'Clowning around' encouraged at unique 2-week school in Atlanta

ATLANTA - Cutting up in class is generally not encouraged — but at a unique "school" happening in Atlanta right now, making the grade means embracing your inner clown.

We’re talking about Cool Fool School, a program created by healthcare clowning nonprofit Laughter League and being held at Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre. The program launched on Monday and will continue through Friday, March 8, with a team of clowning professionals teaching performers the "tricks of the trade" in order to bring joy to their audiences. Specifically, the school focuses on skills necessary to bring clowning into healthcare settings, including pediatric hospitals and memory care centers.

Bringing clowns into hospitals is the mission of Laughter League, which seeks to place professionally-trained performers in healthcare settings to help bring smiles and laughter to patients of all ages. Nonprofit leaders say their clowns are in several hospitals across the country and reach around 100,000 patients and their families each year. 

The Cool Fool School — a first of its kind in Atlanta — is being led by performer and creative coach Michelle Matlock, and features Dick Monday, Tiffany Riley, Djeli Forchion and Cleo DeOrio on staff.

Now, we’ve done many "back to school" segments here at Good Day Atlanta — but we’ve never done one for a clown school! So, when we heard about Cool Fool School, we knew we needed to spend a morning with the instructors and students checking it out. Click the video player in this article for a peek at the school — and click here for more information on Laughter League and its programs.