JOKERS follows Helen Vos, a Chicago stand-up comic who’s trying to get ahead while dealing with a lecherous club owner and an audience that’s mostly interested in bland catch phrases. Into this walks a new guy, Petey, who at first seems friendly but awkward, but whose “edgy” humor and barely-controlled temper seems to mask something much more unnerving. Helen wants to get away from him, but her friend Tony wants to give him a chance.

The film draws from the frustrations women have in creative industries, particularly when dealing with inappropriate or dangerous men. It also deals with the issue of humor and its ever-shifting standards. What’s funny, and when? Who decides? Is anything ever “just a joke?”