Enriching the Mind, Inspiring the Heart

Earl K. Oldham Library

Brenda "Flower" Marshall

ADJUNCT PROFESSOR

FLOWER THE CLOWN

   Brenda "Sam" Marshall has been clowning around as "Flower" since 1981. Her pastor needed a clown for Vacation Bible School, so she donned a borrowed costume and truly "grotesque" make-up and proceeded to be bitten by the "clown bug"! Four years and not much growth later, she decided if she was going to do this seriously, she needed to learn to do it right. She enrolled in a clown class taught by a former European circus clown at the local junior college. From that class, she became involved in the local clown alley where the growth process began.     

     In the following years she has performed at birthday parties, company picnics, grand openings, parades, hospitals, nursing homes and various church activities including Vacation Bible Schools and camps in Texas and several other states.

     In the fall of 1991, Flower joined seventeen other clowns from all over the United States to become Citizen Ambassadors to Poland, Russia and Hungary. They visited children's hospitals, nursing homes, orphanages, schools, circus training facilities and four circus performances in Warsaw, Moscow and Budapest.

     Flower is a member of the Cowtown Clowns, Alley #135, a life member of both the Texas Clown Association and Clowns of America International. She served two terms as the first woman president of COAI and recently completed ten years on the Board of Directors. She currently serves as a Regional Director for the Texas Clown Association.

     She has also worked with the University of Wisconsin teaching Clown Camp on the Road and taught various aspects of clowning for eight years at the University in LaCrosse and two years at Medicine Hat College in Alberta, Canada. In January of 1995, Flower taught clowning and directed the clown competition for the Third Annual International Clown Cruise aboard Carnival's M.S. Jubilee to the Mexican Riviera. In 1998, she hosted the Fifth Annual International Clown Cruise aboard Carnival's M.S. Sensation to the eastern Caribbean and in 1999, she taught clown classes and performed aboard the M.S. Imagination to the western Caribbean. She has taught clown ministry classes at the Okanagan Summer School of the Arts in Penticton, Canada and is currently an adjunct professor at Arlington Baptist College in Arlington, Texas. She taught classes at the clown ministry conference, Joey to the World, the first eight years of it's existence in Houston, Texas and has been involved in a planning role the last four years. She has taught at the Missouri Baptist clown ministry conference. She has also taught at various clown conventions and clown gatherings around the country.

     She has been involved as the Clown Coordinator and a performer in the Circus of the King, a Christian circus, where many have responded to the gospel presented in a unique way.

     She has won awards in both state and international clown competition in the make-up, paradeability and skit categories. In 1995 she received the Ceslee Conkling Award given by the Cowtown Clowns, Alley #135. In 1996, She was awarded the Ambassador of Clowning award by the Texas Clown Association.

     In December of 1995, Flower and her friends Gator and MeMe Happy performed twelve shows in six different cities in the country of Ghana, West Africa. They were in Ghana at the invitation of Senna Tagboto, the owner and publisher of PLAYPEN, LTD., a Ghanian magazine for children.

     In May of 1999 Brenda was the leader of the second People to People International Clown Delegation on a ten day trip to three cities in China. The seven clown delegates from across the United States met with fellow performers and exchanged performance ideas and comedy concepts. They were also given the opportunity to perform for children in kindergartens in Beijing and Guangzhou, and the Children’s Palace in Shanghai.

     November of 1999 brought new honors, as Brenda received the Clown Ministry Impact Award for her impact on people and the art of Christian clowning.

     “Sharing God’s Love Through Laughter - A Guide To Christian Clowning” is the title of Brenda’s book. The purpose of the book is to encourage others to find the unique ministry God has given and to share it with the world around them!

     Brenda traveled again to China in March of 2002. She and her friend Phyllis “Daisy” Sheffield performed in public schools in the city of Xian and several mountain villages in Southwest China. They were the first people from outside of China to visit one of the schools!

     In the summers of 2002 and 2004, Brenda attended the Ultimate Clown School in New York City, produced by the New York Goofs. The instructors at the school are talented and well-known clowns and artists who have been involved in the art for many years.

     In May of 2004, Brenda and her husband traveled to Roatan, Honduras and Flower performed in public schools on the island. They were invited by and worked with the orphanage run by Child Sponsorship International.

     In September of 2005, Brenda traveled to Singapore to teach clowning at a conference of children’s ministry workers. The attendees came from India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Philippines and Singapore.

     Brenda and “Flower” have become regular instructors for One Way Street Puppet Festivals, TNT Clown Seminars and Bring Them In Children’s Ministry Conferences. These events take place around the U.S. and they keep Brenda on the road many weekends of the year. 

     She has also been instrumental in the newly formed “Laugh Support System” at Children’s Medical Center, Dallas. This is a therapeutic clown unit visiting children on a regular basis and assisting medical personnel with humor as a tool to promote health for both the children and the health care workers. 

     Brenda has been married to Patrick Marshall for thirty-three years. They have two daughters, Lacy, who is married to Trey Ford, and Laura, who is married to Lance Tippett. Their first grandchild, Eli Tanner Ford, was born in 2000 and grandson #2, Micah Reece Ford arrived in November of 2002! The Marshalls have lived in North Richland Hills for twenty-eight years.