A Heart 4 Clowning: Hospital Clowns, Caring Clowns & Healthcare Family Entertainers

A lot of clowns talk about running away with the circus, but few have the opportunity that Chris Sullivan was offered in March, 2011.

Chris is now a performing clown with the 141st Edition of Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey The Greatest Show on Earth – Fully Charged. He shares his experiences and inspiring perspective…

“Everything has been going great with the show. I’ve traveled all over the United States this year seeing more of it than I could ever have imagined possible. Before I joined the circus I had never really traveled West of the Mississippi river… other than flying to Dallas,Texas August of 2010 for the Ringing audition and flying to L.A., California to catch my connecting flight to India earlier this year.

Last August I did the audition. It was a wonderful workshop lead by Karen Hoyer and a few of the Circus clowns. We each participated in the workshop doing various exercises, group exercises, partner work, and finally our own five minutes of spotlight to perform something which we had prepared in advance. After the audition they talked to several people individually– unfortunately I was not in that cut. So after seeing the show that night, I ventured back to TN the next morning.

During the time at home I pondered about some friends who I knew were planning a trip to India. I inquired with the group leader and was invited to join them. So I spent my winter preparing for the trip. During the last week of January I flew to L.A. where I met up with our team made up of two clowns from Minnesota Brad Stone and Sandy Kephart, and two clowns from Texas Brenda Marshall and Brittany Allen. All of us are Moose Camp Alumni and had seen each other the previous two summers.

The trip to India was amazing. We spent time doing Vacation Bible School programs with two different orphanages, we also spent time doing shows in Schools, Churches, Streets, a treatment center, and even Roof tops. The children in India are absolutely beautiful. You can see Gods love in their eyes and joy in their smiles.

People today take so much for granted– myself included. However to the children we were working with the smallest and most simple things meant the world to them. This really made me reflect on things and has been teaching me to reduce and simplify my own life.

A week after I returned home I got a call from the Director of Talent inviting me to join the 141st Edition of Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey’s  Greatest Show on Earth. He allowed me to finish a theatrical project I was currently involved with at home… So I packed my red nose and big shoes and on March 25th I flew to Ohio to join the cast of Fully Charged.

The circus has been around for going on 142 years. As a result the show is one of America’s oldest living traditions. Older than Coca Cola and Baseball. Clowning itself has been dated back to early Egyptian times centuries and centuries ago B.C. as a young Egyptian Pharoh witnessed a clown performing and called him a “Divine Spirit.”

So far this year I have spent three months in California, as well as time in Colorado, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Virginia, Ohio, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Massachusetts… just to name a few. It really is fun to zig-zag across the country in the mile long Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey train.

Aside from the show — which is three hours of non stop three-ring fun from pre-show to finale, we do all sorts of advance and public relations work for the show. During these times I’ve had the absolute pleasure of working with boys and girls clubs, boy scouts and girl scouts with our Scout Clinics, Libraries with Reading with Ringling, Schools with Circus Fit, and Museums presenting “Science of the Circus.”

We have done some really neat projects too, like opening a Fresno, Grizzlies baseball game, juggling and shooting our Human Fuse down the Vegas Strip, and being the opening act for the Chicago Thanksgiving Parade.

I’ve also been privileged to work for the Starlight Foundation, Ronald McDonald Houses, and various hospitals which host the Beads of Courage program. I’ve found that these experiences can be the most heart-warming.

Children need and deserve entertainment… no matter how healthy or sick they are. If they aren’t able to come to the circus then it is our job to bring a little of the circus to them. I am proud to be a small part in making that possible. Afterall, they do say that “laughter is the best medicine.”

The magic starts within each of us. If we believe in ourselves and believe that what we are doing as clowns then it is all realistic to children.  To quote Steve Smith- a former teacher of mine- If we believe in what we are doing then there really is a Neverland, snow on Christmas, and all day suckers. The magic and healing power of clowning and laughter is very real.

Now I am back home in TN for Christmas and New Year. Reflecting back on my journey and experiences this past year is really a little overwhelming. Everything happened and went by so fast. But, thats how things go when you are in a new city each week or two. Pricilla Mooseburger once told me that “Life is like an elephant blanket. Each blanket has thousands of tiny sequins which work together to make a beautiful design. As performers, we are each earning our own sequin on that blanket.”

I believe everything happens for a reason. We all have paths that our lives are meant to follow. I am and always will be a dreamer. Gandhi once said “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” Now realistically I know I can’t change the world. But if I can make it a little bit better for someone through humor, I’ll do that.”

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