Dummyman

An act that went off without a hitch
An audience all too eager to laugh
A new dummy with a perfect voice
My best night all month
Titles dancing through my head
Chase Philips, World's Most Renowned Ventriloquist!
Departing with elation
A cry of "Encore!"
The manager eagerly waving me back onto the stage
The show's not over while the audience laughs
Repositioning my partner on my knee
The prelude to a second deluge of hilarity
Silence
A prick of embarrassment
Valiantly continuing on
Silence
Beading sweat
A hand feeling cramped inside the dummy
A voice not mine
Confusion
Catcalls from the audience
Eyes drawn downward
A wooden jaw dropping open
"Why so stiff? The show's not over, my man."
Yanking my hand out in horror
Bits of wood clenching tight
Another question bouncing off my eardrums
Standing to flee
Pinned down by so much weight
Gabbling the first words that enter my brain
A wisecrack from two feet above my knee
Laughter
Blank faces above gaping mouths of mirth
"Thank you, thank you."
My unliving partner bows and rambles on
Unable to leave
Crying for help
The audience points and laughs
A hundred faces of painted wood
The jokes run on all night
Punctuated by the occasional call for an encore
Lost count hours ago
The show's not over while the audience laughs

I wanted to make this a structured poem, but it wasn't working out.