🎬 Actor: The Christmas Carol

The class clown tackles Charles Dickens in an elementary school basement.

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Ignore everything Adam is telling you. It is simply not true that Adam never acted before. He was twelve. He was in the sixth grade. I was there.

His roots were humble, but he was a child comedian and actor of local renown. A young fan could catch his daily 9:00 AM and 3:00 PM stand-up performances in Ms. Crosby's homeroom, but he reserved his edgiest, most irreverent comedic work for music and art classes Tuesdays and Thursdays. For pathos and hysterical weeping, on the other hand, you could find him directly after those classes in the vice principal's office. The waiting area in the school office was his green room.

His stand up was well-received, but he had a formidable competitor. Ms. Crosby, his homeroom teacher, and our future star were in a veritable comedy slam. In different ways, neither of them had the slightest self-control. When there was even a smidgeon of a disruptive comment to contribute, Adam did not miss the occasion. Ms. Crosby, for her part, made …