They will have to listen to me
The play opens with a prologue in which the main character, a man named Artie, is preparing himself to perform before a live audience in a bar. In an attempt to create the perfect mood and to draw attention to himself, Artie tries to convince the bar owners to dim the ambient lights and to shine a light on him. Ironically, this has the opposite effect as the people in the bar continue to ignore him even further and become angry at him for dimming the lights in the bar and ruining their conversations.
Trying to hide the mistress
In act I, Artie is visited by his girlfriend, Bunny, in the apartment he shares with his wife, Bananas. At first, Artie is not aware his wife was watching everything from the distance and when she made her presence known, Artie was quick to tell Bunny to hide. The reason why his actions are ironic is because the author makes it clear from the start that Bananas knew about the relationship between her husband and his mistress, thus making Artie’s actions redundant and pointless.
Acting in a normal way
When Bananas comes on stage, Artie tries to hide his mistress by sending her to the kitchen to hide. Despite his attempts to stop Bananas from going into the kitchen, she does end up discovering Bunny. What is interesting to note is the way in which Bunny decided to behave upon entering the kitchen. Up until that point, Bananas behaved in a very violent manner, being compared by her husband with an uncontrollable animal and having pills shoved down her throat as a result. Ironically, when Bananas entered the kitchen, she calmed down almost immediately and began behaving herself like a normal person, someone who has no mental problems and as if she were seeing the mistress for the first time in her life.
Killing the one his father loved
Ronnie is one of the deranged characters who appears in the play, a young boy who lies to himself and tries to convince himself he become someone worthy of praise by assassinating the Pope. Ronnie’s plans are unsuccessful and instead, the bomb which he planned to detonate near the Pope ends in the hands of Corrinna, a woman whom his father loved and who still had some control over him. Thus, in an ironic twist, Ronnie kills the woman whom his father loved dearly and set in motion the tragic events which killed his own mother.
Acting like an idiot and be treated like one
In the beginning of the second act, Artie’s son, Ronnie, recalls the first time he had met Billy. In an attempt to try and impress him, Ronnie acted as an idiot, wanting to show his acting skills. Ironically, Billy pictured Ronnie as being a mentally challenged person and as a result had troubles believing in his act.
