Send in the Clowns (And Abe Lincoln, Too)

Dan Darwin and his brother, Carl, were a struggling comedy team trying to make it in the bright lights of New York. Lately, the Darwins had evolved backward from up-and-coming to struggling through no fault of their own.

No, the fault, dear Brutus, was in the stars. If not for fate, Dan and Carl would not be in this position.

Dan had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time. He had witnessed a murder committed by Hilton Jamieson, New York's powerful entertainment mogul. And Jamieson had been eliminating the places the Darwins could work.

They were down to one comedy club they could work. Then one night, Dan found himself in the wrong place again.

Dan met a beautiful, young woman named Shyanne, who appeared in their audience. Dan and Shyanne hit it off, and to Dan's surprise they wound up at his apartment for a wild night of sex.

After escorting Shyanne to her apartment the next morning, Dan was surrounded by a group of not-so-funny clowns. As he was being roughed up by the clowns, Shyanne suddenly emerged and distracted the clowns.

The distraction allowed Dan to escape. As he ran, a door was suddenly opened by Abe Lincoln. A shot rang out, and Abe was felled once again. Dan managed to escape the clowns that night, but many questions lingered.

Would the police believe his story? Was Abe Lincoln still alive? (Spoiler alert—no.)

Would Dan still testify, knowing there were Stephen King clowns roaming around? Could a rich, powerful man get away with murder?

Would Shyanne turn out to be the love of Dan's life? Would Scout find out about Boo Radley? (Sorry, wrong book). Would the Darwins become more like the Smothers brothers than the Wright brothers? (Good at aviation, but not so funny.)

by Mark A. Albright

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