Carlton is an android working for Alex and Lewis, two comedians from the twenty-second century who travel the outer vaudeville circuit of the solar system known ironically as the Road to Mars. Being a computer he can't understand irony, but is nevertheless attempting to write a thesis about comedy, its place in evolution, and whether it can ever be cured. He is studying the comedians of the late twentieth century (including obscure and esoteric comedy acts such as Monty Python's Flying Circus) in his search for the comedy gene.Meanwhile, during an audition for a gig on the Princess Di (a solar cruise ship), his tow employers inadvertently become involved in a terrorist plot against Mars, the planet of showbiz.Can Carlton prevent Alex and Lewis from losing their gigs, overcome the love thing, and finally understand the meaning of comedy in the universe?