Bengaluru's medical clowning group looking for volunteers

The Doctor Parrots Organisation, a healthcare clowning trust, will hold a month-long workshop to expand their team of clowns. 

Healthcare clowns or medical clowns typically visit hospitals, hospices and other healthcare facilities to engage with patients undergoing complicated and painful treatments. “Clowning offers patients distraction from the physical and mental pain of being confined to a hospital bed,” says Rajesh Pandathil, one of the members of the team. 

Multiple studies suggest that medical clowning reduces anxiety and stress in patients and their caregivers, which translates to shorter hospital stays.

Using the ward as their stage, these clowns perform interactive sets with the nurses, doctors, patients and caregivers. “We do not have anything prepared before visiting the place. It is all improvised and developed based on what we see and hear around us in the ward,” says Pandathil.  

At the workshop, which will be held on the weekends, participants will be guided through games and exercises. They will also get to practice their skills in real-life hospital settings. “The exercises are designed to enhance and hone one’s listening ability as that is how the act is developed. As the clowns work with the audience in pairs, they will also be trained on values like partnership and radical acceptance of their partners,” he explains.  

Doctor Parrots was set up two years ago by Sriharsha G N, Pandathil and a group of others with the help of Igor Narovsky from Latvia and Suzy Ferguson from the UK. The team currently comprises six clowns, but they hope to add six more to meet the rising demand from hospitals. Ranging in age from the early 20s to the mid-50s, the team members include IT professionals, actors and teachers. 

Since 2023, the group has visited HCG Cancer Centre, Indira Gandhi Child Health Hospital (IGCHH), slums across the city, and Snehadara Foundation, a special school for kids with autism. They hold sessions at IGCHH once every two weeks.

A curtain raiser for the workshop will be held on October 11, 4 pm at Untitled Space, J P Nagar. The workshop begins on October 25. For details, call 99005 89230.