Let’s Talk (and Laugh) About End-of-Life Planning: A Unique Community Event
End-of-life care planning is one of life’s most important conversations—yet it’s one that many avoid. Let’s change that with End of Life: Live and Unscripted!—an engaging, entertaining, and informative event that uses humor to tackle this crucial topic.
What Is End of Life: Live and Unscripted!?
Presented by the Mayo Clinic Hospice and acclaimed improv comedy group, Danger Boat Productions, this one-of-a-kind show breaks down the barriers of fear and discomfort surrounding end-of-life discussions. Combining expert insight with laughter, this event helps audiences feel more confident and informed about end-of-life care planning.
Galleries: In Loving, In Loss
We also invite guests to arrive early at 5:30pm to experience In Loving, In Loss, an art installation that provides a reflective space to honor grief, loss, and cherished memories.
Chimes of love, In Loving, In Loss, 2025, cedar, steel, windchimes and string, 8 feet x 10 feet.
(Photo Credit: Meaghan Engeseth).
In Loving, In Loss is a participatory art installation designed by local artist Olivia Mulvey Morawiecki. Commissioned by The Compassion Museum, this moving piece explores the profound experience of loss and grief, honoring it as an inevitable and universal part of life. It invites us to reflect on love, memory, and our connections, awakening a deep sense of compassion for ourselves and others who have been touched by love and loss.
Event Info
Location: Rochester Art Center (30 Civic Center Dr SE, Ste 120, Rochester, MN 55904)
Date: November 18th, 2026
Time: Galleries open at 5:30pm, Show starts at 6:30pm
Tickets are free thanks to the Mayo Clinic’s Dolores Jean Lavins Center for Humanities in Medicine. Learn more about the Lavins Center at www.mayoclinic.org/patient-visitor-guide/humanities-in-medicine/minnesota.
What to Expect
This interactive, improvisational event offers a thoughtful mix of education, entertainment, and conversation:
Expert Insights: Learn from Brenda Hartman, a life-threatening illness specialist and cancer survivor, and Dr. Ann McIntosh, an emergency medicine physician with decades of experience in critical care decision-making, and Dr. Cory Ingram, Mayo Clinic Hospice and Palliative Care Physician..
Improv Comedy: The Danger Boat troupe brings levity to the conversation, helping the audience warm up to complex topics in a supportive, enjoyable way.
Audience Engagement: Share stories, questions, and hopes in a safe space, with opportunities for small-group discussions.
Actionable Takeaways: Access resources and tools for starting your own end-of-life planning journey, including guidance on healthcare directives, hospice care, and more.
Brenda Hartman, MSW, LICSW is a 30+ year stage 4 ovarian cancer survivor and a clinical social worker specializing in life threatening and life ending diagnoses. She has created and presented programs to over 3000 cancer patients and their loved ones focusing on the social and emotional aspects of living and dying from cancer. Since living beyond her own life threatening diagnosis, Brenda has committed herself to helping others consciously live and consciously die.
Cory Ingram, M.D., is the enterprise chair of Humanities in Medicine and co-director of Communication in Health Care in the Program for Professionalism and Values. Dr. Ingram is a consultant in the Division of Community Internal Medicine, Geriatrics &Palliative Care in the Department of Internal Medicine in Rochester. He is a board-certified family physician and clinical specialist in palliative care. His work focusses on improving whole person care with specific interest in therapeutic communication, healing, spiritual care, and quality of life.
Dr. Ingram’s studies help clinical care respond to the needs of caregivers and patients. His research focuses on the needs of caregivers during transitions of life caring for people near the end of life and the dignity conserving care of the people receiving care. His international collaborations on storytelling and artistic modalities to improve meaning and purpose for people near the end of life have been core to his work in the humanities. He holds a foundational certificate in narrative-based medicine from the University of Toronto Narrative-Based Medicine Lab and has participated with the Good Listening Project. He is currently completing his advanced narrative-based medicine certificate from University of Toronto. Dr. Ingram is a sought-after speaker, workshop developer, and research collaborator in humanities in the U.S. and internationally. As testament to his stature in this space, Dr. Ingram received the 2025 Humanities Award from the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Care.
Dr. Ingram studied humanities at Central College in Pella, Iowa; earned his medical degree from Leiden University in the Netherlands; completed his residency at the University of Nebraska; was a palliative medicine fellow at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center and a geriatrics fellow at Maine-Dartmouth Family Medicine Residency; and completed additional training at St. Christopher’s Hospice in London. When Dr. Ingram is not seeing patients, conducting research, or crafting his narrative medicine contributions, he spends his time with his wife, Lilian and their four children ages 22 to 15, and they all support his mother, Charlene. He photographs on film with cameras and lenses dating back to the last century and exhibits and publishes his photographs. He waltzes vintage fly rods to gently land flies on cold rippling trout streams and bakes popovers with a recipe from his fellowship years in New England.
Dr. Ann McIntosh has been helping individuals and loved ones make decisions in life-threatening & end-of-life situations for 40+ years, as an ICU and ED nurse for seven years and an Emergency Physician for over 30 years. She earned BSN and MD from the University of Minnesota. Dr. McIntosh’s passion for end-of-life care planning comes from experience. She regularly found that people had NOT “had the talk,” needing to make split-second decisions with no previous discussions or support, causing stress for the patient, their families and caregivers, especially with the default being “do everything.”. This motivated her to take action to educate the public on the importance of talking about end-of-life wishes, getting them written down and communicated, ensuring families felt they were honoring their loved ones wishes and patients got the care they wanted at the ends of their lives. Knowing it was a difficult topic, even for Emergency Physicians, and that 70% of people say they want to do their advance directives, yet only 30% do; she wondered HOW to engage and motivate people in a fun, positive way. Collaborating with improvisational comedians was the answer! Some thought she was crazy, but not The Theater of Public Policy! Dr. McIntosh loves collaborating with Brenda and the team at T2P2.
Beyond Emergency Medicine, Ann is a mom, a traveler who loves learning about different cultures, including beliefs and rituals of death and dying; and a community activist. You may see her fun seeking in a variety of ways, often on biking or hiking trails; enjoying a good locally brewed IPA and living every day to its fullest.
Why Attend?
This event is not about making light of death, grief, or loss. Instead, it’s a compassionate way to demystify end-of-life planning, empowering you with the knowledge and tools to take meaningful steps for yourself and your loved ones.
Questions: Please contact Mayo Clinic Hospice, Amy Stelpflug at 507-284-4002.