This is the first book in English to provide a close-up view of the emotional and rewarding experiences of clown-doctors working with hospitalized children. It describes the development of a new program in a pediatric hospital and all the challenges that confront clown-doctors. The book recounts work that takes place over a few months in 1999-2000. Most of the children that are described had been diagnosed with leukemia and other serious forms of cancer. They were hospitalized often and ran the risk of death. This book is a tale of love and humor and of dealing with great traumas and tragedy. It tells of the immense compassion and the amazing resilience of individuals in the most stressful and debilitating of circumstances. It is a small window looking onto what it is to be human with all our strengths and frailties and of how complete strangers can become bonded to one another through laughter and pain. The story presented here is based upon real case studies annotated with occasional commentaries to put these experiences into perspective. Above all else this book is a celebration and an homage to all the children, their parents and care-givers who have shared their lives with clown-doctors in many countries around the world. The Clown-Doctor Chronicles is written to 'speak' to people of all ages: men and women; professionals, trades people and homemakers in cities, towns and villages; for laughter and illness know no boundaries. It will be of particular interest to parents, artists in hospitals and anybody working with children (health care professionals, educators, psychologists).

Send in the Clowns presents interviews with twenty-four pioneering humanitarian and activist clowns and thought leaders working in hospitals, refugee camps, orphanages and war zones, and at the sites of street protests and locations of social unrest across the world. This book is built around interviews with some of the world’s leading practitioners of clowning for change, justice, and health outside of the entertainment mainstream, featuring artists and organizations including Patch Adams (US), the Dream Doctors Project (Israel), Clown Me In (Lebanon), and Doutores da Alegria (Brazil). Situating the topic in relation to indigenous and ritual clowning, investigating the various functions of the clown in early societies, and centering the discourse around interviews with key practitioners, the book explores a wide range of clown applications across the globe. This includes the special significance of the clown archetype in socially, politically, and culturally challenging situations, the successes and challenges of the art activists who are at the forefront of this movement, and the modern humanitarian clown’s relationship to original forms of clowning that can be traced back through history. This is a vital resource for anyone studying, teaching, or practicing clown work in applied contexts, from health care to conflict resolution.

The role of humour, laughter and play in healthcare and wellbeing is a hot topic. Smiles are Everywhere: Integrating clown-play into healthcare practice is a practical handbook aimed primarily at healthcare professionals and those working in healthcare settings who wish to bring play and humour into their work. Drawing together the authors’ considerable experience in practice, research and training in the use of humour in healthcare settings, this book works to bring theory into practice in a simple, user-friendly manner. Central to Smiles are Everywhere is the understanding that healthcare professionals are striving to deliver patient-centred care and that the activities suggested can be integrated into existing methods of care delivery. The book includes: A rationale for why and where laughter and play are beneficial in healthcare settings Guidelines for integrating clown-plays into your own practice Advice on strategies and approaches More than fifty clearly laid out activities and ideas developed and adapted by the authors. Ideal for healthcare professionals as well as anyone working in a healthcare setting, the ideas presented here can also be translated to educational, corporate and training environments.

This latest edition includes newly edited chapters from the previous editions covering the therapeutic use of dance, drama, story telling and the visual arts. Information on guidelines, preparations and practical hints has also been updated.

By its very nature the clown, as represented in art, is an interdisciplinary phenomenon. In whichever artform it appears – fiction, drama, film, photography or fine art – it carries the symbolic association of its usage in popular culture, be it ritual festivities, street theatre or circus. The clown, like its extended family of fools, jesters, picaros and tricksters, has a variety of functions all focussed around its status and image of being “other.” Frequently a marginalized figure, it provides the foil for the shortcomings of dominant discourse or the absurdities of human behaviour. Clowns, Fools and Picaros represents the latest research on the clown, bringing together for the first time studies from four continents: Europe, America, Africa and Asia. It attempts to ascertain commonalities, overlaps and differences between artistic expressions of the “clownesque” from these various continents and genres, and above all, to examine the role of the clown in our cultures today. This volume is of interest for scholars of political and comic drama, film and visual art as well as scholars of comparative literature and anthropology.

The book Suffering the Slings and Arrows Of Outrageous Fortune: International Perspectives on Stress, Laughter and Depression highlights topics covered at an inaugural inter-disciplinary conference Making Sense of Stress Humour and Healing held in Budapest in May 2005. The chapters provide a truly international and inter-disciplinary perspective on the subject. Contributors to this volume come not only from a wide variety of disciplines and backgrounds but also from many parts of the globe. They speak of universal truths and of site-specific concerns. They do not all speak with one voice and some of their points diverge one from the other but each sheds their own light on the topics, allowing readers to form a richer picture of the issues than might otherwise be possible.