already, dear readers, I see you turning the page without reading any more.

Consolate yourself if your talents do not allow you to make drawings, especially amusing ones, grotesque characters, caricatures... You will just need to be a copyist. There is no shortage of amusing posts in our happy time of ever-dear life. You will easily find models. Besides, even if the characters are poorly drawn, they will be no less comical, and that is the essential thing.

So draw or glue on thin cardboard a character about thirty centimeters high representing a janitor, a police officer, a drunkard, a peasant, a clown, a boxer, the devil, a dancer, etc... and even a dog, a rabbit, a donkey, a bear, a monkey... In place of the head, cut out an oval in which you will pass without difficulty... your head and look at yourself in a mirror. The effect is most delightful and as long as you have around ten cards of the same kind representing very different characters and you embellish this fantasy with a funny spiel, you will not fail to achieve success. I add that if you have worn the empty oval with a painted polichinelle or gendarme hat, a cotton cap, a judge's, magician's or clown's hairstyle, the effect will be complete and your success too. And no one will stop you - at least I like to believe - from also painting long ears or horns; Shame on anyone who thinks badly about it.

You can stand or sit behind a screen, with only your head and torso extending beyond the upper part of the screen. The boxes will be hung on a hook. A character can be represented on each side of these cards. To... disguise yourself, you duck behind the screen and you only show yourself to the public when you have put on this pygmy body intended to make you so comical. The character's feet will rest on the thickness of the screen and if you can have yourself photographed in your different transformations and send these portraits to your friends, I predict, once again, great success.

A curtain raiser of this kind would bring joy to the room, especially if there are several of you wearing these new kind of cangues and if you offer your spectators the spectacle of a little playful ball.

Luc MEGRET.