Magical Clowning Moments Through the Eyes of Hearts & Noses Clowns
Behind every pair of red noses are countless moments of connection, courage, and laughter. These stories – shared by Hearts & Noses clowns – invite you into a world where play and presence spark healing.
Note: Names are changed to protect patient privacy.
PEDIATRIC Stories
Transformation – sparkling with joy
I poke my head around the corner of the door and see the sad, serious face of a 16-year-old man. He sees me. I oohhh and ahhh as I say, “You look like a movie star.” And he does!
A huge grin spreads from ear to ear across his face. “Are you up for a clown visit?” A huge nod – yes.
We do silly clown magic. He gives us the thumbs up. We ask if he wants us to sing him a song. Thumbs up. We sing. We bow. He gives us two thumbs up. He laughs and seems so happy.
And then, I realize, he does not speak. We continue to play and play, and as we leave his room, the face that had been sad when we first entered is sparkling with joy.
I poke my head around the corner of the door and see the sad, serious face of a 16-year-old man. He sees me. I oohhh and ahhh as I say, “You look like a movie star.” And he does!
A huge grin spreads from ear to ear across his face. “Are you up for a clown visit?” A huge nod – yes.
We do silly clown magic. He gives us the thumbs up. We ask if he wants us to sing him a song. Thumbs up. We sing. We bow. He gives us two thumbs up. He laughs and seems so happy.
And then, I realize, he does not speak. We continue to play and play, and as we leave his room, the face that had been sad when we first entered is sparkling with joy.
Finding the game
Stepping into the waiting area for pediatric pre-op, I immediately heard a screaming child. I quickly spotted a distraught mother trying to calm her child who was sitting under a chair. Seeing a clown stopped both mom and child for a moment but I pretended to not seem to see either of them. Instead I was busy with a bright orange duster dusting and humming quietly. Looking up at the numbers above the elevator door I tried to reach the numbers, stretching up on tip toes, first with one hand, then the other. I stepped back to look at the situation and put my duster on the chair the child was under.
Seeing their chance the child came out and grabbed the duster and started their own clean up. I went to get the duster and it was gone!! This started a game of hide and seek that continued when the nurse came and called the child’s name. It continued down the hall into the pre-op rooms. They dusted the scale, the gurney, the hospital pjs, the nurse, and the anesthesiologist. The child dusted the clown, who was ticklish and I giggled. What a lovely way a small distraction turned a stressful wait into something fun.
The duster was happily returned post surgery.
Calling Tic Toc
A 5-year-old boy in pre-op has a very long wait. I meet him and his Mom and Dad in the large waiting room before he is taken to his own private room. My new friend and I play together for about an hour.
Part of a therapeutic clown’s job is to assist medical staff by distracting a patient or getting a patient to participate in treatment. Receiving anesthesia can be daunting for anyone, adult or child. I carry my own anesthesia mask and often gift a young patient with one of their own. Then I “call” my friend by placing the mask on my own face. Even the most resistant child is voluntarily putting it on their own face and calling me in no time!
In this instance, the doctor later told me that the patient was “calling Tic Toc” with his mask as he went to sleep! This game serves to lessen patient anxiety, build rapport, and inject an otherwise tense and fearful time with levity.
Given that I spent so much time with this family, Dad called me over and confided in me that he is afraid of clowns… but he thinks I’m okay. A few days later, Hearts & Noses received an email from Mom thanking the clown for such a positive pre-op experience. Mom shared that the patient had made a LEGO® picture frame for my clown card, which is proudly displayed among the family’s photos.
What a positive way to commemorate what otherwise may have been a trying time.
A 5-year-old boy in pre-op has a very long wait. I meet him and his Mom and Dad in the large waiting room before he is taken to his own private room. My new friend and I play together for about an hour.
Part of a therapeutic clown’s job is to assist medical staff by distracting a patient or getting a patient to participate in treatment. Receiving anesthesia can be daunting for anyone, adult or child. I carry my own anesthesia mask and often gift a young patient with one of their own. Then I “call” my friend by placing the mask on my own face. Even the most resistant child is voluntarily putting it on their own face and calling me in no time!
In this instance, the doctor later told me that the patient was “calling Tic Toc” with his mask as he went to sleep! This game serves to lessen patient anxiety, build rapport, and inject an otherwise tense and fearful time with levity.
Given that I spent so much time with this family, Dad called me over and confided in me that he is afraid of clowns… but he thinks I’m okay. A few days later, Hearts & Noses received an email from Mom thanking the clown for such a positive pre-op experience. Mom shared that the patient had made a LEGO® picture frame for my clown card, which is proudly displayed among the family’s photos.
What a positive way to commemorate what otherwise may have been a trying time.
“Are you weird?”
A 15-year-old young woman looks at us with huge skepticism as she gives us permission to enter her room. “She thinks clowns are weird,” her mom says. The girl asks us, “Are you weird?”. I squeak and look at my partner, “Are we weird?” I look back to the teen and shrug, “We are hospital clowns. Would you like a clown manicure?” I ask and put a sticker on my own stubby nail to calm her fears of having anything weird visit her. She laughs and laughs and says, “Oh, yes. I would love a clown manicure.” She is genuinely excited. Then my partner and I sing (pretty badly) and she beams with delight! Her mom asks if we are ministry clowns and where we got our training. I can’t really answer since I don’t want to break the spell of her daughter being in Clown World. Her daughter says, “Mom! Don’t ask questions. Don’t be weird.” Yes, she has truly and fully entered clownland, and loves it!
Curious Teens & The Mustache Mystery
Moco and I are visiting the adolescent mental health unit and are met in the hallway by four teenage girls. Moco happens to have a tremendous handlebar mustache and the girls immediately insist that it cannot be a real mustache! I leap to Moco’s aid and indignantly assure the girls that I would not bring a clown with a fake mustache to visit them. Moco calmly agrees that indeed, his mustache is real. A round of tugging and checking ensues. As the teens are assured that it is, indeed, a real mustache Moco produces a set of tiny mustaches on sticks and he proceeds to share one with each patient. We all laugh as the girls exchange mustaches and complement each other’s dapper new looks. This moment of bonding leads to our newfound friends sitting around a table, chatting and painting Moco’s nails. Who knew the visit would start with a mustache and end with a mani!
Elder Care Moments
Music reaches him
As Alzheimer’s and dementia progress, patients we have come to know begin to slip away. But sometimes, the magic of music helps us reconnect with the heart of the individual and we are able to brighten their outlook.
One gentleman we’ve known for a long while, Miguel, used to chat amiably with us and sing songs from his childhood. He has become increasingly withdrawn in recent months. We often find him with his eyes closed and his head down now.
This time Miguel is with a group of residents in a common area and he appears to be asleep despite a rather lively time. I approach with my ukulele and sing a familiar Spanish song. Miguel lifts his head and looks up at me. Our eyes connect as I continue to play and sing. He smiles and I smile back while strumming on. Miguel starts to clap, then starts to mouth the words. We get through two more verses of the song. He is so happy and alert!
He hasn’t been awake for weeks and weeks but the music reaches him today.
As Alzheimer’s and dementia progress, patients we have come to know begin to slip away. But sometimes, the magic of music helps us reconnect with the heart of the individual and we are able to brighten their outlook.
One gentleman we’ve known for a long while, Miguel, used to chat amiably with us and sing songs from his childhood. He has become increasingly withdrawn in recent months. We often find him with his eyes closed and his head down now.
This time Miguel is with a group of residents in a common area and he appears to be asleep despite a rather lively time. I approach with my ukulele and sing a familiar Spanish song. Miguel lifts his head and looks up at me. Our eyes connect as I continue to play and sing. He smiles and I smile back while strumming on. Miguel starts to clap, then starts to mouth the words. We get through two more verses of the song. He is so happy and alert!
He hasn’t been awake for weeks and weeks but the music reaches him today.
“No one ever comes.”
Miss Millie and I peek into Agnes’ room in the memory care unit. Agnes is sitting in a chair grasping her walker tightly. She looks up with tears in her eyes and says, “No one comes. No one ever comes.”
Miss Millie walks closer, kneels down and offers her hand, saying gently, “We’re here to visit.” Agnes and Miss Millie start to chat about the photos that fill the room. Soon Agnes begins to share stories about her younger days while I quietly start to add music with my ukulele.
Before long we are serenading Agnes with old tunes. She joins us in singing and we are giggling together when Agnes’s daughter shows up for a visit. The daughter is so delighted by her mother’s laughter, saying, “What a surprise! I hurry over as often as possible. Mom’s going through a fearful time and cries a lot. I haven’t heard her laugh in so long, thank you.”
Blue Skies
Norman is cheerful and is always happy to see us. His mobility is good and sometimes it’s hard to tell that he has memory issues at all. But he was recently hospitalized for a stretch of time. We were excited to see him back in his room again.
Babka and I entered with big smiles and greeted Norman. He said, “Hey, where have you been!? You haven’t been to see me.” We say we heard he’d been in the hospital for a while. Norman says, “Oh, yeah, that’s right, I was.” We continue with our visit and play a little music. After a time we move on.
Later, Cookie and Dapper Dan arrive for their shift. They also come to welcome Norman back. He says, “Hey, I haven’t seen you in a while. I was in the hospital.” Several minutes later, Babka and I join Cookie and Dapper Dan and Norman says again, “You haven’t been to see me. Where have you been?” So we say, “Right here! Ready to sing your favorite song,” and we all sing Blue Skies together.
Trunks and Giggles
We peek our heads into Paula’s room. Cookie and I had been told she was refusing food and had been very sad for days. This is distressing as we had been having great visits with her since she moved into the memory care facility even though she found it to be a difficult adjustment. Paula loves elephants and has some paintings and small carvings in her room so we look up facts about elephants to share during our visits. Luckily we recall a sweet one for this day.
“Paula, you remember how the female elephants take care of the herd?” “Yes.” “Well, I learned that when an elephant baby is born, all the females circle around and touch them with their trunk so the baby knows they have a community.”
Paula looks up with tears and a smile. “Paula, I’m going to hold your hand with my trunk.” And I hold Paula’s hand and we both giggle. We always hold hands during our visits now.
We peek our heads into Paula’s room. Cookie and I had been told she was refusing food and had been very sad for days. This is distressing as we had been having great visits with her since she moved into the memory care facility even though she found it to be a difficult adjustment. Paula loves elephants and has some paintings and small carvings in her room so we look up facts about elephants to share during our visits. Luckily we recall a sweet one for this day.
“Paula, you remember how the female elephants take care of the herd?” “Yes.” “Well, I learned that when an elephant baby is born, all the females circle around and touch them with their trunk so the baby knows they have a community.”
Paula looks up with tears and a smile. “Paula, I’m going to hold your hand with my trunk.” And I hold Paula’s hand and we both giggle. We always hold hands during our visits now.
Three Man Band
Albert was and is a drummer. He has drummed for the best Jazz players over the years. He and Mr. Mensch, who always travels with Luke the Uke, enjoy sharing music and stories about music. After a long wait, Mr. Mensch was able to bring his clown son Mitzvah Mensch to visit Albert. Mitzvah is also musical and travels with a trombone, as one does when one is a clown.
Well, as Dr Seuss would say, “that started something that is going on still…”