Hersill is once again supporting Saniclown with its improvisation and clowning workshops in hospital settings. Throughout 2025, the collaboration took place in the Psychiatry Unit at the Niño Jesus University Children’s Hospital and is continuing at the San Carlos Clinical Hospital, aimed at adult and adolescent psychiatric patients.
A partnership that began in 2025
Throughout 2025, the workshops were aimed at adolescents admitted to the Psychiatry Unit at the Niño Jesus University Children’s Hospital. Over the course of the year, 33 sessions were held, with an average of between 8 and 12 adolescents taking part and a total of 330 recorded attendances.
The feedback included in the project report was positive from both patients and healthcare staff. Among the benefits observed were an improvement in mood during and after the sessions, a temporary reduction in anxiety, increased emotional expression in a safe environment, improved social skills and communication, enhanced self-esteem and self-image, the fostering of creativity and spontaneity, group cohesion, and the humanisation of the hospital environment.
The workshops held that year were made possible thanks to the support of Hersill, whose donation covered the cost of the support clown for the sessions and ensured the programme’s continuity throughout 2025.
The project is continuing at the San Carlos Clinical Hospital
In 2026, Saniclown is running Improvisation and Clowning Workshops in the Psychiatry Department at San Carlos Clinical Hospital, with sessions aimed at both the Adult and Adolescent wards. The programme takes place one Monday a month, with two workshops held on the same day.
The initiative aims to provide hospitalised patients with a different kind of space within the hospital itself, where play, humour and creativity become tools to encourage self-expression and interaction. Saniclown runs this programme in collaboration with healthcare teams and tailors its activities to the specific needs of each group.
Julian and Veronica, members of Saniclown, explain how they prepare for each session: “We plan the session in advance to work on specific aspects as well as improvisation itself: confidence, conflict resolution, developing creativity, connecting with colleagues, and so on. Once at the hospital, we have a preliminary meeting with members of the healthcare team, who tell us about the types of patients we’ll be seeing each day, any potential difficulties, support networks, and their physical and emotional states… This allows us to adapt the session’s structure so that it is as therapeutic and personalised as possible.”
A dynamic that leaves room for spontaneity
The workshop is structured progressively, beginning with activities designed to build trust and create a positive atmosphere before moving on to improvised scenes. The participants themselves take on a more prominent role as the session progresses.
As Veronica and Julian explain, we run an improvisation workshop incorporating clowning techniques to create spontaneous comedy scenes with the participants. “The first part aims to build trust and create a positive atmosphere through warm-up exercises, creativity and physical freedom. In the second part, we explain how to develop improvised scenes in a practical way, and in the third part, we facilitate improvisation sessions in which the participants themselves take centre stage, with the opportunity to interact with a clown from Saniclown, who is an expert in comedy,” they say.
The work requires very few physical materials. “We use virtually no physical materials in the sessions; all we need is enough chairs and ample space to carry out the improvisations. The activities we do are designed to create an atmosphere of trust, a safe space, relaxation and, at the same time, concentration. Furthermore, they feature a gradual increase in difficulty and exposure, to ensure that even the shyest or most introverted people can take part,” they point out.
Participation also changes as the workshop progresses, particularly when the participants’ own suggestions begin to form part of the activities. It is also noticeable, as Saniclown explains, when you ask them for creative ideas and incorporate them into the activities, when they feel like an active part of the session and, above all, when they realise that their peers are enjoying their ideas and that these are bringing smiles or laughter to their faces. “This has personal value in terms of boosting self-esteem and, at a group level, in terms of integration and positive interaction,” they emphasise.
The final improvisations are, as they explain, one of the most popular parts of the show: “The final improvisations always go down best; they happen when the group is really in the groove and produce some very funny scenes, which in turn generate lots of laughter in the room – something of incalculable value in a mental health ward”.
A day where humour and fun take centre stage
In one of the sessions of the 2026 project, the activity begins in the adult ward with a preliminary meeting between Saniclown and the healthcare staff. Following this briefing, the workshop begins, involving 16 adult patients, led by an improvisation teacher, supported by a hospital clown and supervised by the Artistic Director.
Through a variety of games and improvisation exercises, participants explore new ways of expressing themselves, encourage spontaneity and create moments of connection and relaxation within the group.
The activity then continues in the teenagers’ area, where the same format is repeated, adapted to their needs. Humour, movement and play once again form the central theme of a session designed to create a safe space in which they can experiment, express themselves and share.
As with every session, the day concludes with a brief assessment area debriefing with the healthcare team to review how the workshops went, share impressions and identify lessons learnt that will enable us to continue improving the programme.
When a teenager decides to take part
During the sessions, there are also moments that stay with the team. Saniclown particularly recalls the case of a teenager who decided to take part right from the start and even went so far as to improvise in scenes where he was initially just part of the audience. His fellow participants spontaneously drew him into the action; he came up with some very funny solutions on stage and, at the end, said he’d had a great time.
Veronica and Julian point out that the significance of that moment only became clear later, during the meeting with the medical team: “The other day during the session, one boy was keen to take part right from the start; he even went so far as to improvise in scenes where he was originally supposed to be in the audience (although his classmates spontaneously brought him on stage); he came up with some very funny lines during the scene and said at the end of the session that he’d had a great time. This would be quite normal were it not for the fact that, during the final meeting with just the medical team and without the teenagers present, I was told that this boy never interacts with anyone, hardly ever speaks, and that during the nearly month he’d been in hospital, it was the first time they’d seen him smile or even say that he’d enjoyed himself.”
The experience gained from the workshops also allows us to observe the progress made by teenagers who return for further sessions when they have been attending for a long time. “The previous example is quite representative of what we notice during the sessions. And when we return and find teenagers who come back because they have been attending for a long time, we notice how they participate more from the outset and make progress when it comes to creating scenes, comedy and active listening. It’s very common, they say.”
What Saniclown takes away from the experience
Beyond what happens during each session, Julian and Veronica also focus on what they gain from the teenagers they work with. When explaining what they personally take away from this experience, they say:
“We take away with us the teenagers’ boundless creativity; their desire to have fun; the grateful feedback they give us; the way they tell us they’ve managed to switch off for a while and be in the moment; and how they look after and support one another, setting an example of sensitivity and empathy. We also take away with us the constant reminder to recognise teenagers’ needs for change and their capacity to face those challenges. So, there is so much that we take away with us and so much that they give us.”
The partnership between Hersill and Saniclowncontinues in 2026 with this new phase at the San Carlos Clinical Hospital, following the project carried out last year at the Niño Jesus University Children’s Hospital. Hersill’s support enables these workshops to continue within the hospital setting and supports the work that Saniclown carries out alongside healthcare professionals.
Frequently Asked Questions
What do the improvisation and clowning workshops involve?
These workshops combine theatrical improvisation and clowning techniques with warm-up exercises, creativity, physical freedom and improvisation tailored to the participants.
Where will the Hersill and Saniclown project take place in 2026?
In 2026, the workshops are being held at the San Carlos Clinical Hospital, aimed at patients in the Adult and Adolescent Psychiatry departments.
How are the workshops organised in collaboration with healthcare staff?
Before each session, a preliminary meeting is held with the healthcare team to discuss the group’s characteristics and the factors that need to be taken into account. A joint evaluation is carried out after the workshop.
At Hersill, we continue to support initiatives that help bring new tools and experiences to the healthcare sector. Please contact our team to find out more about our work, our solutions and our commitment to the healthcare sector.
