In 1960s Boston, a Jewish deli owner who struggles to come up with his newest joke stumbles into a scam with more ramifications than he could have ever dreamed possible.

The characters found in jokes are forced to act out the jokes every time they are told.

When a Soviet state official attempts to coerce a celebrated poet into apologizing for a political joke he made, the official gets a taste of his own predatory medicine at the hand of the poet's vengeful wife.

At a medieval-themed amusement park, a man is put in a difficult situation when he is given a promotion that could help his family in exchange for covering his boss' crimes.

Upon hearing news of his wife’s poor state of health after giving birth, a man quickly boards a train home and deludes himself into thinking his wife is well.

A middle aged upper class woman and her family live in an upscale neighborhood. The family's laughter turns malicious when they cannot distinguish between what is comical and what is horrendous and increasingly find amusement at the expense of others.

A son tells a series of stories, most of them about his father and stepfather. As the son describes a robbery that took place at his house in high school and his experiences with his father, a former Jehovah's Witness and current alcoholic, he begins to recall details from his childhood.

An elderly man in a synagogue tells the story of his son who had an evil laugh, and for whom he has been searching for more than twenty years.

A disenchanted couple moves from the country to the city. As they engage with an inside joke that once kept them closely together, it incites an exasperated conversation about long-accumulated problems.

A hard-working Pennsylvania nurse discovers her friend and ex-lover dead in a ditch. She searches his pockets for the money she loaned him, and when she doesn't find it, she drags his dead body around town in a search for the money.