Humor Articles / White Papers
"Open Heart Clowning"
by Shobhana "Shobi Dobi" Schwebke
Clown's humor comes from the spirit, from playfulness, it is not the cognitive humor of riddles or jokes. The humor does not come from the head, it comes from the heart. Clown in the hospital is the joke. Clown is the spirit of humor. Clown is joy and hope. Clown in the hospital is the vehicle on which the service is carried — Clown's humor is a wave of service from the heart.
Hospital service is a scientific-based discipline, the Clown is a heart-based discipline. So here we have the age-old duality of the mind and the heart. Are we Clown Therapists? Clown Chaplains? Clown Child Life Workers? Clown Doctors? The cognitive medical society wants to put us in a category; we need to fit in a slot. Is this possible? Talk about putting a round peg in a square hole, this is it. We do a little bit of everything and we go everywhere.
It is the scientist B the mind, that reigns in our world today. The doctor is the chief medical office, not the minister — science prevails, not religion B mind, not heart. Clowns work/play in an open hearted spontaneous world that is largely mistrusted by the scientific and medical world. In the real world Clown is trusted, Clown is love, Clown gives stickers and hugs, Clown has time to listen, and most important, Clown asks for nothing in return — there is no effort on the part of the patient or staff. The effort is in Clown's heart, in Clown's spirit of innocent play and human vulnerability. We clowns do what we can, when we can, to bring a smile which opens the heart, which de-stresses the body, which brings forth hope. We set up a patient for other medial staff to do their work: a frightened child for an X Ray technician, a frightened pre-surgery patient for the surgeon, a dying patient for the chaplain, an im-patient pharmaceutical patient for the pharmacist, an angry child for the therapist. We de-stress the situation. I walk into a crowded clinic waiting room and have everyone giggling in a few seconds! Yes, seconds! We clowns call this an 'easy' audience. Why easy? Because patients know they need us. They want heart. They want us. I sprinkle imaginary giggle powder on their heads and they giggle. Just let a non-clown staff person try this, ever a witty staff person. It is not the joke or the giggle powder it is Clown's presence!
All walks of society are realizing that we are out of balance, not just the hospital. We are realizing that science is not enough. We are realizing that spending all our time fixing the problems leaves us exhausted, frantic, stressed, and with little time to focus on preventing problems. Gradually hospitals are noticing non-cognitive methods. The need is there because their service is not in balance. This imbalance between mind and heart becomes so obvious when Clown walks through the hospital. Our presence is an instant reminder of heart, and then Clown becomes the balancer.
We hospital clowns are a new breed of Clown, we are not there to mock or criticize society, we are there to serve. We are there to offer heart and spirit. We are simpler than religious dogma and yet more profound then religious mysticism. Clown's roots run to ancient times, and with this ancient intuitive wisdom, we will prevail.
So how do you measure the effects of this humor? Who supervises this spontaneous humor so that it can remain spontaneous — spontaneity being the essence of Clown's discipline. Who does Clown report to? Where does Clown fit into the budget and into what department? These are all questions that Clown is faced with every day in the hospital. We are truly interdisciplinary. Hospitals have been seeking the 'interdisciplinary' for decades. Well, here we are, in all our full radiant color and smiles.
© by Shobhana "Shobi Dobi" Schwebke, editor of The Hospital Clown Newsletter.
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Shobhana "Shobi Dobi" Schwebke
