"The Show of Shows: The Art of Performance"

Int - Psychiatrist's Office. DEADEYE is laying on a couch. A well-dressed, middle-aged man sits in a chair at the clown's head. He is a PSYCHIATRIST.

PSYCHIATRIST (speaking into a handheld recorder): Case number 119-46318. The subject is Edward Michael Casey II, otherwise known by the stage name "Deadeye the Daring". Edward, do you have any objections to the recording of this session?

DEADEYE (shaking his head): None at all.

PSYCHIATRIST: Okay, good. Now would you please state your name for the record?

DEADEYE: Deadeye the...

PSYCHIATRIST: Your legal name please.

DEADEYE: Ahhh...Edward Michael Casey II...E=MC2...But the name is all relative. Heh-heh...

PSYCHIATRIST: Relative to what? (Notices Deadeye's expression) Oh, you're making a joke.

DEADEYE: Am I, Doc? Isn't it true that my name is relatively associated with my location? Here, I am Edward...Under the Big Top, I'm Deadeye (Grins) At your Mother's house I'm "Daddy".

PSYCHIATRIST: (With an annoyed look) You use humor to deflect any insight to you as a person, as opposed to you as a performer. Why do you think that is?

DEADEYE: What makes you think there is a difference between the person and the performer. All the world is a stage. Humor is just a part of the act. At least for me it is.

PSYCHIATRIST: And do you think you have to always be performing?

DEADEYE: Of course!

PSYCHIATRIST: What if there is no audience?

DEADEYE: (Matter of factly) Somebody is always watching...

PSYCHIATRIST: Could you elaborate on that?

DEADEYE: Well, usually we are surrounded by other people. People pay attention. It is not necessarily about being in the spotlight. It's about knowing when to hold their attention, or deliver with perfected timing just the right line. Get what I'm saying? (Shrugs) And if there are no people around, there are animals, or bacteria, or God...

PSYCHIATRIST: So you believe in God?

DEADEYE: Somebody raised the curtain...

PSYCHIATRIST: (jots something down) What did you mean by delivering "with perfected time"?

DEADEYE: How do you know what questions to ask?

PSYCHIATRIST: I listen to your responses or your end of the conversation, then base my questions on what I think will give me further insight.

DEADEYE: Well it is not much different on my end. I listen to the pulse of the audience, my fellow performers, and the direction of the show. When I see the door of opportunity open, I jamb my foot in.

PSYCHIATRIST: And if the door slams shut?

DEADEYE: It's gonna hurt like Hell!

PSYCHIATRIST: I mean if the opportunity passes?

DEADEYE: So do I! It hurts to miss out on that perfect timing. Think about how many times you thought of a great question or a comeback to something someone said earlier. You kick yourself for not coming up with it then, when it would have been so...right. Then you just itch to tell somebody the great thing you just thought of, but it will never be as good as if you delivered it with that perfect timing.

PSYCHIATRIST: You seem to be very passionate about this "art of performing"...What else are you passionate about Edward?

DEADEYE: There is nothing else, Doc. The show is all there is. Without it, I'm just a freak.