But Seriously, Folks

Shelly edits sitcom laugh tracks for a living, but while at work she daydreams of sharing her life's frustrations on a comedy stage. There she explains to a strange audience that she is the sole caretaker for her mother who is deteriorating from Alzheimer's disease. Shelly is not funny, but the audience laughs anyway. Shelly is struggling to decide whether it is time for her mother to move into an assisted living facility. One day she receives a letter in the mail from Beth, a childhood friend and inside she finds a photograph of herself laughing as a teenager. This image spurs Shelly to consider where the laughter has gone in her life. Shelly soon begins to fantasize of herself and Beth as kids, laughing at stupid things juxtaposed with the adult Shelly who has serious problems to deal with. Shelly eventually realizes that to reconnect with her mother she must once again embrace humor and only through laughter is she able to make difficult decisions in her life.