The Smile Was Worth It

Couple of weeks ago, I took off four days of catering work and filled in for a girl on my L.A. Connection Comedy Theater team and did kids shows. We would go to 2 or 3 different YMCA centers and perform an improv show using the kids. I had a fun time doing them and it was nice to see kids laugh and have fun with us.

The owner of the theater is kind of a douche bag and gave us a bunch of wrong information, so for a couple of the days of shows we were given bad addresses and times so we looked like fools. But what can you do.

The best day was the last of them. There are 3 other actors besides myself who perform these shows. The leader of our group, The Hoya, came and told us that at this particular YMCA they had a deaf child in the audience and that he had an interpreter there who would sign to him so he could follow along. The Hoya told the teacher and the interpreter that she wanted to bring the child up to participate in a game with us so he could be included. The only game that he could really do is called "Fairy Tale". In that game we take about 6-7 kids from the audience and we stand in a line together. The Hoya is the narrator and she asks the audience to give her there two favorite fairy tales. Then she combines them to make a fun story. The narrator tells the story and speaks all of the dialogue for the actors and all we have to do is pantomime what she is saying and act out what she tells us too. It is mainly geared toward the younger children so they don't have to speak. She told the teacher and the interpreter that she could sign the story as she spoke and give the kids directions by sign language. Then she busts out and goes into advanced sign language. I was really impressed.

When it was time for the game, she pointed out the child and signed to him that she wanted him to come up and join the game. The child looked surprised and then pointed at his chest, just to make sure he was seeing her correctly. When she signed yes, he SPRINTED up to the front and joined us for the game. Then we played the game with the kids and the child had the best time out of all of them. He was smiling ear to ear and having a blast playing the footman in "Sleeping Beauty meets Shrek". When it was over, he ran smiling back to his chair and I almost started crying. I was so happy that I could be a part of bringing joy to a child who has had a difficult life and was probably not looking forward to having yet another show at the center that he could not participate in. I told The Hoya that I was proud of her and that she should be proud of herself. I also felt inadequate, because I would have had no way to reach that child if she wasn't there.

Then the next school we went to had a child with Down Syndrome in the audience. We brought him up to play "Fairy tale" also, and he played Shrek in the story. By the way, Shrek was the suggestion for almost all of their favorite fairy tales. He was great as Shrek, even going so far as to imitate the mannerisms of an ogre while he was out there. He too ran smiling back to his chair after the game was over.

I also taught 45 minutes of improv games to kids by myself after one of the shows. I had 1st and 2nd graders in my group. I didn't realize that was the grade that everyone decides to kick and punch each other cause these kids were going after each other like it was an Ultimate Fighting Championship Pay Per View. I had to sit a few kids out, and tell some others to go to the bathroom to get them away from me for a few minutes, but overall it was fun.

The money that I earned from doing these shows and teaching comes off of my monthly dues for the theater. We didn't get paid much, but it was worth it just to see the smiles.