All Joking Aside

Working a dead end job at an upscale greengrocer in New York City, twenty-one year old Charlie Murray wants to try to become a stand-up comic due to a combination of factors in her life, including comedy being a touchstone to her father who died a few years ago from a heart attack, an estrangement with her mother for what Charlie believes was a contributing factor to that heart attack, and Charlie herself in recovery from a skin cancer scare. Her first attempt at stand-up at an open mic night is a disaster in being unable to stand up to a heckler. She eventually discovers from among other people Dennis the club owner that that heckler is Bob Carpenter, who once was one of the edgier stand-up comics in town, but for various reasons, including family issues of his own and an incident at the end of what was his last routine that he gave up the life, but is still at the periphery of the stand-up world. In their many subsequent less than chance encounters, Charlie is eventually able to convince him to be her mentor in wanting to learn all about the finer details of stand-up from someone who went through it rather than "teachers" who probably were failures at it if they attempted it at all. In their time together, Bob may be better able to deal with his life issues in learning from Charlie as much as she learns about the world she wants to be a part of from Bob.