Faculty Profile

One day on her way to perform as a clown, Dr. Merry McBryde-Foster decided to make a quick stop at the bank. To her astonishment, a child in the car in front of her began making faces and waving at her wildly. "It took me a minute of thinking, 'What is that kid doing?' And then I realized how I looked," she says, remembering she was in full costume and makeup. "You forget that at first, when you're on the inside looking out."

For Dr. McBryde-Foster, clowning is an occasional gig; she performs about five times a year at hospitals, nursing homes or churches. She is an assistant professor of nursing at Baylor's Louise Herrington School of Nursing in Dallas, where she began teaching full time in 2001. The two roles -- both of which she says facilitate healing -- are complementary.

"Humor gives us a break, however brief, from the seriousness of life," she says. "Laughter is a language of the spirit. When you hear someone laugh, it goes all the way to your core." In fact, she says, some medical research now is beginning to show how humor can improve one's immune system. But that's not really why she decided to try clowning. She was looking for a creative outlet after completing her PhD in 1991. For six weeks, Dr. McBryde-Foster attended an evening continuing education course where she learned the basics: the history, ethics and techniques of clowning, as well as how to juggle, tie balloons, perform magic tricks and develop her own special characters.

Twelve years later, she's developed several characters, each with a distinct personality and costume. Her favorite is Pattianne, a 5-year-old girl with pink, curly hair, who pulls a pink wagon and has pockets loaded with "little bitty things," she says.

Most of the time, adults are just as entertained by clowns as children are -- although often it takes them longer to admit it, she says. "But the child in them comes out, and then you have them hooked."