Clowns on the Front Lines: Inside Patch Adams' Mission of Hope

At a Syrian refugee camp, a little laughter can make a big difference

Patch's philosophy holds that fun is vital in healing mass traumas and creating wellness in the people who live them. “I can remember, in the Bosnian camps, a teenager telling the story of when people forced his family out of the house and then made him watch them kill them all,” Patch says. “What does one do with that?” His answer is to spread love to the suffering through clowning. “Clowning is a trick to get love close,” he is fond of saying. “I can hug 99 percent of people in the first second of contact, if I'm in my clown character. The clown assumes your humanity. It assumes that, whatever trauma you've had, you can still love yourself.”