Joaquin Phoenix, Performance Artist?

Joaquin Phoenix’s appearance on David Letterman last night is already a classic what-the-hell-was-that moment, and it’s got people wondering if it’s real or just staged, Borat-like, for Casey Affleck’s film about Phoenix and his music career. There has already been speculation that the music career is just a hoax and the documentary is intended to be a comedy, and if so, this performance is just part of the gag. But it doesn’t really matter what he’s up to; if this clip is any evidence, the documentary will be a comedy of pain and awkwardness, whether intentionally or not.