#24: David Cerrone, healing through humour

David Cerrone is a comedian, clown, actor, teacher, humanitarian, art therapist, and author who travelled the world to understand laughter. In 2016, David set off on a 12-month adventure with the plan to visit 11-12 countries, volunteer, meet people and create a documentary along the way. In 2016, Megan also set off on an adventure, which led her to cross paths with David while they were both volunteering as teachers in Palestine. Megan and David bonded quickly, sharing a deep connection to education and a curiosity to learn more about life through relationships and travel.

In this episode, David shares stories and lessons from his project, which took him further than originally planned and kept him on the road for 3 years. He talks about using humour to connect with others, break down barriers, and share healing moments, explaining the philosophy behind clowning. David has taken his work to kindergartens, schools, hospitals, refugee camps and prisons and speaks about the universality of humour.

David has been off the road for the past few years, choosing to study art therapy to deepen his knowledge and give a formal name to the work he was doing. He talks about the healing impact this work can have with long-term practice, going beyond the brief moments on the road, to developing sustained relationships with his clients to see some transformation occur.

David is an incredible storyteller, hence why this episode is a little longer. You could spend 3 days listening to his tales and having a laugh!

You can learn more about David and his work on his Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/davidcerrone/) and on his YouTube channel. Here is a little snippet of his time in Palestine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WT1NChpKSzg

On February 28^th, Megan is hosting an online workshop to support practitioners working with people who have experienced trauma. This is well suited to teachers, youth workers, social workers, or those who would like to be more trauma-informed. You can find out more and register for the event here: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/757450373457?aff=oddtdtcreator

SOS Palestine is an NGO and not for profit that was established in 1966 to support children and young people at risk due to family breakdown or the loss of a parent. They offer programmes to strengthen families and to provide out of home care services in Gaza and the West Bank. As you can imagine, they are currently working harder than ever, and financial support is needed. You can learn more about their work or donate by visiting https://www.sos-palestine.org/

Host: Megan Corcoran, Wagtail Institute, https://wagtailinstitute.com/

Music by Kabbilistic Village https://kabbalisticvillage.com/