Joey Crown

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Joey Crown

Background

Joey Crown is a trumpet player in New York City.

During the events of The Twilight Zone: Season 1 Episode 32 A Passage for Trumpet played by Jack Klugman

Outside The Oasis club, Joey listens as Baron plays his trumpet inside. Baron's set ends and when he walks out of the club to have a cigarette, Joey goes up to him and they shake hands. He offers to play with Baron, but Baron reminds him that the last time he let him play with him, Joey was drunk and couldn't play well. Joey tells him that he is sober, but a bottle of liquor falls out when Joey grabs his trumpet case. Baron gives Joey some money and asks him why he threw it all away and Joey tells him it is because he is sad about never making it as a musician, or having money or having a girlfriend. He tells him that drinking helps him escape from his crummy life. Joey walks away and starts to play the trumpet, but keeps on missing notes. He goes to Nate's pawn shop and offers to sell his trumpet. Nate gives him eight dollars for it and after Joey gets the money, he goes to The Bandwagon bar and gets drunk. He walks back to Nate's shop and sees him putting his trumpet up for sale for twenty five dollars. Joey realizes he doesn't have any responsibilities to anyone and steps in front of a speeding truck. He is hit by the truck and bounces off of it to the sidewalk.

He wakes up and walks up to a police officer and tries to explain himself, but the police officer ignores him. He then walks to a movie theater and tries to talk with different people, but they all ignore him. He figures out the van killed him and excitedly thinks he is a ghost and jokes to people that he is haunting them. He walks inside The Bandwagon and doesn't recognize anyone inside as a regular employee or patron. Joey remembers the time the bartender Charlie specially ordered a record that had Joey playing on it and put in the jukebox and played it. He goes to The Oasis club and as he is listening outside, he hears the sound of perfect trumpet music being played a short distance away. He follows the music and finds Gabe playing the trumpet. Joey tells Gabe that he plays beautifully and gets excited when Gabe can hear him. Joey asks him if he is a ghost too, and Gabe tells him that neither of them are ghosts and the people Joey has seen are in fact the ghosts, they just don't know it yet. He continues that Joey is in a sort of limbo and can go back to the real world if he wants. Joey starts to realize some of the good things he had in his life and Gabe tells him that he has a special gift and not to waste it. Before leaving, Gabe tells Joey his name, which is short for Gabriel. Joey runs back to the pawn shop and wakes up on the sidewalk. He tells the Truck Driver he is okay and the Truck Driver gives him money not to report the accident. Joey goes back into the pawn shop and buys his trumpet back. That night as he is playing it on the roof of his apartment building, Nan tells him that he plays it beautifully and that she just moved in to town. She then asks Joey if he will show her around and Joey excitedly tells her of all the places he can show her.