Four aging comics sit around a diner table reminiscing about their careers and celebrating the fact that one of  them is soon to leave on a cruise ship gig.  One of the men offers to tell the story of Salt and Pepper, a famous comic team who suddenly broke up before they hit it really big.  The story begins many years after the breakup, when Maury Salt arrives at the diner for his daily breakfast.

Monica, a waitress at the diner, is the object of Salt’s disdain when she doesn’t know his usual order.  During breakfast Salt reads the trade magazines and discovers that he and Pepper are going to be inducted into the Comedy Hall of Fame.  When Monica inquires it becomes apparent that Salt and his former partner dislike each other, mostly because Pepper walked out on the act.  The two men reunite and continue their feud at a press conference in spite of the fact that they’ve agreed to put on a show for the Hall of Fame induction.  At the rehearsal Salt and Pepper return to their old routines but cannot agree on who will play which part, so they break up.

Salt recruits Monica to be his new partner, but tries her out at an open-mike contest, and she bombs horribly, refusing to insult anyone for a laugh.  Meanwhile, Pepper recruits Andrew as his partner, a sign that the old comic hasn’t long to live.  When they realize their new partners are terrible, Salt and Pepper reunite.  But it’s not long before Pepper collapses with a weak heart.  The men see the error of their ways on the ride to the hospital, and Tess, who is driving the ambulance, honors their request to go to the diner in  the old neighborhood where they met.  The men perform one more comedy routine for Monica.  Pepper then passes on, but not before the old friends express their love and gratitude to each other.