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Arts and Minds

Based in Cork, this initiative works with professional artists across different mediums (music, creative writing, visual art, dance, storytelling and film). It aims to use arts to improve wellbeing and build confidence in participants and break down stigma around mental health. It does not directly incorporate humour, but it encourages connection using creativity, theatre and storytelling, with scope to introduce humour.

Joy the Park

The festival is a one-day, annual event in the summer months. It is free of charge and is held near the city centre. The festival incorporates a range of workshops and performances with a focus on art, music and wellbeing. There are also circus performers, including clowns, and stand-up comedians.
Joy in the Park encourages the local community to come together and celebrate the arts, while learning about wellbeing and mental health. It offers a free, safe space to enjoy workshops and is very inclusive as it is open to anyone and is held in an easily accessible public park.

Youth-Led Performance Groups

Young people who attend the Kabin Studio get to determine what they do and how the studio works. This youth-led approach empowers the participants, who mostly come from deprived areas of Cork with limited access to creative opportunities. Young people at the Kabin get to develop creative and performance skills, writing rap music, podcasts and making videos to gain confidence in public performance and develop useful technical production skills. The youth-led approach gives the young people ownership of the space and creates an environment where they can connect and have fun in a safe environment.
There is not a specific humour-based method, but participants have been encouraged to try stand-up comedy, write humorous songs and develop confidence performing. There is scope to expand the existing programme to involve more humour-based activities, as it is already a space where young people gather for their wellbeing and confidence.

Clown Ospedalieri - Professional Hospital Clown Therapy

Professional clown performers trained in theatrical arts bring creative entertainment to hospitalized children and elderly in Italian hospitals and care facilities. Combines humor, music, and theatrical techniques to reduce anxiety, enhance coping mechanisms, and create positive emotional connections with patients facing medical procedures and recovery situations.

Yoga della Risata - Laughter Yoga Leadership Training

Evidence-based laughter yoga program training certified laughter leaders to facilitate group laughter sessions combining rhythmic breathing, clapping, and spontaneous movement without needing humor stimuli. Promotes emotional resilience, stress reduction, and community bonding through accessible, inclusive group experiences for all ages and populations.

Laboratorio di Teatro e Arteterapia (Theatre and Art Therapy Workshop)

Theatrical and artistic workshops combining drama, vocalization, and gestures to help adults overcome psychological distress. Participants engage in creative expression with professional directors, concluding with public performances in Roman theatres to rebuild identity and social connection through collaborative storytelling.

Comic Competition: Give Inclusion a Chance!

Organised by OSCE Mission to Skopje together with Comic Center (Veles), this initiative invited more than 250 young comic artists to create comics promoting intercultural understanding and inclusion across North Macedonia. Though not explicitly “humour” like stand-up, the comic art format uses humour, satire, metaphor and visual storytelling to address social issues and inclusion.

Comedy as a Tool – Enhancing Youth Engagement through Humor

This is a training course for youth workers held in Krushevo (North Macedonia) where participants from multiple countries learnt how to use stand-up comedy, theatrical improvisation, verbal and non-verbal humour techniques to engage young people on social issues, including inclusion, communication, and peer learning.

V4 Improv Connect – Skopje (Improvisational Theatre Project)

This international improv theatre project (involving Macedonian Center of International Theater Institute) brought improvisational comedy and performative methods into workshops and stage performances in Skopje. Improvisation, by nature, uses spontaneity, humour, role‐play and audience interaction to engage.