Infinite possibility: clowning with elderly people.

Over the past 30 years, there has been aplentitude of research into the health benefits of humor and laughter for healthy, sick, or depressed adults and children as well as for senior citizens. Medical research supports our human instinct that people who smile and laugh are happy, whereas those who are inexpressive are usually not happy. Research shows that humor stimulus results in mirth, which elicits a primarily emotional response with psychological efects, and laughter, which elicits a physical response with physiological effects. The many physiological benefits of laughter in older adults have been clearly demonstrated. Yet much of the medical research is based on experiments using funny videos and cartoons for humor sessions. I argue that "clowning around" with elderly people brings greater benefits than laughter alone. These benefits are clearly evident, though they may not be scientifically measurable: When the game is rooted in the patient's own imagination, thereby giving agency to a powerless individual it is many times more personal and transformative. In this article, I focus on my experiences with older adults while working with Clowns Without Borders and Risaterapia as well as on my own relationship with my grandfather. I provide a framework for why humanitarian clowning and the principles behind it can be incredibly well suited for working with the elderly.