An account of the trailblazing women of stand-up comedy who broke down walls so they could stand before the mic. It spans decades, from Moms Mabley's rise in Black vaudeville between the world wars, to Joan Rivers's and Phyllis Diller's ferocious ascent to mainstream stardom, showing how women broke into the boys' club, offered new ideas of womanhood, and had some laughs along the way.