Why? Because when he was a student, masked theatre taught him resilience. 

As a teenager, Bolster was bullied so badly for being gay that he was hospitalised more than once. 

At the same time, his drama teacher introduced him to Commedia dell'arte - the fancy word for masked theatre. 

"And I got to hide behind a mask, and do things I wouldn't normally do," he said. 

"And somehow, I found out that I could make my audience laugh."

Once, he was involved in a performance for the teachers, parents and students of his school.

It was the best thing he'd ever done. 

"My bullies were in the audience," he said. 

"Which was terrifying. But I used the nerves, and I made them laugh, and overnight they became my friends. So laughter, for me - I never take it for granted."

His specialty involves putting on a mask and communicating, or performing, without speaking, as well as "contemporary clown" theatre. 

He is part of the Cirque de Soleil's clown team, as well as being the artistic director of Homunculus Theatre Company, that do in-school programs, Manoeuvre Roving Stilt Performers, and The Mask Family, an interactive roving mask theatre acts that performs at festivals, corporate functions, and other events.

He describes his work as, "like a cartoon character taken out of a cartoon". 

Bolster has been in Launceston for a two-day teaching artist residency at Launceston Church Grammar, sharing the power of laughter with this generation's teenagers. 

"It's very interesting, the commonality between young people around the world is joy, and laughter," he said. 

"How can you tap into that? Because when you grow up, you lose that ability. 

"Sometimes - a lot of the time - people get too serious.

"Laughter works across the board: for kids at risk, and students of the whole plethora of grades and ages that we get to."