The next evening, Jack sang to himself as he applied his clown makeup: "Now you could study Shakespeare and be quite elite, and you can charm the critics and have nothin' to eat, just slip on a banana peel, the world's at your feet - make 'em laugh, make 'em laugh, make 'em laugh!"

He whistled as he exited his trailer and headed into the big top. "Evening, Graysons!" he exclaimed, waving at them as they put on their harnesses. "Hope you fly well tonight! Like an eagle or a falcon or even a robin, huh, kid?" he asked, ruffling Dick's hair.

"Don't touch me!" snapped Dick, shoving his hand away.

"Dick, don't be rude!" snapped Mary. "You're certainly in a good mood tonight, J," she said, smiling at him.

"Well, I got a good feeling about my act tonight, Mary," said Jack. "I think I'm gonna have a very receptive audience. Mr. Haly was right about these Gotham audiences – they sure do love a clown!"

"Explains why they need a lunatic asylum here for the criminally insane," muttered John.

"Y'know, if I was in therapy for my marriage, I really wouldn't point fingers," retorted Jack. "But it's always nice talking to you, John – you remind me why I prefer to be alone."

"I'm glad you enjoy that, J, because you need to get used to being alone," retorted John. "I know Mary, for one, won't be hanging out with you anymore – she's reaffirmed her commitment to our relationship."

"Has she?" asked Jack. He was dying to wipe the smug smirk off John's face by telling him that Mary had snuck over to his trailer after John was asleep last night, but decided against it. "Well, that's great news," he said. "That must be one helluva shrink you've got."

"Yes, Dr. Quinzel is incredible," agreed John.

"Tell me about it," murmured Jack, peeking behind the backstage curtain and trying to spot Harley in the audience.

"We're on next, John – see you later, J," said Mary, as she and her husband and son scaled the ladder to the trapeze. Jack watched the act, privately thinking they were nowhere near as impressive as Harley had been. Thankfully, the act went off safely, and there was no repeat of yesterday's incident. Jack thought to himself that if somehow the Graysons had fallen, he would have been hard pressed to care enough to try to catch any of them.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce the funniest man in Gotham, who'll put a smile on your face whether you want it or not – the Joker!" announced Mr. Haly. Jack stepped out into the ring to rapturous applause. He spotted Harley in the front row, munching on some cotton candy and smiling at him. He bowed to the audience, and then turned away to bow to the backstage area. The audience laughed uproariously as his pants suddenly fell down, spraying water onto Mr. Haly, who was heading backstage. This was a new part of the act, and judging by Mr. Haly's face, he didn't much care for it, thought Jack with a smirk.

"Thank you, ladies and gentlemen!" exclaimed Jack, turning around and pulling his pants back up, after intentionally tripping over them a few times for laughs. "As Mr. Haly has said, I'm the Joker, here to ruin the tension you just got from watching the death-defying Flying Graysons by making you laugh yourselves to death. So in that way, I'm also a death-defying kinda guy. I won't say you'll literally bust a gut, but you might, so those of you with a weak gut should probably leave now…"

"Get on with it!" shouted a heckler from the audience. The others in the audience turned to glare at him and shush him, but Jack seemed unperturbed.

"I sure will get on with it, pal," said Jack. "How about we start with a little juggling?" he asked, pulling out three balls from his pocket and tossing them into the air. "You wanna count 'em for me, pal?" he asked, smiling at the guy in the audience. "One, two, three!" Jack exclaimed, throwing them at the heckler so that they just missed his head. The rest of the audience roared with laughter. "Now toss 'em back – it'll be like one of those carnival games where you're supposed to knock down the clown head to win a prize. C'mon, pal, knock my block off!" he exclaimed, spreading his arms.

The heckler obeyed, throwing the balls right at Jack. The audience ooed and awwed as Jack caught them in each hand, and then the third one in his mouth. He tossed the two balls in his hands up, and then spat out the third, and began juggling again, to enthusiastic applause.

"Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, and for my next trick, I'm gonna need a volunteer from the audience. What about you in the front?" he asked, pointing at Harley, who looked suddenly terrified as all eyes fell on her. She stood up slowly, coming over to him.

"What's your name, sweetheart?" he asked.

"Um…Harley," she murmured.

"You gotta speak up, kiddo – they can't hear you in the back with all the noise from people munching on peanuts," said Jack. "Must be why they call it the peanut gallery."

"My name is Harley," she repeated, louder.

"Pretty name for a pretty lady," said Jack. "Do you think you can help me with my act, Harley?"

"Uh…sure," she stammered.

"Ok, lemme tell you what I want you to do," he said. "I want you to stand perfectly still, and hold out your hands."

Harley obeyed, her hands shaking in nervousness. "And now I just need to put this handkerchief over your hands here," said Jack, pulling out a handkerchief, and then another, and another, in his series of infinite handkerchiefs, as the audience chuckled.

"Now I'm just gonna wave my hands over this unnecessary large pile of handkerchiefs, and say the magic word," said Jack. "Which is abracadabra or bibbidi bobbidi boo or something like that. Hey presto!" he exclaimed, ripping the handkerchief away from her hands to reveal a bouquet of roses. The audience applauded enthusiastically as Jack bowed, taking the flowers and then handing them back to Harley. "You keep 'em, toots, as a thank you," he said, gesturing her back to her seat with a grin. "And give her a round of applause, ladies and gentlemen!"

Harley flushed in embarrassment as she gave a nervous wave, and a small smile to Jack. "Now, ladies and gentlemen, I bet you're wondering about my smile," he said, gesturing to his oversized grin. "Well, you can have one just like it if I just let you in on a little secret. Who wants to hear it?"

Everyone cheered, and Jack approached a little girl who was sitting in the front row with her parents. "You got a nice smile, sweetie – can you keep a secret?" he asked.

She nodded. "Ok, here goes," he whispered, leaning forward and reaching into his jacket pocket. "The secret is...to take care of your teeth!" The girl shrieked and giggled in delight as a set of chattering teeth popped out of his pocket and landed in her lap. "Your real teeth, of course, brush and floss twice a day and you'll have a smile just like mine in no time!" he said. "But keep those for you to practice on, sweetheart. Now ladies and gentlemen, and especially children, please don't try this next trick at home," he said, lighting a match. "It's for professional fools only, and I do mean that literally. Now, I'm gonna say a statement, and you have to tell me whether you think it's the truth or a lie. Here goes: The Flying Graysons ain't the greatest acrobats in the world."

Everyone booed, and shouted, "Lie!" "That's right, ladies and gentlemen, that is a lie," agreed Jack. "Here's another one: Gotham City is a town full of idiots!"

There was another round of booing and shouts of "Lie!" "Right again, ladies and gents," said Jack, nodding. "Which makes me a liar, liar, which means my pants must be on fire."

He put the lit match to his pants, which instantly went up in flames. Jack rushed around in mock pain for comedic effect, but he saw Harley looking at him in genuine concern, which made him want to drop the act and kiss her right there. But he resisted, ending the act by leaping into a blow up pool and sighing as the fire was put out, smoke billowing around him. "See why I said don't try this at home?" he asked, standing up. "You might not have a pool handy, and you go through a lotta pants." Everyone laughed again, pointing at the hole in his pants created by the fire. "And for my final trick, ladies and gentlemen, I need another volunteer. You, sir," he said, pointing at the heckler. "You wanna help with my act?"

The man shrugged, and Jack approached him, holding up a seltzer bottle and shaking it. "Ok, don't worry, this won't hurt," he said, pointing the bottle at the man. Everyone gasped, and then burst into hysterical laughter when the bottle backfired, hitting Jack square in the face. He feigned surprise, trying again to squirt the audience member, but hitting himself instead. "Stupid thing," he muttered, shaking it, which only caused it to backfire again, emptying its contents onto his face. Jack grimaced, stumbling back to the ring. "Need something to wash this off with – is this a towel?" he asked, pointing to a custard pie. Everyone giggled as he suddenly buried his face in it. "Guess so – tastes a little dry!" he exclaimed, removing his face with pie all over it. Everyone hooted and applauded as Jack dipped his face into the pool to rinse off the pie filling, blew some bubbles, and then turned to bow to the audience again. "Thank you, ladies and gentlemen – I am the Joker, and I bid you goodnight! Keep smiling, everyone!" he said, waving to the audience as he disappeared backstage to rapturous applause. He was particularly pleased to see Harley beaming at him, and applauding enthusiastically.

When he returned to the ring for his curtain call, he got another huge round of applause, louder than the Graysons, he thought smugly. He had been watching Harley from the wings as she politely applauded all the acts, but as he appeared, she stood up and began applauding vigorously, joined by most of the audience. Jack could feel the rest of the circus glaring at him, jealous of the popularity of his reception, but what could he say? Everybody loves a clown.