More Than Clowning Around

By Jennifer Balgley Wells

The following article appeared in Our Town Brookline Magazine in July 2005, and is provided courtesy of Our Town Brookline Magazine.

Choice, control, and connections. That’s what Jeannie Lindheim’s Hospital Clown Troupe is all about. Since 1997, the troupe has visited more than 21,000 children in Boston-area hospitals.

“Choice, choice, choice,” says Lindheim, the founder and artistic director of the troupe, sitting comfortably on her living room couch with two cats milling around. “We [the clowns] are the only people kids can say ‘no’ to.”

The clowns ask the children for permission to enter the room, whether they would like a magic trick, story, or song, and even what type of sticker they want.

“Kids in hospitals are in charge of nothing,” notes Lindheim. To give them a chance to be in charge, Lindheim often hands the child a remote control and asks him or her to direct the clowns’ movements. Sometimes the clowns bring a marionette, which the child manipulates. If the clowns play music, the child is the conductor of the symphony. The child is always in charge. Playing dumb is a big part of the clowns’ visit. The clowns have problems with everything – getting stuck in a door or jumbled up in a rope. The child tells the clowns how to figure out the problem – another way of giving the child control.

A Different Class of Clown

Being a hospital clown is very different from being a clown at a circus or a birthday party. The hospital clowns are gentle and loving, and don’t wear a white face, which can scare a child, comments Lindheim. They wear minimal makeup and have lots of pockets for props and gifts.

Typical clowns entertain and have a show that they perform. In contrast, the hospital clowns learn skills and tricks, but most of what they do is improvise – making it up as they go along, depending on the child and the situation. One teen loved football. Lindheim’s knowledge of football was limited, so the teen became the coach. In another case, a girl seemed skeptical about the clowns’ visit. Lindheim saw that the girl had beautiful nails so asked her if she wanted a clown manicure (putting stickers on nails) and that won her over.

“Hospital clowning is not about being funny – it’s about being present,” says Lindheim. The clowns are funny, she stresses, but their primary goal is to make a connection with the child and find out what he or she loves, whether it is baseball, rap music, a favorite song, or film. “It’s not about you, it’s about the child,” she says.

Learning Her Craft

Lindheim’s background fits perfectly for hospital clowning, which is clearly a calling for her. She describes herself as a theater person. She acted professionally and also taught acting for thirty years including running a theater school in Brookline. Later in her career, she began to offer workshops for doctors, using role-playing techniques to help them learn how to deal with tough situations, and how to break bad news to patients. The doctors became the patients. As part of Lindheim’s training for the workshops, she read Gesundheit by Patch Adams (the doctor made famous by Robin Williams in the film of the same name). One line in the book stood out for her – “I take clowns to Russia.”

She was intrigued with the idea of learning about being a clown in Russia. But at the time, Lindheim had a love/hate relationship with clowns. She thought they were scary and obnoxious, but she fondly remembered a grandma’s picture of a clown. She wasn’t thrilled about the prospect of going to Russia either, having grown up during the fifties and sixties with fears of being bombed. But she felt compelled to go – and so in November 1996, she went to Russia with Patch Adams and learned about clowning. Lindheim loved her experience clowning for sick children in Russia, and she returned home “all fired up.”

A Troupe Is Born

Lindheim decided to offer a day long clowning workshop, and expected that she might get four calls. Instead, she was amazed to receive 50 calls. Inspired by this interest in hospital clowning, she founded her own troupe. Today this troupe has grown to 20 clowns, and reaches more than 3,000 children a year at hospitals and events. It is a non-profit organization with a Board that includes a medical director.

The clowns are trained volunteers who range from 30 to 70 years old, and have different backgrounds – real estate, acting, nursing, computers, social work, and more. What the clowns share is their commitment. Clowns make hospital visits twice a month. Training has expanded from a one-day workshop into four day-long sessions. The training period for a new clown is eighteen months to two years. Old clowns team up with new ones on hospital visits and serve as mentors.

Workshops are held throughout the year to learn new skills and techniques to help clowns develop their characters. Every clown has his or her own character, costumes, and name. Joyce Rosen-Friedman, a musician and acupuncturist, is Fizzles; and Mark Gorman, a real estate developer, is Bougie. Lindheim is Bloopers – someone who’s innocent and messes up everything. “That’s me,” she says.

Sensitivity Training

Role playing is part of the training, so clowns have a better understanding of what it’s like to be a sick child in bed, or the parents of that child. “Sensitivity is huge,” says Lindheim. Clowns learn how important it is not to move too fast; and how to adapt to the needs of the child, whether he or she is a toddler or teen, heavily medicated or excitable.

“Clowning is also for the parents, who are often going through hell,” says Lindheim. It gives the parents a break in their day and makes them happy when their child smiles and enters the Clown World, even for a short time.

The sensitivity extends to the hospital environment. Training includes learning about precautions such as wearing masks, gloves, and gowns, and washing hands properly to avoid spreading germs. The clowns make sure they don’t get in the way of the staff, nearly all of whom welcome the clowns as something that brings joy and helps children and their families cope.

Magical Moments

The troupe’s web site contains several stories from clown visits that Lindheim describes as magical moments.

A nurse took us aside and said that this 7-year old boy has just lost his sight. He was incredibly depressed. “Could you try to cheer him up?” About four doctors and six nurses were looking on, wondering what would happen. We approached his bed. He was on his side, curled up in a ball, with his eyes open. I said in my clown voice, “I am a clown. Can I play my harmonica for you?” “No,” he said softly. “Can we sing a song for you?” I asked. “No” was the response. What is your favorite food?” “Chocolate pudding,” he said. “Oh, would you like a story about chocolate pudding?” “Yes.” So another clown and I made up a story about chocolate pudding and taking a bath in it with all of his friends. We traded off silliness about his favorite food and he smiled! His parents and relatives were laughing and laughing. I still see his sweet little face.

I poked my head around the corner of the door and saw the sad, serious face of a 16-year old man. He saw me. I oohhed and ahhhed - “you look like a movie star.” And he did! A huge grin spread from ear to ear on his face. “Would you like a clown visit?” A huge nod - yes. We did dumb magic. We asked if he wanted us to sing him a song. Thumbs up. We bowed. He gave us two thumbs up. He laughed and seemed so happy. And then, I realized, he does not speak. We played and played, and when we left his room, the face that had been sad when we first entered was sparkling with joy.

(Personal attributes have been changed to prevent identification and to protect patient confidentiality).

Spreading Joy

The clowns travel in pairs or larger groups. Part of their training is learning how to work in what can be an emotional, heartbreaking atmosphere. After each visit, the clowns debrief for 20 or 30 minutes. People sometimes ask Lindheim how she can do hospital clowning, isn’t it depressing to do this kind of work? She responds that visits get you in ways that you don’t expect, but it doesn’t matter – it doesn’t get any better than this, making kids happy. “Clowns can reach a space where people can’t, we’re very accepting. Like an animal, we have no agenda – we’re just thrilled to see the kids.”

Most of the time, the clowns visit children in the hospital by their bedside – one child at a time. They want each child to feel like they have their own personal clown. The hospitals they serve include Boston Shriners Hospital for Children, Franciscan Children’s Hospital, MassGeneral Hospital for Children, and New England Medical Center. The clowns also participate in events for children who are sick or homeless. While the holidays are the busiest times, “every day is lousy to be in the hospital,” notes Lindheim.

Improvisation: the Key Ingredient

Not everyone who goes through the training program becomes a clown. Some people are uncomfortable with not knowing what’s going to happen in the room. Lindheim appears to thrive on the uncertainty and ability to create in the moment... “you can’t screw up if it comes from the heart.” She clowns as often as she can. At the time of the interview, she had been traveling and had not been on a clown visit in about six weeks. “I’m going a little nuts not clowning – I need to let Bloopers out,” she says.

New this year is the publication of a training manual and DVD, The Art and Joy of Hospital Clowning, covering four days of training, and the basics of improvisational-based hospital clowning. Lindheim proudly shows me a copy of the training manual, which is the first of its kind. The materials include instructions on clowning for different types of children, hygiene rules, and techniques for developing a clown character.

Keeping the Dream Alive

Visiting the kids and training the clowns are Lindheim’s loves, but there’s also the matter of keeping the troupe running. This is probably the troupe’s greatest challenge. They don’t need more clowns. Developing the training program was a huge, but important effort. Even maintaining the clowning they do now takes effort. Thus far, grants and private donations have kept the troupe going with its budget of just over $100,000. Lindheim acknowledges that the troupe needs an executive director. She works as the artistic director in addition to going on as many clown visits as possible. The troupe now has two other part-time employees: an event fund raiser and an administrative assistant. Donations help with operating costs to run the troupe, training programs, and giveaways for children and families.

Also on Lindheim’s wish list are funds to send the clowns abroad to visit sick kids in other countries, especially third world countries. In addition, the troupe hopes to find others interesting in hosting fund raising events (such as Meet the Clowns) or who have other skills and resources that support their mission of clowning for sick kids.

Lindheim’s clown character is named Bloopers, which she says resembles herself – someone who doesn’t get it and who messes things up. Bloopers may mess things up but it’s pretty clear that Lindheim hasn’t messed up anything, especially when it comes to her talent and drive to bring joy to kids and families who need it.