A Seriously Full Life Balanced by Attending Clown College
My name is Barbara Mascio. My family life is active with my husband, our respective parents and grandparents, our siblings, our son and his wife and their 2 children. I am the founder and president of Senior Approved Services, LLC. I am an active advocate for the elderly and children.
Sounds like a full life, doesn’t it? Full might actually be a good description. But in all reality, a better description might be ‘seriously full’. Everything I do is serious. Parceling time between family, volunteerism, and operating a company that serves all of the United States however left little space in this full serious life for anything else.
In 2006, near my 49th birthday, I began to take a mental inventory. You know what I mean, those particular birthdays that cause you to pause and ask, “Am I on track with my life goals?”
It was during those moments of reflection that I concluded I was living a lopsided life. I was and still am, very happy with all that I’ve accomplished and for the most part, very happy with my daily life. But I also realized that perhaps in the pursuit to be who I am, I’d forgotten to squeeze in some down time, some fun just for me; leisure, creativity, and laughing were just not on my ‘to do list’.
I began to look around for a hobby, a craft, something that I could do just for me. I decided that it wasn’t selfish, that in fact, might actually be necessary if I wanted to continue to have the energy reserves to give as much as I enjoy giving to my family, my community, and to my clients.
I knew that I wanted to find something that would challenge me both physically and mentally. A risk. Something I have done as an entrepreneur, but not in any other arena of life. Some folks at this juncture in life choose parachuting, or roller coasters, or hand gliding to fulfill that need to risk as a way to experience more of life. I needed to find something that didn’t require challenging gravity.
I’ve been facilitating a workshop for years now, titled ‘The Caregiver’s Guide to Cracking UP!’ and it was after one of these workshops that an attendee came up to me and asked me if I was a clown. I laughed; I thought she was simply teasing me. But she was serious. She really thought I was a clown.
I have never been to a circus. I have never seen a clown perform. I didn’t gravitate towards comedy in general. The workshop mentioned is based on the science of psychoneuroimmunology and therapeutic laughter. And although I am a firm believer in the physical and emotional benefits of deliberate laughter, what I taught and felt was more science than subjective or objective humor.
Her comment intrigued me though. And I thought to myself, ‘Why not?’ and I began to search for training. I found a few workshops that offered one day, seven day and even a two-week seminar, but nothing I found initially spoke to me. If I was going to learn the art of clowning, I wanted the full course-work. Finally, I found, * The Ohio Clown College founded by Robert Kreidler of Magic Moments Unlimited.
I went to his web site and reviewed the curriculum and was very impressed with the thoroughness of the total training. Committing to nine months of training was not too difficult to squeeze in to my busy schedule since the class met one evening a week and occasional Saturdays. I knew I could schedule this time fairly easily within my full and serious life schedule.
I had no preconceptions when I showed up for the first night of class held at the Hudson High School. The first night of class we were asked to introduce ourselves and then answer the question, ‘What do you want from this class?’
I listened to a young lady (who drove all the way from Toledo) tell how much she’s always wanted to be a clown in a circus and since the circus no longer trains clowns, she came to the training with the hopes of one day being a paid performer on the road with a circus.
I listened to the story of a middle-aged gentlemen (who drove all the way from Pennsylvania) explain that he was currently on disability from an accident that occurred while working construction and that he was there to learn clowning and balloon art with the hopes of starting a business in his home town that he could replace construction work with as he knew returning to his previous vocation would not be possible due to his disability.
An older women who owned her own cleaning company came to the training so that she could use her clowning skills to further serve her church community and she confided that the challenge she anticipated in learning the art of clowning would also be ‘good medicine’ for her personally for a number of reasons.
An RN who managed four adult group homes in southern Ohio came to learn clowning as a way to share love and joy with her residents, her staff, and also further her ability to serve the youth in her church community.
A young x-ray technician from University Hospital felt this training would help her start a side business that would help her support her family.
And then it was my turn. Why was I there? I confessed that I was there as a special treat to me, to challenge myself physically and creatively, and that my desire was also to learn how to communicate better with less words.
At the beginning of my class, there were only one or two students that saw the possibility of earning money as a clown hoping that by the end of class they would have the skills necessary to launch a clowning entertainment business. Most of the others felt that they would only use their clowning as a way to donate back to their church in the form of clowning ministry.
I was the only one that repeatedly stated that I had absolutely no intention of clowning in public under any circumstances. Not as a volunteer, not as a business. I only wanted to learn how to loosen up, how to have fun, how to use my body in a comedic way, how to stretch my mind to include more antics to balance out the seriousness of my chosen life style.
The good news is that everyone in my class has either accomplished what they set out to do, or are on the road towards those ultimate goals. And I found that I love this craft so much that I am performing in public and continue to build on what we were taught in this foundational clowning art training. In fact, last year, I returned as a graduate to lend a hand to the class that graduated from the 07-08 class.
What changed with me? There is a liberation that one feels once you have the courage to, as our headmaster so wisely puts it, “Get out of your cylinder!”
He is referring to your body when he says cylinder. Kreidler aptly described how each of us has experienced years of training as we grew up learning to control ourselves within our bodies. Look in the mirror or look at a recent photo of yourself. Chances are you will see how tight your arms are to your side, how intentional and restrictive you have become with how you move your body and facial expressions. Notice the tightness in your throat or in your gut. It takes a long time to make your self that rigid.
The pursuit towards being a mature adult has left many of us denying the internal drive to roll around on the ground with our kids and grandkids, or refrain from dancing without a care, or from loosening up our guts enough for healthy spontaneous belly laughter.
And so, part of what I learned was how to be comfortable in my body and to stop being so self-conscience about it. I learned, in fact, how to use my whole body to make other people laugh at me. It is a gift to share, humbling yourself to the place of ‘fool’ so that others can laugh and while laughing, forget – even if just for a few minutes – how terribly serious life can be.
I learned how to apply theatrical make-up, how to create a unique costume, how to juggle, how to do magic, how to write and perform routines, how to take a fall, a slap, a hair pull, walk in to walls and other skills that lend to the complete skill set of physical comedy.
But the most rewarding bit of training came in the coursework of character development. Character development was introduced in the first semester and was something that we continued to learn all year long. The course work on character development was and still is what I feel was the most valuable element of this class. It is the foundation to everything the clown does.
Through a process developed by Kreidler, each person attending class has the opportunity to create a real live alter personality. In my opinion, it is actually more about reanimating a part of you that has been buried in your pursuit of the serious adult life.
Some people say it’s getting in touch with your inner child. For me, it was more an exercise of embracing the mischievous side of me, the imp if you will, the side that didn’t fit in the corporate world, the side of me that just didn’t have a place in my serious world.
I discovered a robust chunky redheaded woman that serves her community as a waitress in a 50’s diner married to a minister of the Frisbatarain faith. I named her Jamdealie Dim Light and over time animated her so that she had her own unique voice, walk, and all the other personality aspects that would dictate how she reacts to life and those she meets.
Jamdealie is free to express herself as only Jamdealie can. She is empowered and never feels self-conscience. And when Barbara transforms in to Jamdealie, Barbara gets to take a break from the seriousness of life.
Colleagues and family members have all commented that even Barb has transformed as a result of this training. They see a more relaxed, energetic, fun person that is not nearly as uptight as she once was. So, Jamdealie does have a tendency to merge in to Barb’s personification in very positive ways. Incidentally, my grandkids think I am, without a doubt, ‘The coolest grandma’.
A deliberate break from the reality we all toil in is healthy. So healthy that I now recommend and endorse the clown training offered by Robert to others as a great method to get in touch with the side of you that perhaps your serious life has hidden from you.
In closing, ask yourself, "What do I do now to balance the serious stress of life?" Are you engaged in a deliberate effort to balance work and play? If you need to learn how to do this, I can’t think of a better forum then attending professional training classes in the art of clowning.
* The name of the school (after 20 years of use)had to be changed to The Ohio College of Clowning Arts as part of a settlement brought against The Ohio Clown College by Ringling Brothers. It remains the only clown school operating within a Tri-state area.
To learn more about my personal experience of clowning, feel free to call me. I'm happy to talk with you. My 'day job' phone number is 440-471-4179.
