The Ministry & Those To Blame:

Merci & Grace

The Blessed City Clowns

Merci chose his name to remind us of God's unconditional love, but he spelled it with the "i" to also say "thank you" in French.  He chose the hobo clown because he felt it matched his personality.  Hoboes attempt to look nice as compared to the tramp clown who is more tattered or the bum clown who is rumpled and dirty.  The white around the mouth and eyes comes from the days when hoboes "hopped trains".  They would get soot on their faces from the coal burning engines, and their skin would show when they wiped off their eyes and mouth.  The hobo might be a little smarter than the auguste (aw-goost) clown, but hoboes are none too smart.  The auguste usually has the white face and wilder makeup.  He also usually wears loose fitting clothes because they're more of an active clown, running around and falling down.  They are the ones who take the brunt of the jokes, but the hobo takes a few shots as well.      Some other character clowns that have developed are French Chef, Bernie Maurie...Reverend Corbin T. (Thaddeus) Potbelly...Merci Claus...P.C. Pigglesmith (Pork Chop)...Captain Jim.  As Merci got a little older and less active, Grampa Merci became the main character used.  He doesn't use makeup and has been found to be less scarey to children.  Mainly, he's just an old Merci!  Heaven knows what other characters might develop!

The first two pictures are of Grace's first picture and what she looks like today.  She started out as a "comedic whiteface" clown.  They are not quite as smart as the "neat whiteface" clown, but she's pretty smart!  She is the straight clown or setup clown as she sets up the gag to be played on Merci.  She corrects Merci in a loving way and treats him nicely.  Whenever Merci tries to play a gag on her, it always backfires on him!  Grace draws a heart on her cheek so she can share it with all the world.  Changes she's made to help simplify things include less makeup and regular shoes instead of oversized clown shoes.  The regular shoes are more comfortable, and she has found several colorful and wild pairs in thrift and discount stores.  She has also developed the characters of Millie Ellie Potbelly and Gramma Smith.

The pair began as mimes when they learned that new clowns would learn to communicate more effectively as mimes.  This is also a good way to reach large groups when you don't have a sound system.  It was recommended to be a mime for a year, but you can't keep Merci quiet that long!!!  Well, they soon discovered that you can't be a clown at the nursing home without attracting children...they seem to be everywhere!  Although Merci was more comfortable with the elderly, The Lord was drawing them into a children's ministry.  Actually, some of the early "adult" shows were flops...but kids always loved them.  They didn't study much about how other clowns did things because they wanted to be different.  WOW, are they ever different!  When doing programs and shows, they started taping so they could go back and see where they could improve.  They found out that, while they performed, they weren't always aware of how the group reacted until they replayed the video.  This also helped them to know exactly what worked and what didn't.  They both felt strongly that the main areas they want to plant seeds in children are encouraging the kids to be creative and getting them to use their imaginations.  They also aim to educate children while sharing their knowledge and love of God.  One of their favorite religious skits is The Fruits Of The Spirit.  When they are in a secular setting, this becomes a skit about good character traits teaching the same principles.  Other areas of education on their hearts are fire safety, nature around us and everyday/family issues.  They have many puppets that they like to work into their skits as they use a 50/50 approach...50% teaching and 50% having plain old fun and laughs.  As business picked up, the troupe acquired a yellow school bus.  Their vanity license plate reads "HISKIDS".  A friend of theirs, Dawn, painted pictures of the clowns and flowers on the sides of the bus.  You can see a picture of Dawn and one of the bus at the Blessed Helpers page.  They also added a portable sound system, so you can never keep Merci quiet!  It wasn't long before the non-profit corporation, Merci & Grace, Inc., was formed under a 501C3.

NOW MEET THE REST OF THE CULPRITS!

Our friend, Lisa, started to help.  She began dressing with a pink hat and purple feathers.  She says that God always tells her when something is right by showing her a feather.  She did a great job with the kids at the YWCA summer program, and did we ever appreciate her.  There were many more children there than expected!  She blossomed into Petunia the clown.  (Get it?  Blossomed?  Petunia?  Like the flower?...yuck, yuck, yuck)  She does NOT put up with Merci's tricks or his bad jokes, even though she tells some pretty bad jokes too!  She tells Merci, "I'm here to teach you patience.  How am I doing?"  They treat each other like brother and sister just as they do in real life.  As you can see in the last picture, she has also been known to play Hilga The Viking Princess.  In her real life, she has become a good actress on stage in local plays!

We happened to meet Pollyanna as she was sitting on her front porch.  She said she had been to clown school and had already developed several clown characters.  She jumped right in!  (One of her characters is T.B. Rabbit - Truly Blessed Rabbit, which is pretty funny because I said, "...jumped right in.")  I'm glad Petunia isn't here to get on me for my bad jokes!  Anyway, Pollyanna has been a true blessing with all that she does.  She has a special interest in filling gaps in the system to help others find housing, and she calls her endeavor U&I housing.  Here are pictures of her clown characters...Doctor Stencil, Cow-A-Bell, T.B. Rabbit, Mrs. Claus, The Mad Hatter, Pockets and Gladys Rap.

Deb joined up and has been a huge help.  She added lots of color with her variety of outfits.  She developed the clown, Flutterfly.  She is an elementary educator!  She's interested in visiting nursing homes and working with children.  Here are some pictures of her as Flutterfly.

We now want to introduce you to..........drum roll..........Rich & Angie as Bender & Dotsy!  Their children enjoy joining in as well.  They have added a lot to the group!!  Bender is quite good as a balloon sculptor while Dotsy has a quick wit with just the right amount of natural funniness never giving Merci a break!  Sounds like a recipe for success...tablespoon of Bender, teaspoon of Dotsy, add a sprinkle of their kids and you got FUN!  Never mind.  They had previously done several shows for their church and other programs.

We also want to thank the others who have been with us.  The three kids got older and moved on.  Kayla was Pickles, and she now has a family of her own.  Sage was quite the Joker but now stays pretty busy.  Amber was Miss Kitty and really knew how to ham it up.  We enjoyed working with all of them!  We also want to thank our award winning photographer, Kathy Jo.  In the background of her picture you will see Grace's father.  He has passed on, but much of what the clowns do was inspired by his spiritulism.

Merci says it's time to go fishin'!

Fisher Of Men...