Clowns and hospitals are two things I try to stay far, far away from, but that’s not the case for everyone. For one Valley clown and self-proclaimed Giggle Therapist, it’s just another day’s work.
Julie Varholdt is not Julie Varholdt today. Varholdt, AKA Lovely Buttons, is volunteering in the Pediatric Unit at the Maricopa Medical Center.
“You don’t have any fish in your fish tank," Varholdt said to one of the children. "Would you like some fish to put in your fish tank?”
The “fish tank” is actually an IV bag hanging next to the child’s hospital bed. Lovely Buttons puts a fish sticker on it.
“There you go, now you have a fish and he’s smiling at you," she said.
It’s hard not to think of Robin Williams’ character in Patch Adams as you watch Varholdt. She performs tricks that make the hospital just melt away.
“I see you got one of those light-up fingers, is it working?” she asked a child.
The light-up finger she’s talking about is actually a pulse oximeter, the clip on a patient’s finger that measures blood pulse and oxygen content. But for Lovely Buttons, it’s a magic light she can hold in her hand. She pulls the red light off the child’s finger and holds it on her own. Now her finger is lit, too.
“Whoa, did you know that comes off of there? Check it out," she said.
But it’s not always easy to play pretend at the hospital.
“It was really hard to do at first, because it takes you about four or five visits to where you’re not crying anymore," Varholdt said. "Some people can do it and some people can’t.”
Varholdt has been volunteering here for 11 years and clowning for 23. She also teaches clown classes, online and in-person, to new and seasoned clowns. Yes, if you’re wondering, there is such a thing as clown school. It might not take as many years as med school, but there are plenty of lessons to learn. Like this one:
"You can’t be your regular people self when you’re in clown, you need to be somebody else," Varholdt said.
Especially here, where there’s plenty of medicine. And what kids need instead is a little magic.