Slamdance Film Festival 2009

Henry Phillips, a modern day American troubadour, is grinding his way through the heartland, living out of his car and singing his twisted satirical songs to anyone who will listen. After a booking mishap involving a Christian fundraiser, he decides it's time for a change. Hoping for something better, he moves to L.A. to crash with his unemployed-actor brother, and his luck changes overnight. Following some good shows (and a fortuitous case of mistaken identity) he finds himself with all he could ask for: a record deal, radio airplay, an article in the paper and even attention from the female barista he's admired from afar. But like a fist in the face, he learns the whimsical rules of the record industry. The unwitting victim of a vicious rumor that spreads via an elaborate industry 'telephone game’, Henry faces losing the only thing that ever mattered to him: his music.

Punching the Clown is the story of Henry Phillips, a very real singer/comedian, facing numerous ridiculous and off-putting hurdles in his career; all the more amusing as he himself is humorously inoffensive. This film is a hilarious, crazy journey of a comedy career that blurs the lines between funny and inappropriate... like spiked punch at the junior prom.

Punching the Clown is like a donkey punch to your funny bone.

- Evie Peck, Film Programmer