My Mission is Simple: To help further Clown Artsand Humor Therapy programs in hospitals and healthcare settings globally. Together in the collective sense, we are doing that – but I strive to encourage it on a global basis…
Do you have a program in your area, are you interested in starting one up, or are you currently involved in a healthcare humor program? How may I help you? I have many resources available on this topic – you can find details and a Contact Form on this site.
Private Member-Only online Mentoring/Training for Hospital or Caring Clowns, Family Entertainers and Creative Arts Performers
This brand new Mentoring/Training Program is AVAILABLE Beginning OCTOBER 1, 2009!
This unique Member-Only Mentoring Training Program offers mentoring through training videos, audios and tried-and-true resource materials I have developed, written and actively use to train healthcare family entertainers and hospital clowns since 2004, all based upon my hands-on experience as a Hospital Clown and Applied Humor Therapist since 1997, in one of the oldest existing all-volunteer hospital clown/family entertainer groups.
In 8 consecutive training programs since 2004, I have trained 220 hospital clowns and healthcare family entertainers in service at other healthcare facilities as well as my own group’s site, and those performing in other states and regions.
This unique Mentoring Training Program is presented for all levels of experience.
As a Member, this program is available to be viewed and listened to any time, allowing you the benefit of attending sessions on your own schedule from the comfort of your own computer for the length of your membership!
Your membership is for an entire year and is renewable, if you would like continued support. The membership fee includes all necessary materials and supplies, and is less than most one-time conference registrations, plus you have no travel expenses! (Less than 10-cents/day!)
MultiMedia Materials and fresh Resources are continually added to this program, in addition to the growing number of A Heart 4 Clowning series of books available for purchase, on this topic.
Save time – money – gas and benefit from this unique Member-Only Training Program!
Recently, I did a series on ”We shouldn’t leave while the patient is still enjoying us, should we?” My response to that question is based on the premise for any hospital clown or healthcare family entertainer’s reason for being in the venue — the focus should be on the audience only, one-on-one on the patient.
By watching the patient moment-to-moment, gauges how long your performance is going to be, within an allotted amount of time. However, there are so many more factors to consider. Experience comes into play (pun intended!), and helps the seasoned healthcare performer to know when to pack up the show and thank the audience.
My years of experience in hospital clowning since 1997, have fine-tuned my internal timer. No matter where I may be in the well-rehearsed performance or with the patient, when the allotted time is reached, I bid them farewell. There’s no avoiding it — just like a pop-up timer!
Still the question remains in the minds of so many: “We shouldn’t leave while the patient is still enjoying us, should we?”
I have to laugh, because I know it is asked with the purest of intentions of the heart. In a recent conversation on this topic with a very experienced clown friend whose friendship I cherish, and advice I treasure, my friend answered this so well. “Leave them always wanting more.”
Ah, truer words n’er were spoken – true Clown Wisdom from the heart!
Tricia “Pricilla Mooseburger” Manuel shares how Healing Humor literally helped a grieving father turn the corner on his grief after his son’s suicide, when she conducted kazoo band parade practice with a group of American Legion women preparing for the 100-year anniversary of Maple Lake, MN …
Healing Humor Memorable Moments in Their Own Words: This episode features family entertainer Tricia “Pricilla Mooseburger” Manuel sharing about the life-enhancing effects of Healing Humor that everybody needs. Well-known performer, beloved teacher and creative costumer of many, Tricia is a former Ringling clown and Disneyland performer.
So, the question remains, is it true – ”We shouldn’t leave while the patient is still enjoying us, should we?”
Based on the premise for any hospital clown or healthcare family entertainer’s reason for being in the venue, with the focus on the audience one-on-one on the patient, my answer is: yes.
Some gasp and are probably thinking this is the cruelest answer I could give. Really? When would you rather thank your audience who lies in such a vulnerable position, and so kindly welcomes you, the complete stranger into their room, in the midst of their sickness, suffering or painful condition?
Based upon my experience since performing regularly in this realm, I would rather leave my audience happy and smiling — my goal — than worn out and grimacing with pain. Conditions can quickly change while you are in the midst of your performance or act, and you must be attuned to that situation second-by-second.
I would rather leave my special audience with happy memories of our time together, and a joyful experience, in the midst of the monotony and possible anxiety-ridden atmosphere that existed just prior to my entering their room.
I would rather entertain with my audience one-on-one, on the world’s smallest stage in a world debut of a one-time-only performance, never ever to be repeated again — and leave that as a special heart-memory for them.
My intention would be to entertain them with the tightest act possible, leaving little space to let them slip back to where they were before I arrived, and to quickly depart when I felt my time was up on that stage. Wearing out one’s welcome can come all-too quickly, and most unexpectedly. Staying past one’s due sometimes causes the patient to feel worse, because they appreciate your being there, but feel they are chasing you out. We are there to help them feel better!
“We shouldn’t leave while the patient is still enjoying us, should we?” Absolutley. That is the perfect time!
Leave them with a smile on their face and a song in their heart!
My answer remains a question, “Why are you here?” If you are here for the patient, to play before them on the world’s smallest stage — one-on-one, and you see you have created a pleasurable experience for your audience, have you not reached your goal?
Sticking with the theatrical allusion – everyone remembers with snickers, the performer who remains steadfast on the stage far too long, and the stage manager grabs the “hook” and pulls the entertainer off. In the hospital setting, most likely there is no stage manager with a hook. This means you must rely upon your own sensitivity to the patient’s ever-changing condition and ability to take in your performance. Your focus must remain upon the patient.
Even if you have a rehearsed or somewhat ‘canned’ performance, you must learn to know when to pack it up and bid your audience adieu. It is different with each patient, based on their condition, situation and individual ability to meet you in the small theatre for a moment in time. For this reason, it is far better to entertain playing off and with the patient, rather than repeating your schtick each and every room, throughout Rounds. It keeps it fresh for the entertainer, and it personalizes the bit for the audience!
I have observed clowns and family entertainers whose primary experience is in performing skits and full shows have difficulty with this. They are accustomed to performing their segment, and seeing it to completion, because the punch line, the lesson, or some conclusion is at the other end. In the healthcare setting, we may not get to “the other end,” in order to complete that adventure. Thus, the time spent in performance becomes fragmented, is less personalized for the patient, and no doubt the entertainer becomes frustrated.
The primary reason this form of performance does not work effectively on Rounds, is because that type of entertainment is geared for a controlled environment, not the prevailing “in-the-moment” setting in the healthcare venue. The other related reason is that in such a mode of performing, the entertainers often are mechanical in form, concentrating more on what they are doing than on the audience. I have seen some entertainers perform almost as if they are wind-up dolls, pulling every sight gag out from every pocket in every room they visit. This is not hitting the mark.
So, is it true – ”We shouldn’t leave while the patient is still enjoying us, should we?”
Next: The rationale for my Answer, based on my hospital clowning experience since 1997…
Recently, I was asked by another hospital clown about ‘when’ the proper time was to depart from a patient’s room. “We shouldn’t leave while the patient is still enjoying us, should we?”
My answer is a question, “Why are you here?” While my asking this may at first seem unclear, your answer tells all.
Some folks will respond that they are here because they want to serve others, or they feel led to come and ease another’s pain and suffering. Both noble causes, to be sure.
Some are true entertainers at heart, and want to share their gifts and talents with others, for their enjoyment. In the process, it is hoped that the patient’s pain and suffering will ease at least a bit, for that moment in time.
Some want to be part of a dedicated group of like-minded folk who want to serve in a significant way, and so they come.
All are perfectly wonderful reasons, with pure-hearted motivations for spreading laughter, cheer and entertaining patients in the hospital. However, none of them are “Why you are here.”
You see, the reason we are in the hospital or healthcare setting in the first place is the patient. If the patients were not there, as hospital clowns or healthcare family entertainers, we would not be there, either. The patient is our primary audience, our true reason for “being there.”
Our mission is to do nothing more than to cheer the patients through a gentle presence, as a means of taking their mind off their current health condition or painful situation. Patients are always the primary focus during visitations. Success is measured if only for just a second, after entering a patient’s room they can forget or not think about their situation, through your intervention.
Spreading laughter and cheer in a healthcare setting is no joke. It is not about being silly, wild, over-the-edge or uncontrolled in any way. It is intentionally acting with focused effort to accomplish the important work set before the clown or healthcare family entertainer.
Sizing up the audience, including the patient’s condition and alertness, is the second rule of the day on Rounds. Analyzing the environment in the room also plays an important part in determining performance – are there visitors? What is the mood in the room? Sometimes, a gentle presence is enough, with a smile and a wave, to brighten a patient’s day. Sometimes that is all the energy they may have to take in what is offered.
A healthcare family entertainer or hospital clown must continue to watch the patient, for signs of their growing drowsy or possibly experiencing pain or nausea. Often a patient will valiantly put their best face forward upon your entering their room, but then slip into a state that does not allow them the ability to take in the performance as a participant. All of these factors impact your performance or interaction with the patient.
Every patient’s reaction varies to the gift of your heart to them, and most “welcomes” are as different as each individual visited. The bottomline of the mission is accomplished through the simple act of being there — entertaining one-on-one, injecting healing humor with the greatest of care, and provoking smiles, laughter and cheer…
But still begs the question, “We shouldn’t leave while the patient is still enjoying us, should we?”
Next: My Answer…
The necessity of training goes far beyond knowing how to conduct oneself in a particular setting. The objectives of an effective healthcare family entertainer training program is to:
Build skills, thereby increasing performance ability.
Develop greater competency, and thereby confidence.
Increase each individual’s understanding of the realm within which healthcare performers entertain, while allowing them to gain a full view of this special work.
Assure the hosting healthcare facility of a degree of professionalism, understanding and respect for the performance environment.
The overall purpose of training hospital/caring clowns and healthcare family entertainers is to build a knowledge base for greater understanding of the art — the soil from which great things sprout, seeded by the True Clown’s Heart:
To offer hands-on experiential or physical tutelage, and practice, with an end-result, a product or something tangible that can be seen or in some way experienced.
It is important that the purpose of training be fully defined, clearly understood, and accepted by all parties involved, including the hosting healthcare facility. Training for healthcare venue performers is ongoing, so dedication and energy devoted to that end is necessary.
Often folks think it is an endearing idea to establish a hospital clown, caring clown or healthcare family entertainer group. The mere thought of introducing others to the fascinating world of clowning and performing is exciting! But after the initial elation wears off, energies and imagination begins to wane. Following not too long afterward, the group often disbands. It’s a shame.
The purpose, rationale and necessity of training are not only to train, equip and prepare team members, but also to:
- Inspire creativity in developing routines, schticks, tricks, bits, and to improve!
- Encourage exploration of out-of-the-box thinking.
- Provide necessary skills sets and essential information.
- Fuel a true understanding of the venue, aspect and realm within which the team performs.
- Foster a better understanding of purpose for appearances and entertaining.
- Engender team effort in the process.
- Develop increased competency.
AHeart4Clowning TalkRadio
Now in our second broadcast season… !
AHeart4Clowning TalkRadio is a very special show about Healing Humor and Applied Humor Therapy for:
*Hospital or Caring Clowns
*Family Entertainers in the Healthcare Setting
*Anyone interested in learning more about this special work:
Applied Humor Therapy
Healing Power of Humor in Every Day
Join us: Wednesday, September 9th 10AM PT/Noon CT/1PM EDT: “Keep the Humor Going…!”
Sometimes we find humor in the most unexpected places — but often, right where it’s needed!
Tune in to learn how humor in what might seem to be inappropriate situations may the perfect solution!
Join us for a fast 30-minutes of Inspiration for Applied Humor Therapists and their Fans, streaming LIVE, online or download to your iPod for Inspiration-To-Go!
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/AHeart4ClowningTalkRadio
Beginning in the spring of this year, AHeart4Clowning TalkRadio shows are scheduled on a series basis. Listeners can sign-up to receive updates and show notifications.