African-American comedian Jo Jo Dancer (Richard Pryor) calls friends to invite them to a Friday night party. He does not expect they will come, but when they accept his invitation, he must throw the party. After hanging up the telephone, he gets on his hands and knees, searching for pebbles of crack cocaine in the carpet. He stares at his puffy face in the mirror and has a panic attack. He throws empty glass bongs, liquor bottles, and cocktail glasses into the fireplace, repeatedly yelling, "I am through!" In the pockets of his jacket, he finds a tab of heroin, smokes it, and later, sets fire to himself. As paramedics wheel him into the hospital with second and third-degree burns covering 30% of his body, Jo Jo's alter ego rises up intact from his charred body and warns that he better not die. The alter ego walks out of the hospital and takes a car ride back to his hometown of Morton, Ohio. There, he sits by the schoolyard and watches himself as an eight-year-old racing home with friends. Little Jo Jo delivers his report card to his grandmother, a madam who runs a brothel, and she is pleased with his grades. They show off his report card to the prostitutes inside. As his father signs his report card, Little Jo Jo remarks that he does not like living at the brothel. The boy tells his alter ego that he lied at school when his teachers asked him what his parents did for a living. As Big Jo Jo tells him that he was clever to lie, the boy recognizes his older self and knows he can expect trouble when he grows up. He wants to know if Big Jo Jo can change the future. The alter ego tells Little Jo Jo he can try. Big Jo Jo visits his mother in her room at the brothel. She hugs him and says that she loves him, although she never told him so as a child. Back at the hospital, Big Jo Jo stares at his body, wrapped from head to toe in white gauze. He announces that he is going back in time to figure out how his life became such a mess. At a dinner table sometime in the past, Jo Jo's father, Charles, is angry when he discovers his son has quit his job cleaning hog guts to go into show business. They fight, and Charles kicks his son out of the house. The next day, Jo Jo boards a bus to leave town, but his wife, Grace, refuses to go with him, claiming she does not want to leave her parents behind. She tells him that he can always come back home, but he insists that he is never coming back. In Cleveland, Ohio, a nightclub owner named Mr. Spencer, who previously promised Jo Jo a job, turns him away. Jo Jo's sleazy hotel room is robbed, and the hotel clerk insists that he pay for his stay with his last remaining dollars. Jo Jo finds work shining shoes, and buys new clothes at a thrift store. At the Shalimar Club, he goes backstage and introduces himself to a stripper called "Satin Doll." She recognizes him from an amateur night at another nightclub, and agrees to help him. The following week, Satin Doll arranges for Jo Jo to do his routine at the Shalimar. On stage, Jo Jo is terrified, but he wins over the audience with his impression of a baby being born. Satin Doll and club host Johnny Barnett congratulate Jo Jo. Later, Johnny comments that Jo Jo talks too fast, so that some of his punch lines are lost. He gives Jo Jo some drugs to help him relax. Jo Jo loses his inhibitions, and performs in drag, mimicking Satin Doll's striptease act. After Jo Jo's performance, club manager Sal tells Satin Doll that performers will not get paid until the following week. When Satin Doll relays the news to Jo Jo, he grabs a fake gun and confronts club owner Gino. Before tensions erupt, Satin Doll's boyfriend, Detective Lawrence, barges in and sways Gino to pay Jo Jo his wages. Gino hands over a wad of bills, and tells Jo Jo that their business is finished. Later, Satin Doll and Det. Lawrence warn Jo Jo that the Italians will come after him, and advise him to flee. Satin Doll gives him a book, and stashes $200 in the pages, promising to send his possessions. Back in the present, a doctor announces on television that Jo Jo has developed respiratory complications. Elsewhere, Jo Jo's wife assures their daughter that her father will not die. Back in the past, Jo Jo falls in love with a white woman named Dawn. He wants to marry her, but she is content to live together. After a rough night in which Jo Jo battles a female heckler, Dawn assures him of his talent. Jo Jo takes a walk in the neighborhood to clear his head, and gathers more material for his stand-up act. He talks about winos directing traffic, asks why white people do not make noise when they speak, and does impressions of black people and their mannerisms. Soon, he develops a following and begins earning money. He gives Dawn a fancy ring. A fan invites Jo Jo and Dawn to party at his house, where he offers them cocaine. In the early hours, Jo Jo discovers Dawn having a threesome with the man. As Dawn meets up with Jo Jo in the hallway, the fan offers a weak excuse for their behavior, and Jo Jo punches him in the face. At the hospital, Big Jo Jo gazes at burn victim Jo Jo, and remarks that he cannot change anything that has happened, but he can conjure up memories to revisit. Burn victim Jo Jo remembers the first time he met his girl friend, Michelle Jensen, at a club: He invites her back to his house and they play pool. Michelle has other lovers and a confident air. They make love. Eight months later, a drunken Jo Jo argues with a film director about cutting scenes from a movie they are filming. Jo Jo wants the scenes to stay, but when Michelle, now his wife, appears, the director suggests she talk her husband out of his opinion. As they drive along the coast, Jo Jo discovers that Michelle's lover, George, bought her the car they are driving. He is incensed, and asks her to pull over. Before the fight can escalate, his alter ego appears in the back seat, and reminds Jo Jo that he loves Michelle, cautioning him not to start a fight. Jo Jo apologizes for losing his temper but makes the mistake of admitting that he slept with other women. When a fight breaks out, Jo Jo sends the car crashing into the ravine. Michelle insults him and runs off. As Jo Jo watches Michelle ranting, his alter ego asks him, "What's the matter with you, boy?" The phrase reminds him of his grandmother, and the advice she gave him when three bullies jumped him at the railroad tracks. She was the only person who understood him, loved him, and cared about him. He was devastated when she died. Later, Jo Jo spends his days smoking drugs, but he denies it when anyone calls him a junkie. He tells his alter ego to leave him alone. The alter ego guesses that he just wants to die. Jo Joe cries out that he wants his soul back, pleading with his alter ego to help him before emptying a liquor bottle onto his clothes. The alter ego urges him not to harm himself, but Jo Jo cannot stop. He sets himself on fire with a cigarette lighter. At the hospital, one doctor believes Jo Jo has lost the will to live. Burn victim Jo Jo asks his alter ego for help, and Big Jo Jo returns to his broken body. The comedian recovers from his injuries and resumes doing stand-up. One night some time later, a recovered Jo Jo does a show, delivering a mock eulogy for his former self-destructive self. The audience loves it and gives him a standing ovation.
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