Give Joy

Who We Are

We see the child, not the illness.

With over 80 years of collective experience our Co-Founders — Karen McCarty, Dina Paul-Parks, and Deborah Kaufmann — launched Healthy Humor in 2016, creating the nation’s premier healthcare clowning organization.

Two Red Nose Docs perform for a child and family on a hospital ward.

Mission & Vision

Our Mission

Healthy Humor is an arts organization whose professional performers create moments of joy, wonder, laughter and comfort for hospitalized children and all others who are most in need.

Our Vision

We hope for a world transformed by humor, joy and the power of human connection — a world less burdened by pain and fear.

Our Story

From the circus ring to the bedside

Healthcare clowning traces back to 1986, when the Big Apple Circus launched its Clown Care program in New York after its co-founder, Michael Christensen, lost a brother to cancer. Over four decades, that idea grew into an evidence-based practice recognized worldwide for reducing stress and anxiety in hospitalized children and their families.

Healthy Humor’s founders carried that legacy forward, building a national nonprofit with more than 80 years of combined experience in healthcare clowning between them.

See How We Work

A Red Nose Doc fills a hospital room with bubbles as a young patient laughs.

Our Values

We are driven to serve those in our world who are hurting.

We are passionate about play and its ability to empower the individual and transform any moment.

We believe in the power of humor to break down walls and reveal the essential connectedness that all human beings — across our differences — share.

We are guided by the highest levels of artistic excellence and creativity.

We love to laugh and inspire laughter in others.

The Founders

Dina Paul-Parks, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Healthy Humor.

Dina Paul-Parks

Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer

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Karen McCarty, late Co-Founder and Artistic Director of Healthy Humor.

Karen McCarty

Late Co-Founder & Artistic Director

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Deborah Kaufmann, Co-Founder and Director of Training and Education, Emerita.

Deborah Kaufmann

Co-Founder & Director of Training and Education, Emerita

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Meet Our Leadership & Board

“Life is too important to be taken seriously.”
Oscar Wilde

Dina Paul-Parks

Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer

Dina is responsible for ensuring the vision and overall management of Healthy Humor and its strategic growth. Prior to launching HH with her co-founders, Dina was the Vice-President of Community Programs at Big Apple Circus, where she was responsible for the implementation for BAC’s Clown Care program and other initiatives that brought the joy, wonder and magic of classic circus arts to children, families and seniors in pediatric hospitals, nursing homes and other community venues. She was responsible for a staff of over 100. Before joining BAC, Dina served as a Senior Policy Advisor in the administrations of both New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, with a particular focus on communications and public affairs. Dina has more than 30 years of progressive experience in education, public policy, and the nonprofit/philanthropy space. She lives in Brooklyn, NY and is married with two daughters.

Karen McCarty

Late Co-Founder & Artistic Director

Karen McCarty was one of the world’s foremost experts on clowns and the growing profession of healthcare clowning. As former Creative Director of the Big Apple Circus Community Programs and Co-Founder and Artistic Director of Healthy Humor Emerita, she performed with and managed hundreds of clowns in leading pediatric hospitals across the country for almost four decades. For these efforts she was presented the Raoul Wallenberg Humanitarian Award. Karen was featured on numerous television programs as her clown, “Dr. Ginger Snaps”, including Good Morning America, Comedy Central, and Chicago Hope. She also performed in the original and first national tour of the Broadway musical, Barnum. Karen’s new vaudeville theatre company, Serious Foolishness, staged performances internationally for over 20 years. Her memoir of the same name focuses on her survival of pediatric cancer and subsequent career as a professional idiot. Karen received a BFA in acting and directing from West Virginia University and graduated from L’Ecole Jacques Lecoq in Paris.

Karen passed away in May 2026, but her wit, warmth, wisdom, and clarity of vision about the good that healthcare clowning can bring to a world in pain will continue to guide Healthy Humor’s work far into the future.

Deborah Kaufmann

Co-Founder & Director of Training and Education, Emerita

Deborah was a founding member of Big Apple Circus Clown Care (BAC) in 1987. Now almost 40 years later, while officially retired as Director of Training and Education Emerita at Healthy Humor, her character, “Dr. Dibble”, continues to bring her own brand of buffoonery to hospitalized children and their caregivers. She also continues to serve on the HH board. Deborah has more day-to-day, on-the-floor experience than any other healthcare clown, worldwide. In addition, she oversaw the recruitment, vetting and training of Red Nose Docs, while also guiding ongoing artistic enrichment and staying current on relevant research about the arts in healthcare. “Dr. Dibble” has been featured in many television programs, including The Today Show, Healing Quest, and Chicago Hope. As Associate Creative Director of Community Programs at BAC, Deborah ensured the overall artistic quality of the work of hundreds of performers around the nation. She has taught healthcare clowning in Brazil, France, The Netherlands, Finland, Portugal and Australia. She tours her solo clown and puppetry works internationally, at theaters and festivals.