Jimmy Miklavcic first performed these three poems by Jody Plant back in 1983 for the first Experimental Floss performance. Experimental Floss, initiated by Elizabeth Miklavcic and Tina Karlson, was an artistic variety show that provided a venue for many of Salt Lake City's performing artists. This version of Slip of the Tongue, performed at Snow College, introduced a different character for each poem, peeling off the previous character to reveal the next.

Jimmy imagined what it would be like if an ordinary person were to stop whatever mundane activity they were engaged in and recited a poem. The first character, a man walking the streets on his way to work at some bank or accounting office stands at a corner and lets fly the first poem. He then morphs into a mechanic, possibly working on an old 1967 Chevy Nova, who takes a break from replacing a muffler to allow Plant's second poem free. One more transformation reveals an out of work carpenter, pacing about his tenement studio apartment when the third poem escapes the confines of his drudgery.