Second episode of our series on laughter. Today, laugh to forget the illness. “ We take better care of a happy child », This is the motto of the association, Le laughter doctor. At the Louis-Mourier hospital in Colombes, the clowns Mistral and Gaston roam the rooms of the pediatric unit to relieve children, parents and caregivers. Making little sick people laugh or smile is a serious matter, the actors benefit from solid training. The clowns always move in pairs to pass the buck, and not be alone in a difficult situation. Usually quiet, the hospital corridors resonate with laughter to the sound of the ukulele. Laurence Théault put on a red nose and followed in the footsteps of these two clowns.
They are not yet in their clown skin, Gaëlle and Laurent ask the nurse about the state of health and the mood of the little patients: essential data in order to adapt a tailor-made game.
“ It is important to know if the child has pain, if he has taken medication, to know his condition to anticipate the way in which he may be sensitive to our game. If we need to have a game rather gentle, if we can allow ourselves more fantasies, or more power in the game. Really, we adapt the game according to the pathology and the condition of the child, so it is very important », Laurent tells us.
Passing through the dressing room, pink on the cheekbones, a little black to highlight the eyebrows, a touch of white on the eyelids, the actors make up faces in front of the sink mirror, and here is Mistral in her yellow polka dot dress who adorns her big buttocks, Gaston adjusts his short tie and his hat, a red nose for both of them.
A few chats in the corridors and there is the duo of clowns upstairs, room 5 is occupied by Noam, six years old, a bandage surrounds his little hand, it is connected to an IV pole. Mistral and Gaston climb up to the porthole to observe, then they push the door and the magic happens. Noam’s beautiful blue eyes widen again, his smile is wide, and there he thinks he is a magician, intoning a ” Abracadabra “.
Always in duo, the clowns constantly improvise. They are virtuosos, they soothe and reassure children, while constantly adapting to them, as Gaëlle explains.
“We come to meet them. What they have in common is the fragility of being in a medical environment, which is unfamiliar. It is this state which is common. There is a whole fragility there. But children don’t laugh at the same thing. We are living. There is a game mechanic, but there are children, with whom physically we will not be able to access laughter, so we will look for something else”
Despite all their efforts, clowns do not always meet with the expected success, as clown Laurent confesses: “ Clowns are not uncommon. In any case, they are coming. But the clown, in fact, has this ability to bounce back. It’s part of the art of clowning to accept, to take the guts and do something with it that will be funny. “.
Behind their red noses, the clowns have a sensitive approach, and there is no question, but with the parents’ agreement of course, of refraining from going to meet a little sick person whose days are numbered. Gaëlle explains why this is important.
“We always go there, because there is life. And we will see the living, who remains, and who is there until the end. Palliative care is a medical label, but it means that we are alive until the end. We come to play for this part. And then, there is his parent who is there, and we are there for them.”
Clowns provide care in their own way, as Bettina Mesples, pediatrician at Louis Mourier hospital, testifies: “ They are colleagues. For certain patients, I sometimes make gestures that are a little bit aggressive. And some children only accept this gesture in the presence of clowns. So yes, it’s joint work, and something very positive. I’m delighted! “.
In room 6, little Sophia is sulking. She doesn’t want to see the clowns, but their pranks make the little sick girl melt. No question of coming to meet Hamid either, tired and angry, he hid under the sheets.
But success is there in the corridor, when Mistral and Gaston come across Noam, riding his IV stand with a great burst of laughter.
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