Documentary covering what came to be known as "The Boston Gold Rush" of the late 1970s and early 1980s, when Boston stand-up comedians like Dennis Leary, Steven Wright and Colin Quinn burst upon the national scene, giving audiences a taste of the hard-edged social and political commentary that came out of that city.

Barry Crimmins is pissed. His hellfire brand of comedy has rained verbal lightning bolts on American audiences and politicians for decades, yet you've probably never heard of him. But once you've experienced Bobcat Goldthwait's brilliant character portrait of him and heard Crimmins's secret, you will never forget him. From his unmistakable bullish frame came a scathingly ribald stand-up style that took early audiences by force. Through stark, smart observation and judo-like turns of phrase, Crimmins's rapid-fire comedy was a war on ignorance and complacency in '80s America at the height of an ill-considered foreign policy. Crimmins discusses another side of his character, revealing in detail a dark and painful past that inspired his life-changing campaign of activism in the hope of saving others from a similar experience. Interviews with comics like Margaret Cho and Marc Maron illustrate Crimmins's love affair with comedy and his role in discovering and supporting the development of ...