Wicky goes to a theatre to clean up the aftermath of a mass brawl. While there, he meets the clown who’s due to perform there that night.
Tropes:
- All Just a Dream: The bit where a fire starts in the theatre, leading Wicky to dress up as a fireman and dash back into the burning building to rescue Selina and Strazzamo, turns out to be a dream Wicky had after getting knocked out from hitting his head on the doorframe.
- Apathetic Clerk: Selina, who doesn’t seem to care about working in the theatre to the point where she actually seems grateful when she gets fired.
- Brutal Honesty: Strazzamo shows Wicky his act and asks for his honest opinion. Wicky struggles before admitting that he thought it was “shit”.
- Cannot Tell Fiction from Reality: A mild example; the first thing Strazzamo sees of Wicky is when the latter falls over on the stage. He’s so impressed by the timing of the fall that he thinks Wicky’s a fellow-performer, and is disappointed to learn that it was an accident and he’s merely a cleaner.
- Cat Fight: The damage was caused by a big one of these that broke out ten minutes into a male striptease act. Forty women were involved. According to Wicky, there’s urine as well as blood on the floor.
- Chippendales Dancers: The Donkey Boyz are this, although we don’t actually see any of them, just the aftermath of the fight that took place during their act. Wicky tries on some of their costumes.
- Large Ham: The theatre manager.
- Pet the Dog: Wicky buys Strazzamo lunch, and almost buys a ticket for his show out of sympathy.
- Pursue the Dream Job: Strazzamo quit his well-paid job as a chartered accountant to follow his dream of being a performing clown after filling in at a children’s party. His wife, who had to get a part-time job as a result, is apparently supportive.
- Sad Clown: Strazzamo is prone to a few melancholic moments when he wonders if quitting his well-paid but boring accounting job was the right move. He declares that he’s going to quit if his show sells less than ten tickets. Although not actually stated, it would seem that the theatre actually sells eleven tickets, but only because Strazzamo’s wife and son had to buy their own.
