Counterfeit Monkey — 264 of 292

Section 10 - The Barker

The greeting of the barker is "'Why hello!'"

The generic confrontational of the barker is "lady".

Instead of the barker discussing something which mentions geography:

say "[one of]'Get directions from someone else,' the barker hisses. 'You're interrupting the show.'[or]This time he just ignores us.[stopping]".

Availability rule for what the restoration gel seems worth:

if the tube is not seen:

it is off-limits.

what the restoration gel seems worth is a questioning quip.

The printed name is "what the gel is worth". The true-name is "what the gel seems worth".

Understand "is" as what the gel seems worth.

It mentions tube.

The comment is "'Is the gel very valuable?' we ask. 'Is it new, and in good condition? Is the entire tube present?'".

The response is "'Yes, of course, and absolutely,' he says, making a gesture as though to show us the gel, but actually not letting us catch more than the label.".

It quip-supplies the barker.

whether the game seems rigged is a questioning quip.

The printed name is "whether the game is rigged". The true-name is "whether the game seems rigged".

Understand "is" or "if" as whether the game seems rigged.

It mentions word-balance.

The comment is "'I know this kind of game,' we say, in our most jaded voice. 'The scale is probably nailed in place so that it [i]can't[/i] tip.' One or two of the crowd standing nearby seem impressed by this line of argument. A small boy whispers to his sister to ask whether that could be true.".

The response is "'Nonsense,' says the barker angrily. To demonstrate the point, he pushes down on the left pan, and the scales tip and sway. He soon restores them to balance, though. [paragraph break]'And don't think that will count for you,' he adds. 'You have to put them out of balance yourself. No surrogates, substitutes, or alternatives allowed.'".

It quip-supplies the barker.

whether anyone ever wins is a questioning quip.

It mentions word-balance.

The comment is "'Does anyone ever win?' we ask.".

The response is "'No one has won today,' he says, which is not an answer.".

It quip-supplies the barker.

It directly-follows barker-advertisement.

Understand "if" as whether anyone ever wins.

compliment the blue suit is a performative quip.

It mentions suit, fashion.

The comment is "'I really admire your suit,' we say. I feel like a fool with that nonsense coming out of my mouth, but I guess you know what you're doing, because the barker smiles.".

The response is "'Why, thank you, little lady,' he says, apparently warming to us. ".

It is background-information.

It quip-supplies the barker.

Rule for avoiding talking heads when the current interlocutor is the barker:

say "[one of]The crowd mills around, jostling us.[or]The sun gleams off the shiny balance pans.[or]Somewhere in the vicinity a balloon pops loudly.[or]The bell of the hammering contest clangs.[at random]".