Aging local standup comic Sweeney, "The Character King", gets an opportunity to do a national cable show out of Los Angeles. The only caveat is that Sweeney must drop the locally referenced material from his act, the biggest pieces being the portrayal of his colorful Boston "characters," that have become a staple of his home field success. Sweeney makes the hard decision to stop doing the characters. But, to his dismay, the characters "come-to-life" and seek their revenge; they try to kill Sweeney.
Sweeney Todd is a fictional character who first appeared as the villain of the penny dreadful serial The String of Pearls (1846–1847). The original tale became a feature of 19th-century melodrama and London legend. A barber from Fleet Street, Todd murders his customers with a straight razor and gives their corpses to Mrs. Lovett, his partner in crime, who bakes their flesh into meat pies. The tale has been retold many times since in various media.
