Mime beaten on South Street

You would think a town known for an annual parade of Mummers would be welcoming to a mime.

But that's not what happened when Leo Bassi set up shop on South Street.

The Italian performance artist arrived in Philadelphia as part of the Movement Theatre International Festival in June 1988.

Looking for the place with the most creative energy in which to perform, the 36-year-old was pointed to South Street. He already had a penchant for outrageous public theatrics, including working with the mayor and police department of a small Italian town to stage a bank robbery, complete with a car chase and shootout, according to Lou Harry's Strange Philadelphia: Stories From the City of Brotherly Love.

So, on a Saturday night, Bassi set up a 6-foot pedestal between Fourth and Fifth Streets.

Wearing a business suit and carrying a briefcase, Bassi began striking poses under the street lights.

His go-to was the human statue posture, but he would intersperse a few funny faces and a water gun squirt. Passersby became curious and gathered into a crowd. Drivers slowed to gawk.

And it didn't take long for someone to ruin it.

As Bassi was pointing to the sky, someone on the ground yanked on his suitcase. Bassi pulled back, and the jerk grabbed his coattails and pulled him off the pedestal.

The vaudevillian hit the sidewalk.

The stranger fled into the crowd.

A few face-painted mimes and festival pamphleteers rushed toward Bassi.

The crowd pushed in closer.

Robert Shields, a famous American mime also in town for the festival told the audience that this was not part of the act. Bassi was seriously injured, dislocating his shoulder.

Some gawkers hissed: "Serves you right."

Two onlookers wearing gold chains threatened to find the attacker and "kick his ass." But they couldn't find him. So they instead collected handfuls of festival fliers and promised to strong-arm their friends into seeing Bassi's show, according to Strange Philadelphia.

The incident forced the Italian mime, now with just one good arm, to re-think his mainly dancing-and-juggling show, though he was still able to successfully juggle a couch with his feet.

A few days later, a chalk outline of Bassi's body was drawn into the sidewalk outside the International House on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania, and a pedestal was erected next to it as a makeshift tribute.

Archive Dive is a weekly feature that delves into the Inquirer and Daily News archives to uncover interesting stories from Philadelphia's past. Search the archives for yourself, and subscribe for full access.