Hospital Entertaining Tips for Children’s Entertainers

Hospital entertaining is rewarding—there’s no doubt about it—but it isn’t as simple as it sounds. From the condition of the child and his/her parents, to the almost constant coming and going of medical personnel, to the culture of the different wards, to sanitary precautions and hospital regulations, there’s actually a lot of things to consider before you go in and entertain.

To help you navigate the ins and outs of hospital entertaining, we rummaged through our vault to bring you this insightful talk we’ve had with experienced clown doctor and professional kids entertainer Wayne Van Wyck. Listen in and pick up a wealth of tips that will serve you well next time you go out and perform a show—even if it’s not at a hospital.

In this episode we discuss:

• How Wayne got into kids entertaining

• The magic of connection and audience interaction and how Wayne built his show around this

• Exceedingly useful tips that a kids entertainer has to remember when performing for kids at hospitals (dos and don’ts and many more)

• How hospital entertaining made Wayne a better children’s and family entertainer (Learn about the importance of being aware of your pace, working slowly, and listening to the audience.)

• The difference between being a master showman/kids entertainer vs. being a magician/juggler/ventriloquist/balloon artist and how this can affect how you run your show

• The importance of having variety in your show

• How Wayne deals with audiences (Audiences are not as scary as many kids entertainers think they are.)

Resources mentioned in this episode:

KEH Shop

Kids Entertainers Facebook Group

Our sponsors are…

Muse: Creative websites for children’s entertainers. Designed to attract, engage, and convert lookers into bookers.

GMD Formula: Add variety to your magic show with games, magic, and disco. This is the perfect material for continuous professional development for family and children’s entertainers.

Now it’s your turn!
What did you think of this episode? Please share your comments below. Thanks for listening!