The Orbiting Human Circus · WNYC Studios and Night Vale Presents

Naughty Till New Years: Ninthly, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner!

March 4, 2020·29 min·2 clips

The janitor freezes outside a late-night café, overwhelmed by an inexplicable memory, and the narrator urges him to stop running from what makes him remember.

The janitor is hiding. Late afternoon settles around the Eiffel Tower as he watches the ticket booth and the tourists lining up like normal people, which he is plainly failing to be. Mr. Chouinard finds him. He has checked the closet, the curtains, and even behind the case of chocolate croissant, so the janitor's panic comes off funny and painfully public. Up he goes. Mr. Chouinard stays below and asks the line whether anyone saw the man he had been talking to. Nobody makes it less odd. Then the episode gets quieter. One small word from the janitor changes Mr. Chouinard's face. A tear drops. For a second, the stern man seems younger, and the janitor realizes speech can land harder than he thought. Then the job snaps back into place. Mr. Chouinard wants polish, mistrusts the janitor's competence by percentages, and explains how to tend the stove so the room stays warm. It is almost friendship, but with chores. The janitor heads off with his rag, his polish, and more responsibility than confidence. The observation deck is absurdly huge. Even the narrator admits one janitor could hardly clean it. Still, he starts. His hand reaches for the polish, his resolve lasts a breath, and his attention slips into a reverie. Elsewhere, the ballroom waits. In the middle of the night, Chief Stagehand Letitia holds a torn telegram. What remains points to delay, reshoots, and trouble.

As heard by us

A tower chase that becomes a strange lesson in tending and belief.

The Orbiting Human Circus opens with a clean bit of farce: the janitor is sent up the Eiffel Tower after Mr. Chouinard catches him hiding by the ticket booth.

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Why you'd press play

You get a weird Eiffel Tower workday where a janitor, a stern manager, and one small job turn into a strangely humane listen.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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