AmranShrineClowns

Shriners Hospitals for Children

Shriners Hospitals for Children is a network of pediatric specialty hospitals, founded by the Shrine, where children under the age of 18 receive excellent medical care absolutely free of charge. There are 18 orthopaedic Shriners Hospitals, three Shriners Hospitals dedicated to treating children with severe burns, and one Shriners Hospital that provides orthopaedic, burn and spinal cord injury care. Shriners Hospitals are located throughout North America — 20 in the United States and one each in Mexico and Canada. These "Centers of Excellence" serve as major referral centers for children with complex orthopaedic and burn problems.

There is never a charge to the patient, parent or any third party for any service or medical treatment received at Shriners Hospitals. Shriners Hospitals accept and treat children without regard to race, religion or relationship to a Shriner. Any child may be eligible for treatment at a Shriners Hospital if the child is under 18 and if, in the opinion of the hospital's chief of staff, the child has an orthopaedic or burn condition that Shriners Hospitals can help.

All of the orthopaedic hospitals are equipped and staffed to treat children with congenital orthopaedic deformities, problems resulting from orthopaedic injuries, and diseases of the musculoskeletal system. Three of the orthopaedic hospitals (in Chicago, Philadelphia and Sacramento) also have special programs dedicated to caring for children with spinal cord injuries.

The Shriners Hospitals in Boston, Cincinnati, Galveston, and Sacramento treat children with acute, fresh burns; children needing plastic reconstructive or restorative surgery as a result of "healed" burns; children with severe scarring, resulting in contractures or interference with mobility of the limbs; and children with scarring and deformity of the face.

A Brief History of Clowning

Courtesy International Clown Hall of Fame

What is a clown?

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, a clown is "a familiar comic character of pantomime and circus, known by his (sic) distinctive makeup and costume, ludicrous antics, and buffoonery, whose purpose is to induce hearty laughter. The clown, unlike the traditional fool or court jester, usually performs a set routine characterized by broad, graphic humor, absurd situations, and vigorous physical action".

Now that we have that settled!? The following is a brief history of clowning based upon the above definition. This history will be extended and elaborated upon over time since yesterday is already history. Therefore, this document will be endlessly evolving. YOUR suggestions are welcome

Some of the earliest ancestors of the clown were present in ancient Greece. These comics were bald-headed and padded to appear larger than normal. They performed as secondary figures in farces and mime parodying the actions of more serious characters and at times threw nuts at the spectators. A similar type of clown also was present in the Roman mime. This clown wore a pointed hat and a patchwork colorful robe and was the target for all the tricks and abuse of his fellow actors.

In the late Middle Ages, the clown emerged as a professional comic actor when traveling entertainers began to imitate the antics of the court jesters and the amateur fool societies. The traveling companies of the Italian commedia dell'arte developed one of the most famous and durable clowns of all time, the Arlecchino, or Harlequin some time in the latter half of the 16th century. The Harlequin began as a comic valet, or "zany," but soon developed into an acrobatic trickster, wearing a black domino mask and carrying a bat or noisy slapstick with which he frequently spanked his victims.

The English clown was descended from the Vice character of the medieval mystery plays, a buffoon and prankster who could sometimes deceive even the Devil. Among the first professional stage clowns were the famous William Kempe and Robert Armin, both whom were connected with Shakespeare's company. Traveling English actors of the 17th century were responsible for the introduction of stage clowns to Germany, among them such popular characters as Pickelherring, who remained a German favorite until the 19th century. Pickelherring and his confederates wore clown costumes that have hardly changed to this day: oversized shoes, waistcoats, and hats, with giant ruffs around their necks.

The traditional whiteface makeup of the clown is thought to be introduced by the character of Pierrot, the French clown with a bald head and flour-whitened face. He first appeared during the latter part of the 17th century. He was created as a fool for Harlequin, Pierrot was gradually softened and sentimentalized. The pantomimist Jean- Baptiste-Gaspard Deburau took on the character in the early 19th century and created a famous love-sick, pathetic clown, whose melancholy has since remained part of the clown tradition.

The earliest of the true circus clowns was Joseph Grimaldi, who first appeared in England in 1805. Grimaldi's clown, called "Joey," specialized in the classic physical tricks, tumbling, pratfalls, and slapstick beatings. In the 1860s a low-comedy comic appeared under the name of Auguste, who had a big nose, baggy clothes, large shoes, and untidy manners. He worked with a whiteface clown and always spoiled the latter's trick by appearing at the wrong time to mess things up.

Grock (Adrien Wettach), a famous whiteface panomimist, evoked laughter in his continual struggle with inanimate objects. Chairs collapsed beneath him. When a stool was too far from a piano, he shoved the piano to the stool. His elaborate melancholy resembled that of Emmett Kelly, the American vagabond clown.

Types of Clowns

Courtesy International Clown Hall of Fame

White Face

The white face clown is typically the straight clown in skits with make-up which has a base of white grease paint. A straight clown will usually be the one acting very serious but who falls prey to the brunt of the punch line ("blow off") of the skit. The white faced clown's costume tends to be more formal than the auguste clown. Formal for a clown is different than for a regular person. This just means that the colors will tend to match and flow throughout the costume. The colors are less likely to be gaudy and mismatched as in the other clown types.

The make-up of the white face clown is typically simple to look at and will highlight the natural features already present on the face (i.e., eyes, cheeks, lips, nose, etc). The variations of a white face clown are endless and there are no specific guidelines other than the basic white base.

Auguste Clown

The auguste clown tends to be the silly clown in skits and make-up is a bright flesh-tone base. The silly clown will usually appear to not know what is going on in a skit but usually somehow escape the "blow off." The costume of the auguste clown tends to be gaudy, mismatched, and very bright. Primary colors are most popular with this clown type and the clothing is usually over-sized.

The make-up is usually bright and exaggerates the natural features already present in the face (e.g., a large nose, large outline of mouth, etc). Again there are millions of variations and each clown has their own special characteristics.

Character Clown

The character clown is just what you would think it is - a character which is exaggerated into a clown. The most popular character clown is the Hobo or Tramp clown. The Hobo usually has tattered clothes, a tattered hat, and make-up which suggests a weeks worth of a beard, a red nose, and other exaggerated features.

Character clowns can be from almost any walk of life. Some of the other more popular ones are police officers, women, or babies.

What is a Shrine Clown

J. A. "Archie" Ritter

SINCERE as a Shriner,funny as a clown

HONEST in believing children with special needs will benefit from his contributions

RIGEROUS desire to put smiles on faces of children who have little to smile about

INTENT on doing all he can to make good things happen for children

NEVER selfish with time or contributions to the support of Shrine Hospitals

EVER watchful for ways and means to contribute to making the best possible care available

CLEVER in wit,caring in mind

LOVING every activity and opportunity to serve the children

OBJECTIVE in contributing to his Shrine Clown Unit as a member of the team

WATCHFUL in actions and words in order to deliver the best possible results

NUTURING in thought and spoken word, loving in heart