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 NEW YORK (AP) - Stephen Ringold is a clown facing a tough audience — a sick child in a hospital room who needs holiday cheer. For a few minutes, Stephany Nieto sits on her mother's lap, suspiciously eyeing the tall man with the red-and-white checkered shoes half-hiding behind the curtain. Smiling doesn't come easily to the little girl, who her mother says is being examined for a serious illness called moyamoya, an rare inflammation of the brain arteries that can cause seizures and paralysis.
But for a few moments, something whimsical captures her attention.
As Ringold — a.k.a. Dr. Meatloaf — stoops to pick up something, his ukulele-playing partner played by Phyllis Capello plants a hard slap on his behind with her instrument. Suddenly, Stephany is giggling and ordering Capello to plant another hard one on his back side.
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