Welcome to the Healthcare Clowning Hub!

Healthcare clowning plays a vital role in hospitals, care homes, and community settings, offering presence, play, and deep human connection in environments that can often feel clinical, stressful, or isolating. This hub brings together recordings, reflections, and learning resources that explore techniques, ethics, and the impact of healthcare clowning, alongside real stories from practice, offering both inspiration and practical insight for anyone interested in this evolving field of care and performance.

Masterclasses

Below are four incredible masterclasses from leaders in Healthcare Clowning!

Olivier Hugues-Terreault

Olivier is a healthcare clown, performer, and facilitator who co-founded Dr. Clown in Montreal, and helped pioneer healthcare clowning in Canada through improvisation, empathy, and compassionate play in care settings.

Watch Olivier's Class

Patrick van den Boom

 Patrick van den Boom is an internationally recognized healthcare clown, performer, and trainer known for his work bringing improvisation, presence, and compassionate play into healthcare environments.

Watch Patrick's Class

Dick Monday & Tiffany Riley

Tiffany Riley and Dick Monday, known internationally as Slappy & Monday, are a comedy and healthcare clown duo who use physical comedy, music, and improvisation to entertain and educate worldwide. They are co-founders of The Laughter League, bringing therapeutic clowning into hospitals and camps, while also training performers and helping establish clowning as a tool for connection, wellbeing, and care.

Watch Dick & Tiffany's Class

Raquel Gendry

Raquel Gendry is a healthcare clown, performer, and educator best known for founding Narices Rojas Ecuador and training hundreds of medical clowns who have impacted hospitals and communities across Latin America. She has also collaborated on hospital clown research with the University of Southern California and currently works as a hospital clown in France while directing Les Grands Nez Rouges.

Watch Raquel's Class

Tales in Healthcare Clowning

What is happening in healthcare clowning around the world right now (April 2026)?

This panel offers a global “weather report” on healthcare clowning, with representatives from different regions sharing insights into current practices, challenges, and developments. 

Rather than focusing on a single thesis, this session provides a broad, informative overview of how healthcare clowning is evolving and what practitioners are witnessing in their respective regions.
 

Clownversations

Below are some amazing Clownversations with leaders in Healthcare Clowning! Scroll to see all of them.  

Articles

Below are some research articles about healthcare clowning. 

This research summary examines the integration of the Big Apple Circus Clown Care Unit (CCU) into pediatric hospital care, drawing comparisons between clown doctors and traditional shamanic healers.

This study examines perceptions of therapeutic clowning in a children’s hospital in southern England. Overall, the findings suggest that therapeutic clowning is widely valued as a supportive practice that enhances emotional wellbeing in pediatric care settings.

This meta-analysis examines the role of hospital clowns in the care of ailing children, drawing on a 7-year research project conducted in Sweden. The study utilized qualitative interviews with 51 individuals, including clowns, medical staff, children, and parents, to gain a deeper psychological understanding of these encounters.

Elder clowning is a psychosocial intervention in long-term care that uses empathic, adaptive clowning to build connection with people living with dementia, supporting wellbeing across cognitive, emotional, social, and behavioural domains through meaningful interpersonal engagement.

This summary reviews empirical research concerning the effects of humor and laughter on physical health, as discussed by Rod A. Martin.Overview of Research Findings

This study explores the role and impact of clown doctors in an acute pediatric hospital setting, where admission is often stressful for children and families. Using observations, interviews, and focus groups with children, parents, staff, and clown doctors, it provides a detailed account of their work.