Chapter 4

If Henry knew one fact, it was this: comedy was the most real thing in the world.

That statement wasn’t exactly true: Henry believed he knew several facts. He knew that Amal had left to work on his routine. He knew, as he peeked at the audience through the curtain backstage, that the man wearing only half a shirt would function as the ideal audience for his material, someone to direct jokes to. Halfshirt keep firing off witty asides to his friends—if Henry got him to laug...