ventriloquist jerry etherson (cliff robertson) is performing an act with his dummy willie in a small club in new york city. at the end of the act, willie seems to bite jerry's hand, and after he goes back to his dressing room he finds teeth marks on his finger. he begins to drink from a liquor bottle he'd hidden in a drawer. his agent, frank, comes in and is upset that jerry has resumed drinking. jerry tells frank, as he has numerous times before, that willie is alive. frank does not believe jerry and has already pushed him into getting psychiatric help. jerry is convinced that further psychiatric sessions would be redundant and that the only solution is to get rid of willie and perform with a different dummy, "goofy goggles", from now on. he quickly comes up with new material for goofy goggles and locks willie in a trunk.