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The album will be available on Valentine’s Day via her Clownery Records label, with a special “Margaret Cho and Friends” show at Largo on Feb. 13.

At its center, the rubbery Tews gamely serves up a wide range of pre-sound clownery, from deadpan reactions to crazy-eyed exuberance.

He, of course, is Napoleon Bonaparte, played by Joaquin Phoenix with a bicorn hat, a dyspeptic grimace and an unshakable air of post-“Joker,” post-“Beau Is Afraid” tragic clownery.

The clownery that ensues around this plot point cannot be overstated.

The campy tone is emphasized, especially by Brett Gelman, who gives a bravura comedic turn as their downstairs neighbor and cat enthusiast, Mr. Grumps, and Javier Bardem, who goes for broke in what can only be described as a tour de force performance of tragic clownery playing magician-musician Hector P. Valenti.