May 26, 2000

When "Clodette" came to work one day at the MGH and rode the elevator up to Ellison 18, she and her companions looked and acted a bit odd. That's because Clodette was on her day off from the hospital, and she and her friends were just doing their jobs as members of Jeannie Lindheim's Hospital Clown Troupe, a group of volunteer clowns who bring cheer to young patients in some of the area's hospitals.

When she's not clowning around, Clodette, whose real name is Nancy Pease, is a staff assistant in MGH Molecular Biology in the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Her fellow volunteer clowns come from all walks of life — including stay-at-home moms, doctors and real estate managers.

"I got interested in clowning 10 years ago, after reading an article about the Big Apple Circus," says Pease. "A friend told me that Jeannie Lindheim was going to start the troupe, and I went to the first training. I feel like I was born to do this."

The clowns receive specialized professional training to perform at the bedside of hospitalized children. This includes learning how to use expressions and body movement, how to get permission to enter a child's hospital room and how to exit gracefully if the child indicates that he or she is not interested in being entertained. Volunteer clowns are required to make one hospital visit per month.

Angie MacKillop, a patient on Ellison 18, with the clowns.

Jeannie Lindheim, an actress and teacher from Brookline, founded the troupe after touring with the Patch Adams, MD, 1996 annual clown tour of Russia. Adams was the subject of a recent major motion picture. The troupe is a nonprofit organization and does not charge for its services. Together, the clowns have entertained more than 10,000 children since the troupe's beginning in 1997. In addition to performing in hospitals, the group of 35 clowns also make appearances at such events as the "Making Strides" breast cancer walk and the Massachusetts Special Olympics.

"We are empowering children," says Lindheim. "We give control to children whose lives may seem out of control. We act silly and screw things up, so that the children can tell us how to do things correctly. By doing this, we invite children and their families to enter the magical clown world and, for a moment, forget about illness."

Pease adds: "It's amazing to see the integrity of these children. I love that humor can fit into difficult situations, without minimizing how scary or serious things may be."

For more information about the group, call 277-2488 or send e-mail to lindheimj@aol.com.