Birthdaze

*Season 2,* *Episode 5b*

**"Birthdaze"** is the second segment of the thirteenth episode (and the twenty-fifth story overall) of *Close Enough*.

## Synopsis

Tired of children's birthday parties, Josh and Emily try to make Candice's party more exciting for adults.

## Plot

Josh and Emily are getting increasingly disenchanted with attending children's birthday parties. They don't know how they are going to bear through Candice's birthday party in the upcoming week. One particular night Josh stumbled across the idea of hosting a separate party for the parents while the children had their own party, Emily quickly joined in on the idea stating it would be possible in Candice's party if Pearle watched the children.

On the day of Candice's party, Josh and Emily prepared for the separate adults' party going on in the garage with the children's party already in progress at the backyard. Pearle was watching the children from a lifeguard's podium while Randy served as the bouncer for the adults only party.

Candice asked her parents to play in the bounce house with her but Josh and Emily stated that they had to set up for the other party as they rolled a keg of beer to the inside of the garage. Inside the garage the adults were enjoying their separate party with wine and marijuana cookies although they had all become intoxicated rather quickly.

Josh and Emily were reveling in their party-planning skills when they suddenly realized that Candice had sneaked in to the adults' party. Josh and Emily quickly escorted Candice out of the garage while instructing the adults to continue partying, including Alex and Bridgette, who was the DJ.

Just as Josh and his family had made it to the backyard, the hired magician - The Amazing Sardini - arrived. Sardini had requested the parents to be present as he performed his magic but Josh and Emily ran out on him and went back into their own party.

When Josh and Emily returned to the adult party they were horrified to find out that all the parents had gone completely out of control and were creating a raucous. Bridgette explained that people can't hold their liquor after having kids, which is why she and Alex were still composed. Bridgette's theory was proven repeatedly when some of the parents said that they only had one beer.

The parents then turned their attention to making fun of Sardini despite Josh and Emily's pleas to just settle down. Sardini became outraged by the drunken parents' insults and used his magic to make the children disappear, to the utter joy of the inebriated parents. Sardini explained to Josh and Emily that the children have been sent somewhere they could enjoy a real birthday party and in order to retrieve them, they had to put on the party hats the children left behind. Sardini then disappeared himself. Josh instructed Bridgette and Alex to settle the parents down while he and Emily went to wherever it is that Sardini has sent the children.

Josh and Emily find themselves in a magical world made up of cake and ice cream. They then get greeted by Gifty, a creature made out of presents. Gifty explains to Josh and Emily that they are in Birthday World, an entire realm of children's birthday parties. Gifty also explains to Josh and Emily that the children are on top of Mount Cake in Castle Joy. Josh asks what happens in Castle Joy to which Gifty replies that the children will be in a never-ending birthday party and soon forget that they even have parents and will choose to stay there for all eternity. Gifty then shoots herself directly into Castle Joy.

Josh and Emily then set out to rescue the children. They overcome several obstacles such as evil pinata monsters that have to be smashed and an evil clown that has to be destroyed in a game of musical chairs. They then get attacked by giant slices of pizza. Josh and Emily each eat a slice of pizza and scare away the survivors. After sliding down a giant slip and slide and escaping a giant bipedal cake via giant balloon animals, Josh and Emily finally scale Mount Cake and enter Castle Joy.

They round up all the children except Candice who seems to be sulking in the corner of the room. They approach the little girl who turns out to be Sardini. Sardini then traps the children in a fun cage and tells Josh and Emily that they have to go through more trials if they want Candice back.

He first asks them to select all panels that have traffic lights on them. He then asks them a trick question, What is Candice's favorite kind of cake? Josh initially erroneously chose a strawberry cake but Emily realized that it is a trick question because Candice loves all cake, Josh then realized that the correct answer was the biggest cake - the vanilla cake. Sardini then asked them what is Candice's favorite birthday activity. Gifty explains to the children that if Josh and Emily get a single question wrong, all the children have to stay but they will get a nutritious diet of Necco wafers that Gifty shoots out of her mouth. Josh realizes that Sardini has once again asked a trick question and that the correct answer is Candice loves any activity that she does with her parents.

Sardini revealed that their final test was to answer a question from Candice herself. Candice asked her parents why they wanted to spend time in the garage rather than spend time with her. Josh and Emily exclaimed that they wanted to do something nice for the other parents but they still should have spent some time with Candice since it was her birthday. Candice then forgave her parents under the agreement that they buy her an iPad pro.

Candice then asked Sardini to send everyone home, Sardini opened a portal back to Los Angeles and he turned around and exclaimed that he actually wanted Candice to stay as he does not have any children of his own. Everyone however had run out on him while he had his back turned. Sardini turned around to see nobody there. Gifty decided to comfort Sardini by licking his face but it soon turned into sex.

Back at the duplex, Josh and Emily discover that Bridgette and Alex had managed to get all the parents to go to sleep with Pearle suddenly waking up and exclaiming that she had been watching the kids the whole time. Josh, Emily and Candice then go to the bounce house like Candice wanted all along while Randy, who had eaten all the marijuana butter cookies, discussed mutually beneficial banking with a squirrel.

## Characters

* Josh Singleton
* Emily Ramirez
* Candice
* The Amazing Sardini (debut)
* Gifty (debut)
* Other Birthday World Inhabitants (debut for all)
	+ Living Piñatas (no real lines)
	+ Musical Chairs Clown (no lines)
	+ Living Pizza Slices (no real lines)
	+ Balloon Animal Mounts (no lines)
	+ Cake Monster (no lines)
* Bridgette Yoshida
* Alex Dorpenberger
* Pearle Watson
* Randy Watson
* Trish
* Ted
* Various Kids' Birthday Magicians (debut for all; no lines)
* Adult Party Guests
	+ Jojo
* Maddie (no lines)
* Ethan (no lines)
* Dashiell (no lines)
* Esme (no lines)
* Emma (no lines)

## Trivia

* Gifty's voice actor is Kate Micucci, who previously voiced Skye in the Season 1 episode "So Long Boys".
	+ She also voiced Roxy on J.G. Quintel's previous series, *Regular Show*.
* Jojo was at Candice's birthday party, but her daughter, Mia, wasn't seen attending.
* Candice already owned an iPad Pro as of Season 1, so it is unknown why she asked her parents to buy her one in this episode.
* The silver orb thrown by Sardini may be a reference to the weapons used by the villain of the film *Phantasm*.