An OCD father who has alienated his family through his fear of clowns finds a doctor who treats him for Clown syndrome so he may rebuild relationships with wife and daughter before he dies laughing.

SYNOPSIS:

History professor Michael — meticulous, overly health-conscious, OCD — visits geneticist Dr.

Keegle to seek an explanation for his "coulrophobia", fear of clowns. If they can find a genetic

link, they might be able to find a cure. And he needs one, because his eldest daughter Erin is off

at the Police Academy, training as a clown — in a special circus clown response division known

as SMAC, "Special Mimes And Clowns".

His wife, no-nonsense Marla, believes it's just a bit of empty nest syndrome, since his symptoms

started the moment Erin left to join the academy. But Michael's not so sure. Meanwhile, Erin's

doing very well in her program — on a trainee operation, she helps nab renegade mime Mums-

The-Word. She's a natural with the super soaker and the invisible wall, that barrier that stops

criminal mimes in their tracks every time. Marla tells her on the phone that they will be at her

graduation, come hell or high water.

Dr. Keegle visits with the results — Michael has Clown Syndrome! And what's more, he'll die in

seven days... death by Clowning, a terrible way to go. The only possible remedy is a serum made

from the ground up pages of a book by a famous mime of the Roman Empire. It's the only thing

that might delay the Clowning. Dr. Keegle also suggests a support group. But he must stay away

from Erin — it could be deadly. Michael's shattered by the news, and attempts suicide — but

suicide by radon exposure, which is not as acutely deadly as he thought.

Dr. Keegle administers the serum. It takes hold while Michael's at the Clown Syndrome support

group — his fears all suddenly vanish. He's not afraid... in fact, he feels happy. Slap-happy,

even. And he begins telling jokes to the recovering Clown Syndrome victims — which resulting

in 10 fatalities. They all died laughing! Turns out Dr. Dr. Keegle mixed up the test results. But

that's not enough to keep Michael from being tried and sentenced to the death penalty.

The experience has conquered his fear of clowns, though, so he gets to visit with Erin again in

jail. Soon comes the day of execution, where he and 12 other clowns will be transported to the

place of execution in a tiny VW for death by lethal injection — laughing gas deemed redundant.

As Marla waits for the grim outcome, she's surprised by Erin, with Michael! His death sentence

was commuted by the governor to ten years. He's on a 4 hour pass in Erin's custody. What's more,

he's signed a book deal — and with the malpractice money from Dr. Keegle's misdiagnosis, it

looks like they'll have plenty of cash. The best part — after ten years of training in jail, Michael

should be ready to start a new career as a birthday clown. Happy ending!