The wry, witty and irreverent Kristen Arnett returns with STOP ME IF YOU’VE HEARD THIS ONE, an incredibly entertaining portrait of a woman whose real life may be even funnier --- whether she likes it or not --- than her persona.

Cheryl “Cherry” Hendricks is 28 years old, broke and sporting a chin full of acne --- facts that only become sadder when you realize that her “step up” back to normalcy involves donning clown makeup and sexually satisfying bored housewives at their children’s birthday parties.

When we meet Cherry, she’s at a crossroads in her life. She has spent countless hours devoted to her craft, and she knows she is one of the best clowns in the south Florida circuit. But she’s also getting older, and making just enough to keep creditors at bay doesn’t feel as stable or sustainable anymore. On top of that, years of clowning haven’t concealed the real reason she got into the business in the first place.

"Cherry bears all the hallmarks of a root-worthy underdog... If you’ve ever felt like your life was stranger --- or at least funnier --- than fiction, you’ll want to hop in this clown car. It’s fun, I promise."

Cherry’s brother, Dwight, was the true “clown” of the family, always pranking their serious mother and getting away with it. Since he died, Cherry feels like she owes it to him to continue his spirited good nature. And sure, maybe he only got away with his foolhardy pranks because he was a straight white man, and perhaps his jokes were never that funny to begin with. It’s bad enough that their mother --- a lesbian, just like Cherry --- had a clear favorite, and it wasn’t the one who dresses like a clown for less than minimum wage, despite their similarities.

Don’t let the white greasepaint and big, honking red nose fool you. Her clowny ambitions aside, Cherry is just like the rest of us. She works a dead-end job she hates at Aquarium Select III (Aquarium Select II is just down the road, and there never was an Aquarium Select I); she is equal parts obsessed with and in competition with her best friend, Darcy; and she has an unrequited crush.

If Cherry’s --- or, ahem, Bunko the Clown’s --- housewife-pleasing antics didn’t give it away, our narrator has a taste for older gals. At 52, Margot the Magnificent, the reigning magician of south Florida, is like catnip. But more than the allure of the older, confident woman, Cherry is drawn to Margot's career trajectory, and how she can help mentor and support her. Margot is recently separated from her sexy, Nordic, magician’s assistant wife, and some gentle social media stalking tells Cherry that the ex-wife has moved on already, leaving Margot open for suitors.

When she matches with Margot on a dating app, Cherry feels like success is just within her reach. For the first time in her artistic career, she will have a true equal who will understand the push and pull of the bit, how performing changes and inhabits you, and what separates the funny from the not-so-funny and why. Margot is, well, less impressed with her young paramour, but not so disinterested that she doesn’t engage in a little abracadabra.

With her community being gentrified before her very eyes and old, seasoned clowns turning in their noses, Cherry sees that the writing is on the wall for her dream. That means reckoning with why she really chased it in the first place. As she draws closer to Margot, her mother also introduces a serious partner into the mix, with surprising consequences

For someone who has dedicated her life to the craft of comedy --- and Kristen Arnett has done her research here; never again will you look at a clown with anything but respect --- Cherry has never considered how funny real life can be, or what it means when you finally find yourself in a situation that you can’t clown your way out of. As it turns out, your brother’s memory can be funny, even hilarious. Your mom dating your crush/mentor/occasional hookup/possible performance partner’s ex-wife? Even Bunko can’t lasso her way out of that one, horse or not.

If there’s a delightfully weird, perfectly-poised-for-fiction premise out there, Arnett will find it. Whether she’s detailing the grotesque process of taxidermy, chronicling the childhood milestones of a potential demon, or taking readers into the circus tent with a feckless 28-year-old lesbian, she is not afraid to go there. In STOP ME IF YOU’VE HEARD THIS ONE, she doesn’t just take us behind the greasepaint and into the big shoes. She delivers some seriously funny perspectives on comedy, timing and ambition.

Cherry bears all the hallmarks of a root-worthy underdog: she’s funny, she has a (weird) dream, and she’s not afraid to acknowledge the cracks in her life, family and community. Her clown obsession, when you get down to it, is no different from any other dream. But through Arnett’s crystalline, witty perspective, her clown mantras and mottos take on real-world, applicable prescience. Add to that a bend of romantic entanglements, best friend friction, and feckless managers, and you have the makings of a timely, punchy comedy…with just enough gravity to make the levity all the lighter.

If you’ve ever felt like your life was stranger --- or at least funnier --- than fiction, you’ll want to hop in this clown car. It’s fun, I promise.