I am thrilled to perform in "What Are You?", created by Nicolette Emmanuel, at 7 Stages Theater. The show previews on November 7 and opens on November 9.
This production is the third installment of this project I've enjoyed contributing to over the past several years. The opportunity to present this piece in front of a live audience at 7 Stages adds a dimension to the experience, making it feel even more impactful, and we have the opportunity to perform a longer run of the show.
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Celebrating 25 Years as a Hospital Clown
This fall, I will begin my 25th year of working as a hospital clown.
It's hard to believe that 25 years have passed since I first started doing this work as Squeeze the Clown. As I mark the beginning of my 25th year, I want to take a moment to think about my history as a hospital clown.
I was excited to be hired by the Big Apple Circus and to be one of the original members of the Big Apple Circus Clown Care Unit in Atlanta. Michael Christensen of the Big Apple Circus created the modern idea of hospital clowning. I’m proud to have that connection to Michael and the BIg Apple Circus. As a new hire, I was one of eight members who traveled from Atlanta to New York for weeks of training in hospitals and studio rehearsals. These rehearsals were artistically inspiring, and the hospital work was emotionally challenging. I was drawn to using humor to lift spirits, and children's hospitals were new to me. At the time, I didn't realize the impact a clown could have in a setting like a hospital. But I did know that I wanted to make people laugh.
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We walked past where we were supposed to go.
We had the address, but somehow, we misread the signs on the street. After walking through the streets of Montreal, we finally found the right address. We had missed it once or twice before. We walked right by without recognizing that this was the address where the show was. That said, after we found the right address. We opened the door and saw a narrow staircase. Just as we reached the top of the stairs, I looked around the room. There were a few sofas, a ticket booth, and several people milling around before the show started. Then, I gazed across the room and caught the eyes of a woman sitting at a table; she looked at me and loudly said, "Meredith!" The woman was Vanessa Rigaux from the Montreal Clown Festival. After that, we knew we were in the right place. Gina and I made ourselves at home before the show.
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I recently had the opportunity to attend a three day workshops, a clown festival, and a clown conference in Montreal. The experience was nothing short of exhilarating and eye-opening. I am always looking for ways to enhance my skills, connect with fellow performers, and stay updated on the latest with what's happening in the industry. I will mention more about the clown festival, conference, and other posts. Here, I will focus on the workshop I took the first three days of my week in Montreal.
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I've done this trick many times before. This time, however, I'm doing it in front of about 100 full-ride scholarship college students from Emory University. I asked them to count from 10 to 1 in a language they chose. As the students count down, I balance a chair on my face for their entertainment.
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Someone smashed my car window. Broken glass was everywhere!
My car was parked in a public lot, and someone decided to break my window after I parked it. I don't know who did this. I was only away from my car for a few hours. It happened in a public car lot. Now, I had to spend the rest of my day addressing this problem. I had to clean up the mess to make the car drivable, and then I had to drive somewhere where I could vacuum the rest of the glass out of the vehicle.
Breaking something can be easy; repairing it will take work….
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I walked from the parking deck across the university campus and approached the medical school building. The destination is familiar. We've met in this building several times over the semester. I open the door and walk into the halls of the Emory Medical School. I am at the university to co-teach students at medical school as part of Emory’s Arts and Social Justice Fellows Program.
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Over the past few months, I've enjoyed playing in a different playground. I got the clown around with the Atlanta Opera. Doing this work was a special treat for me. It was my second opportunity to work with the Atlanta Opera.
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At first glance, she looked like she is in her 60s. She was lying in her bed with a look of stoic unease. I often see this look on the faces of adults in a way that I don't see in children. A sense of fatigue and weariness is unique to adults. dr. tiny, and I carefully approached
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After another show today, a group of young girls began to crowd around me. Music was playing, so I took out my spoons and started playing them on my hand and leg. As the girls saw this, they began to step closer to me.
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The room was full of bodies moving, of people responding to the cues I gave them. They moved eagerly, without reservation. They followed the cues I gave them, each person interpreting the instructions in their way. It was like a room full of people doing the same dance, yet each person had a unique version of the movement. We were suddenly moving together. Suspended in a moment where all that mattered was our movement. We moved, experienced, learned, and shared our experiences.
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In the morning dr. tiny and I approached one of the hospital rooms. Inside the room were an eight-year-old girl and her mother. Seeing us, the girl called out. She said, "Hey, are you clowns"? We, of course, said, "yes." The girl was surprised to see us, and she asked if we were "really clowns."
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There is a vibrancy in the image heightened by an almost 3-D quality of his body in front of a pattern behind him. Each time I visited the museum and saw this image, I noticed how the young man seemed to float in front of the canvas…
Read More….Sydney Poitier and Helen Donnelly were trailblazers creating new paths, moving us forward to a new normal. Both authentically shared their work with us. We are better because of their art and their lives.
Read MoreWhy it so hard to move this rock…
Read MoreFolks,
I will be involved in two presentations at H.C.I.M., the Healthcare Clown International Meeting. The conference is October 6-8th at The Hague in the Netherlands. The Healthcare Clown International Meeting is a conference of medical clowns from across the world. Three years ago and I was able to attend the conference in Vienna. This year, I'm delighted that they excepted the two proposals for the workshops…
Read MoreHealthcare clowning has always been close to my heart. Over the years, I've watched some programs begin working with adults and eldercare populations.
Eldercare clowning is especially close to my heart because of my experience with my mother, Florence Gordon. Mom played the piano at church. Some of my earliest memories are of my mom playing the piano at church in my hometown of Cleveland, Tennessee. I would sit in the pew during church services and watch mom…
Read MoreOne of the unique challenges in the field now is that there are very few African-American clowns doing this work. When I began this work 21 years ago, I was one of eight people who were hired. I was the only black clown on the team…
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