March 24, 2005
Clowning around with the victims of tragedyHealth and Medicine
Patch Adams, he of the eponymous (and lousy) Robin Williams movie, has gone to Sri Lanka to visit the survivors of the tsunami.
Dr Adams brought a troupe of 30 clowns performing juggling, unicycle riding and puppet shows to hospitals and relief camps in the country's south. The troupe sprayed wards with soap bubbles and performed a puppet show for children suffering from cancer.As he bounded into children's wards, one doctor asked: "Is that man looking for the psychiatric ward?"
Dr Adams has also taken his clowns to Bosnia, Africa and Afghanistan. [Note: this text is exercepted and rearranged compared with the original BBC article ]
While Adams may be a ... wee bit eccentric, other studies confirm the claim that laughter is good for your health. It turns out, for example, that laughter improves your cardio-vascular capacity. Unfortunately, there is no news from the laughter club movement, even though it started in India a decade ago, and now has 3,500 clubs world wide.
ennis on March 24, 2005 12:34 PM in Health and Medicine · T·r·a·c·k·b·a·c·k address · Direct link · Email post
clowns and therapists....two professions that are undervalued though they are chutney for the soul.
World Laughter Tour now near you!
http://www.worldlaughtertour.com/sections/about/faq.asp
WHERE ARE LAUGHTER CLUBS IN THE USA?
Laughter Clubs can be started anywhere there are like-minded people who want to laugh and who want to do the laughter workout and learn about sensible living. In India, clubs serve an important community support function; in the United States, Laughter Clubs are valued as a health option and are associated with health-minded organizations. Information about club locations can be found on our web site: www.worldlaughtertour.com or by calling 1-800-NOW-LAFF (in the USA).
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If that doesn't float your boat, how about Bernie deKoven?
http://www.deepfun.com/weblog/
Deep fun and Junkyard Games.