Episode 22: Send in the Clowns

In this episode, Asif starts things off by discussing how he finally got around to seeing Zach Snyder’s Justice League (1:00) and they compare the viewing experience to Christopher Nolan’s Tenet. The guys then discuss clowns in comedy as well as hospital clowns. First, Ali discusses the different types of clowns and the history of clowning (4:59). Then he discusses a specific subtype of clown, “Le Bouffon” and why Sacha Baron Cohen loves to be called one.. Finally, Ali discusses modern entertainers who can be considered clowns. Next, Asif discusses the history of hospital clowns AKA doctor clowns (20:18). He reviews the history of hospital clowning, the type of people who become hospital clowns, and the job requirements. Asif discusses his personal experiences with hospital clowns, what the scientific evidence says about their effectiveness, and medical students doing rotations with hospital clowns.

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Music courtesy of Wataboi and 8er41 from Pixabay

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Show Notes:

• For Actor-Activist Sacha Baron Cohen, Being Called A 'Bouffon' Is A Good Thing: https://www.capradio.org/news/npr/story?storyid=980502414
• Hospital Clowns -- modern day court jesters at work, The Lancet, 2006: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(06)69919-4/fulltext
• Effectiveness of hospital clowns for symptom management in paediatrics: systematic review of randomised and non-randomised controlled trial, British Medical Journal, 2020: https://www.bmj.com/content/371/bmj.m4290
• Hospital clowning: a paediatrician’s view, European Journal of Pediatrics, 2017: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5243901/
• The Best Medicine. How clowning around at CHEO is teaching new doctors empathy: https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/longform/how-clowning-around-is-teaching-new-doctors-empathy