Clown - Ben Winger

Find your kilt

bwinger — Wed, 16 Mar 2022 17:27:52 +0000

Project Preview

A short promotional film for Hearts and Minds. Helping to enlist fundraisers to do the Kilt Walk for charity. I knew I wanted it to feel epic and that I’d need a kilt. I didn’t really think about lugging all the equipment up a big hill dressed in shorts. So, so cold.

Project Details

With the help of Mat Urey and his camera/flying skills we managed to get some amazing shots. A lot of that was down to the majesty of nature but credit where credit is due for Mat. Quite an ad hoc shoot, utilising dramatic and interesting scenery as we found it. Lots of falling over, praying for a break in the wind so we could use the drone, and a few odd looks from fellow walkers.

A challenging shoot but no where near as challenging as The Kilt Walk.

The post Find your kilt first appeared on Ben Winger.

Dr Squash

bwinger — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 22:29:58 +0000

About

This is my Clowndoctor character. Though the photos here are slightly out of date. I wear much much faster more athletic clothes these days.

I work for the arts-in-health charity Hearts and Minds as a therapeutic clown. As a Clowndoctor with Children and young people and as an Elderflower with people living in care with dementia.

It’s the greatest job. I get to play and connect with such incredible people and it brings such joy to my life. I’ve learnt so much from my time at Hearts and Minds and from everyone I’ve ever visited. All our interactions are improvised and person-led. It is a great feeling to be able to make people laugh or smile *but * in reality the work is much deeper than that. Our work is about making connections. We’re expert listeners and communicators no matter if you’re verbal or not. It is our job, to see you, to hear you and acknowledge you.

Clowning is a perfect art form for facilitating communication and the work that Hearts and Minds does fills me with shed loads of pride.

Dr Squash - A visit

[Names have been changed]

A hush descended in the playroom of Ward 7. Everyone had gathered for Dr Squash’s unmissable World Premiere performance… Unfortunately for Dr Squash, he wasn’t aware that he was expected to perform, and hadn’t prepared anything. Not wanting to let twin sisters Betty and Billie, and 5 year old Martin down, he took a deep breath and readied himself. Drs Mousse and Squash had already had great difficulty getting into the playroom and only managed it thanks to the good graces and instructions of Martin, so Squash was keen that everything should be perfect for the performance… whatever it was the performance was going to be… Mousse took up her Kazoo and with much fanfare announced the arrival of Dr Squash. Squash entered full of confidence and with the immense presence of a great Shakespearean actor, promptly tripped on a chair and ended up bundled over a nearby bookcase. A slight wave of embarrassment washed over him but he comforted himself with the fact that in all likelihood no one had noticed his stumble. Amazingly it seemed fortune shone on him once more… he had not only landed on a bookcase but upon the perfect idea for his performance. A dramatic reading of “That’s not my pig”.

Squash stepped forward nervously, and with an encouraging glance from Mousse and the twins, and Martin, and Grandad, and Audrey the play specialist and the rest of the audience who had gathered outside… he began.

“That’s not my pig, its tail is too smooth”

The room erupted with beautiful laughter, Mousse was awestruck by such stupendous idiocy and Squash felt his heart swell.

“That’s not my pig, its hooves are too bumpy”

Tears rolled down the twins four cheeks, and Martin was struggling to breath, Squash continued;

“That’s not my pig, its back is too rough”

He’d rolled the ‘r’ in ROUGH with such skill and dexterity that the audience had fallen into a reverent silence. Heads, shoulders, knees and toes shook in what he assumed must be disbelief. Mousse’s head hung in pride as Squash reached the final page.

“THAT’S my pig, its ears are so soft”

Basking in the whoops, cheers and adoration of the playroom Squash bowed deeply. Mousse’s apologies echoed around the room. “I’m sorry the other wards didn’t get to see this too” Squash thought, nodding in agreement. He’d done what everyone had thought was impossible. Squash had saved Christmas. In April.

Clowning during Covid-19

In order to continue with Clowndoctor visits during the pandemic we had to go online. Below are some examples of online visits and bespoke video content.

The post Dr Squash first appeared on Ben Winger.

MESS

bwinger — Sun, 24 Feb 2019 14:24:00 +0000

Project Preview

A show/project originally conceived by me but taken to incredible heights by Tenterhooks and the ensemble. A show made for and with children and young people with complex additional support needs.

Project Details

MESS was totally redesigned and reimagined during the Covid-19 pandemic. We took it outside, inside and to peoples gardens. All whilst maintaining social distancing measures and other Covid precautions.

Losing our ability to be tactile and close with our audience was a tough challenge to overcome but with the help of some R&D funding from Creative Scotland we were able to rework the show and make it even better!

We’re now in the middle of another tour to SEN schools in the east and west, after our 2021 tour of some of Scotland’s leading venues with support from Creative Scotland’s touring fund.

It has been an absolute delight to work on MESS again. The show works so well, and it is a testament to the diligence and incredible work of the team.

Film and Website

During the last tour I was able to create a filmed version of the show. I filmed over 2 days and used rehearsal performance to follow the action and performers much more closely. I wanted to give viewers the best chance to get a sense of what watching the show live is like.

With the help of Fergus Dunnet MESS’ designer I developed messtheshow.org as a resource for audience, venues and promoters. You can watch the trailer, some additional MESS content and check out the website below.

The post MESS first appeared on Ben Winger.