Hi there! I wanted to ask any who may want to help, what are the best routines one can do for hospital clowning? I am still sort of new at this, but was "trained" by a great clown who helped me experience the feelings too great to put into words of hospital clowning. I felt sooooo good bringing smiles and sharing the joy, and I really want to get back at it again, but I'd like to develop some sort of routine to use as a base I can build upon for this. If you'd like to share any bits or gags or whatnot that have worked for you, or that you've seen work for others, I'd be most appreciative. Thanks so much!!

Hi Kitty C,

Thanks for joining us. I'd say work your way through the forums here for starters. There are lots of good tips.

I think a lot depends on you. You must build around your style. Do you sing? My partner sings "you are my sunshine" and builds a routine around getting to the point of the song. I juggle rubber eggs and get the patients to guess where I get the rubber eggs. Can you guess?? She is hanging on my belt .

I also use an owl puppet. Only knows one word. And one magic trick that I can do blindfolded. It has worked for 6 years. Biggest challenge is staying fresh because you repeat the routine room after room. But the patients usually inject something into the situation that you can play off of.

My partner and I have been at it now as partners for a year and a half and we have fun just catching each other off guard by breaking the routine.

Stay tuned to this Website. Lets hear of your progress. I want to learn how people develop as they go on.

But more than anything, keep the fire alive. It just keeps getting better. Maybe you can save up and join us on our trip to Mexico next Feb. you can learn from the other caring clowns and you can have lots of practice since we get into different institutions. Rewad what the people this year said abou the trip. Its under pictures of Mexican trip. You can also have lots of fun with some wonderful people.

Arne

A hearty "aye aye" to everything Dr. Laffngiggl has said.

Giving nose transplants is fun and kids love having a clown nose. I lead up to telling the kid that his nose is the same color as the rest of his face, which is pretty boring, and ask if I can fix that for him. Most kids say "yes." If the child says "no", I ask if he'd like a clown nose to keep on hand or give to someone else, and if he still says "no" (which is almost never) I'll say something like, "You're absolutely right, I'll give this clown nose to myself because the nose I'm wearing looks pretty stupid" and I'll take my nose off and put a new nose on. Or if the parent is present, I will notice the genetic origin of the situation, and ask the child if I should give a nose to the parent, which always gets a smile and a yes.

In fact, any time the child does not give me a sign to play with him but also does not give me a sign to depart, I ask him if I should ...... with his parent. The child's response is always positive to that.

I urge you to take an improvisation class, the benefits of which I address in my post under training titled "Beyond Clown Camp."

As long as you focus on the patient and not on your "routine", you'll be terrific. An improvisation teacher once said to the class, "If you bomb, make it big." Clowns are great at that!

Happy clowning around.

[This message was edited by Clown Dode on June 09, 2003 at 05:18 AM.]

Some of my favorite hospital routines:

Bubble Baths: "Have you had your bubble bath today?" Blow bubbles high overhead, not near face. (from The Donna's at clown camp)

Exquisite Aquarium: "What a lovely aquarium...but where are your fish?" Put fish sticker on the IV bag. (also The Donna's)

Blood Draw: "Your nurse asked me to draw your blood, you don't mind, do you? Hold still now..." act like you are painting a picture, hold out your thumb, look at them thoughtfully while drawing two drops in red ink on notepaper. Autograph and give to them as a lab slip.

IYQ: use IYQ or URAQT stickers as a vision exam. Put on silly cardboard glasses (giveaway) for better viewing.

Contortionist: Make a circle with your thumb and forefinger. "I can poke my entire body through this hole. Yep...my entire body," making motions as if you were going to start putting your head through first. Then, keeping circle closed, poke other index finger through hole and with it, poke your knee, your cheek, your shoulder, etc. (Bubba Sikes, I think)

That's good for a few minutes!
~Mary

I use lots of visual gags. I made a spongebath from a car sponge shaped into a bathtub, complete with bubblewrap bubbles and a foam ducky.
I planted a small silk ivy into a pot with plaster-of-paris and tell the patient the doctor told me to start an Ivy.

I bought two small travel-size bottles of Scope mouthwash. I hold one up to my eye to "Scope things out". Then I ask, "Do you know what this is? It's a MICRO-Scope." Then I hold both up and say, "Do you know what this is? It's a Periscope. (Pair-o-scope)

I purchased a small stuffed animal of a pony. I introduce him as Tony the Talking Pony. I then ask if they'd like to hear him talk. Then I tell Tony to talk. He doesn't and I hold him up to my ear like he is whispering to me. I then tell the patient/staff person that "Tony can't talk today. Do you know why?"

"He's a little horse!"

Mary O's idea to draw the patient's blood has been terrific. This has developed (based on patient response) into a very involved medical proceedure. Patient's are really playing along with me.

I begin by guaranteeing it will not hurt a bit since I read the latest Clown Dr. journals and know the most advanced proceedures...

I ask the patient to hold out his/her arm (and may get confused about right arm or left) and make a fist. As I get more outrageous, I am drawing (with crayon) a red smiley face on the paper I have attached to my dry erase board (I don't use markers because of the odor or chalk because of the dust). Wearing my clown Dr. lab coat, plunger stethoscope, and carrying the dry erase baord makes me look very professional, you know.

I date, sign and persent the picture to the patient. The stage is set for an outrageous visit. Most patients thoroughly enjoy playing along.

We progress to my checking the patient's reflexes. I have a large, bright, plastic hammer that beeps when it hits something. I pretend to hit the patient's knee, for example, with a downstroke of the hammer, but stop just short of actually touching the patient and reverse my swing to hit myself in the head and then react to the "patient's strong reflex reaction."

Max (in his 20s), a patient on the oncology unit, told me that he was also attending clown Dr. school. Imagine the fun we had! As I was leaving the hospital for the day, I told the social worker about my visit with Max. She was shocked and thrilled. Max couldn't seem to get beyond his anger at being sick and was just giving everyone on the unit a very hard time.

Ah, the magic of humor...

Another gag I enjoy: buy some little greeen army men toys.

"Today, Saint Al's is offering a two for one special. (hold up a soldier) You can have the upper GI (lower the soldier) or the lower GI, two for the price of one!"

If they really love the joke, I'll leave them a GI to share with their visitors and staff. "0)

~Mary

[This message was edited by Mary O' on June 05, 2003 at 10:52 PM.]

I do checkups as Dr. Dot. Using a silly pencil like light I check their throat. Using a tongue depresser (never in their mouth) I click a frog sound as they open their mouth. I assure them the frog in their throat is gone and present the patient with the tongue depresser with a frog sticker on it. I also do the same thing for being hoarse. The patient always has a smile or chuckle after that.

I used a pair of children's binoculars and attached a small kitten stuffed animal on it. I wear it around my neck to perform "cat scans".

I like Mary O's Upper/Lower GI idea as well as Clown Dode's Blood routine. Another thing Dr. Dot can do to enhance her Cat Scans is to buy one of those stuffed cats that "Meow" when you squeeze them. When no one is around, gut the kitty and remove his "meow box". Then epoxy it to the back of your cat scan cat. As you hold the cat scanner up it is easy for your thumbs to press the box to activate the sound. Be sure to glue it so you are still able to replace batteries as needed. I like the squeezy noise stuffed toys. I have a frog that I use for frogs in the throat or tell 'em you brought your frog to the hospital because he was about to croak!

Dr. Dot's "Cat Scan" instrument and Binky's "Meow Box" idea are terrific. I have a little stuffed kitty on a short chain that I will hang from a large pair of sunglasses with attached clown nose and wear to give cat scans. (So much more clever than just passing the kitty over the patient.) I will put a Meow Box in the pocket of my lab coat. When I make the cat meow has a lot of gag potential. I love it!

And I must give you an added thanks, Binky. I needed a portable anesthetic to carry from room to room; the can of beans is perfect.

Yesterday, Dr. Dode, assisted by disorderly Honksalot, made rounds at Children's Memorial Hospital. Dr. Dode did not get a chance to get a Meow Box prior to clowning at Children's and discovered the benefit of having Disdorderly Honksalot make meow sounds during the cat scan proceedure in its place.

At times, the cat's meow sounded distressed which sequed into calling for an upper or lower GI test. When necessary the patient was given a little gas, vegetarian baked beans.

Of course, the cat must have tripped over the patient's belly button, accounting for the distressed meow sound, because Dr. Dode never finds anything wrong.

It was a hoot!

I have a worry bucket which is a little bucket with a lid. I made a page of various things that people often worry about: pictures of money & credit cards, family, home, pkg cigarettes (habits), church (spiritual), newspaper (world events), etc, and taped it to the side of the bucket. I tell them that I am collecting everybody's worries today and do they have anything they want to put in the Worry Bucket? I use a feather duster (you can use a cloth, a scarf, or just your hand) to brush the worries off their shoulders and into the bucket. Of course they can't see what other people's worries are so they don't see inside the bucket (It doubles for keeping my personal things in,car keys, etc). It is a big hit even with kids - "are you afraid of the dark, or that the cute girl next door doesn't pay attention to you?" Lemmie