About Us

Children from Barcelona read, “We miss laughter” in letters from their penpals living in a Croatian refugee camp, and decided to act. They raised money to send Tortell Potrona, a famous clown from Spain, to the camp.

Tortell attracted more than 4,000 children. The need for clowning and laughter for people in crisis came into focus.

Doctors Without Borders had just won the Nobel Peace Prize and the idea of going where they’re needed most resonated with Tortell and his partners. While Clowns Without Borders is in no way affiliated with Doctors Without Borders, we have partnered several times.

Clowns Without Borders began in 1993, when children in Barcelona raised funds to send a famous clown, Tortell Poltrona, to refugee camps in Croatia. The children in Barcelona got the idea from their refugee penpals, who said, “We miss laughter.”

The first tour unexpectedly attracted audiences of more than 4,000 children, proving to Poltrona that there is a great need for clowns and entertainment in crisis situations. Poltrona and his partners decided to name themselves after Doctors Without Borders, who had just won the Nobel Peace Prize. The organizations are in no way affiliated, though we have partnered several times.

CWB USA launched with a tour to Chiapas Mexico.

“The entire community turns out the next afternoon for the event. We perform for over an hour. It’s clearly a completely new cultural experience for them, although the laughs are not lacking.”

-Moshe Cohen, CWB – USA Founder and Performing Artist

Clowns Without Borders artists were told that their presence helped deescalate possible military aggression.

At the first official peace talks between Zapatistas and the Mexican government, security consisted of three lines of human barricades: The innermost line was formed by Red Cross volunteers, the second by Zapatista sympathizers, and the third was the Mexican military.

There were two shifts of sympathizers. The second shift experienced a clown performance in the marketplace before serving in line.

The artists traveled to Chiapas, Mexico, to perform in the Zapatista aguascalientes during the peace talks at San Andreas S’amachem de los Pobres. This tour occurred during an especially tense moment in the Zapatista Uprising. At the peace talks of San Andreas S’amachem de los Pobres, the first official talks between Zapatistas and the Mexican government, security consisted of three lines of human barricades surrounding the building where the talks took place: The innermost line was formed by Red Cross volunteers; the second by Zapatista sympathizers; and the third was the military. There were two shifts of sympathizers, with the second staying in the marketplace where the clowns performed.

The artists frequently interacted with people who were unused to their style of performance, but were open to and curious about the payasos. The artists were told that their presence helped deescalate possible military aggression.

“Every day, we heard the loudest laughter and applause I have heard in my life. Every day, people would say things like: “That’s the first time I’ve seen that child smile since she was pulled out of the rubble two months ago.” – David Litchenstein, Haiti 2010

It’s hard to understate the devastation of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. Over 200,000 people died and even more were injured.

Five weeks later, Clowns Without Borders arrived to offer relief to survivors. Over the course of the year, CWB organized 4 more tours to the country in partnership with Partners in Health, Terres Des Hommes, SOS Villages, and Handicap International.

Five weeks after the Magnitude 7 earthquake in Haiti, Clowns Without Borders arrived to offer relief to survivors. Over the course of the year, CWB organized 4 more tours to the country, in partnership with Partners in Health, Terres Des Hommes, SOS Villages, and Handicap INternational.

Read a first-hand story from this tour.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Clowns Without Borders pivoted to online programming. This included a partnership with MAG (Mines Advisory Group) to make educational videos to teach children in Iraq, Lebanon, Somalia, and Vietnam about land mine safety.

Also, with so many people feeling displaced from their daily lives, we made progress in building empathy for marginalized communities.

Our supporters are the kind of people who want to see a day when no crisis stops a child’s play life. For example, they helped us get a team of clowns to Turkey just 10 days after the initial invite.

Audiences recovering from the recent earthquake asked over and over, “You came all the way here for us?”

You can deliver laughter where it’s needed most by supporting our next tour!