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| Vol. 23, No. 1 |
| January 15, 2001 |
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Rehab Worker Just Loves `Clowning Around' By DENNY ANGELLE The Methodist Healthcare System
It's Friday afternoon and time for a party at The Methodist Hospital's Rehabilitation Center. A handful of patients, most of them in wheelchairs, form a semi-circle to play games, sing songs and enjoy some special entertainment. This time the entertainment is Ber Ber Believes, a clown with just about everything up her sleeve. Bedecked in an eye-popping red and yellow costume - as well as a stunning red wig - Ber Ber runs through the obligatory list of corny jokes, slight-of-hand magic and "sing along" tunes. If the disappearing scarf isn't so magical, Ber Ber's effect on her audience is. The patients are smiling, clapping and yes, singing along. An older lady actually giggles, and a formerly gruff gentleman warmly grasps Ber Ber's hand. Later, Ber Ber is out of costume and back in her everyday identity: Bernice Gregory, a Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation technician at Methodist. "That's the response I'm always seeking, a connection with people that tells them, `I'm not going to hurt you, I just want to make you smile,'" she says. Working with patients at Methodist, Gregory wanted to look for a way to share her spirituality with people. She became interested in clowning when she attended clown school in late 1999.
"I went to Cheerful Alley Clown School … with the idea of doing things for my church," Gregory recalls. "I had a pretty good response, so I decided to do more with Ber Ber." Now she appears at parties, school shows and the like. She set up a Web site for Ber Ber and handles bookings over the Web and e-mail. Ber Ber occasionally performs for Methodist employees; most recently in the Methodist Health Care System tent at the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation Walk for the Cure. Her balloon animals were so irresistible that kids came from all over the large party site to get one. On a warm day like that one, the line to get one of Ber Ber's balloons was longer than the queue for food and cold drinks. "It's fun. I'm learning more tricks, more magic, and how to work with an audience," she says. "No matter if you've done it just a few months or many years, you are always learning about working with an audience." She lets that statement hang a bit, then breaks into a big smile and says, "But it's still just clownin' around, you know." If you'd like to get in touch with Bernice or Ber Ber, call (713) 433-8008 or check out her Web site at http://www.geocities.com/berberbelieves.
©2006 Texas Medical Center E-Mail: tmcinfo@texmedctr.tmc.edu URL: http://www.tmc.edu/tmcnews/01_15_01/page_13.html |
