The film chronicles the life of Lenny Bruce, the famous American comedian of the 1950s and 1960s. He lived through a very difficult period in American history—the witch hunts, the Iron Curtain, and the Vietnam War. In his performances, Lenny Bruce mercilessly mocked everything he found silly and absurd about the American way of life. This got him into numerous run-ins with the police. Lenny Bruce’s personal life was also far from trouble-free.