Lou Clark knows lots of things. She knows how many footsteps there are between the bus stop and home. She knows she likes working in The Buttered Bun tea shop and she knows she might not love her boyfriend Patrick. What Lou doesn't know is she's about to lose her job or that knowing what's coming is what keeps her sane. Will Traynor knows his motorcycle accident took away his desire to live. He knows everything feels very small and rather joyless now and he knows exactly how he's going to put a stop to that. What Will doesn't know is that Lou is about to burst into his world in a riot of color. And neither of them knows they're going to change each other for all time.
Struggling comedian James Mullinger (based on the eponymous, real-life comedian) has come to a crossroads in his life; no one wants to see him perform, his wife is fed up, and his day time boss has given him an ultimatum - take a promotion and never do stand up again, or stick to the comedy and lose his job. To add salt to the wound, his boss sends him to LA. to interview some of the greatest comedians alive for the magazine. Through spending time with his former heroes, a faint glimmer of his passion for stand-up comedy begins to stir again.