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For the, so far, 25 years that Jean_paul Bell has been performing, not limmiting himself to just one regime, he has performed in many T.V. series and also on stage. Varying from drama series (suach as Water Rats) to childrens programs (such as Play School) J.P has also performed on many Live shows, most infamously 'the big gig' and 'Hey Hey its Saturday'.
He has performed solo shows for young people and families on numorous occaisions in some diverse places even, such as; remote aboriginal communities, fijian schools, belvoir St Theatre (Sydney) and the Queensland Performing Arts Centre. He has a wealth of experience in teaching mime, movement and clowning.
As a 19 year old saving to go overseas, JP worked as an orderly in St Vincent’s hospital cardiac unit. He found he was skilled at lightening the hospital atmosphere and diverting children about to go into surgery. From this experience he developed a comedy sketch ‘the operation’ that stayed in his repertoire and became a favourite of medical professionals in the audience. It was not until many years later that this small seed germinated.
Patch Adams was an inspiration. He first met him when he visited Australia in 1993, and corresponded with him regularly. While on tour throughout Australia, JP began visiting local children’s hospitals as a clown. Andre Poulie from the Swiss based Theodora Foundation came to Australia and met with JP, hoping to start a hospital clowning program in Australia, as in many other countries. This did not eventuate, but JP was inspired to set up the Humour Foundation.
He encouraged his long-time friend, Dr Peter Spitzer, to become involved. They had first met in London in 1975, when JP was taking a short break from touring Europe with London Mime Theatre. Peter founded Wintergarden Medical Centre and uses a variety of modalities, including humour, to treat his patients. They had long talked of ‘marrying the arts and medicine.”
The Humour Foundation took all of 1996 to set up. The first Clown Doctor visit was to Royal Hobart Hospital not long after the Port Arthur massacre. Morale was low, and pain and shock had touched everyone. The Clown Doctors helped everyone find their smiles again.
Sydney Children’s Hospital became the first hospital to host the Clown Doctors in January 1997. Now, five years later, the program is hosted by all major children’s hospitals in Australia, and Clown Doctors also visit metro & regional hospitals. In 2002, Clown Doctors visited hospitals in the Northern Territory. Clown Doctors also play a role in palliative care for adults and children with regular visits at Daw House SA, and Bear Cottage, NSW. Clown Doctors also visit nursing homes.
In 2000, JP was joined Dr Sniggles and Dr Fruit-loop on a visit to hospitals, orphanages, towns and outlying villages in devastated East Timor. JP’s skills in mime were handy in performances to re-inforce the importance of hygiene, the biggest health problem in east Timor. The Clown Doctors were inspired by the people rebuilding their shattered lives.
Also in 2000, and again in May 2003,.he was invited to Switzerland to teach workshops at an international hospital clown conference. As part of The Patchwork for Peace mission, in 2002 he joined a group of hospital clowns from around the world, including Patch Adams, in bringing fun and laughter to the people of Afghanistan. Repressed for so long under the Taliban, laughter was much needed. The group also took 14 tons of aid.
JP selects and trains the Clown Doctors and works with the Clown Doctor Units around Australia to keep creativity fresh and quality high. He is Dr B Looney in the hospitals.
He is also in demand as a speaker and workshop presenter as part of The Humour Foundation’s LaughterWorks program. He speaks on humour as a coping strategy and using humour for self-care to health professionals, patient support groups and community organizations. For example, he has recently presented a series of workshops to medical staff in Emergency Departments in Melbourne hospitals.
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