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The group is careful to see what brings people out, whether it ’ s a song, bit or a particular animation. At one point, Olive brought out a puppy puppet named Theodophulus to interact with the guests. The mother of the man who left for the dentist did not crack a smile until Theodophulus appeared. She patted him and kissed him and played a game of tug with him. Later, Douglas told me that she had spoken for the first time in weeks the first time Theodophulus appeared The clowns facilitate interactive activities with the residents throughout the performance. Right off the bat, they got them moving in place and vocalizing with silliness. Two residents took the responsibility for taking care of Pineapple, a rubber chicken that makes noises reacting to the actions of the clowns. One of the bits they did was a challenge between the clowns on who had the best skill. Cake was able to recite pie – math pi, that is – while Goose sang a song that included all the countries. T hey asked if anyone else had a skill that they would like to demonstrate to challenge the clowns. One of the residents said that he knew every language except Greek. When Olive asked him if he could say something in Lithuanian, he replied, “ That ’ s Greek to me! ” He wore the clown nose that she awarded him for the rest of the performance. Applied clowning, in a service way, is Impactful, rewarding and fills my heart, ” says Douglas. “ It requires specific skills, which are not the same as onstage. It ’ s much more I ntimate and responsive in a way that is highly attuned and sensitive. ” Douglas would like to expand the program to work with pediatric units in the future. ” The goal is to bring joy into a hard, challenging situation and empower the resident or patient, because they don ’ t have power, ” says Douglas. We love it! We laugh our heads off! ” said one of the residents. “ Thank you for coming. You made us laugh, and that ’ s what we need. ”,
(This article was published by the Mad River Union on November 14th,2024 and used with the permission of the paper and writer Ruthi Engelke)
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