Webern Bell, a 16-year-old hunchback, stands just under four feet, yet his dreams of perfecting his routines as a clown with Dr. Show's traveling circus know no bounds. When a sinister, sword-bearing stranger stalks Dr. Show, Webern and his friends try to protect their boss, but a series of bad decisions lead to disaster. Later, Webern continues his vocation through lost love, the inheritance of a trained chimpanzee belonging to his late grandmother, and the reappearance of people from his past both real and imagined.