 Perry Caravello is an aspiring celebrity and struggling comedian and actor who was "discovered" in 1992 by comedian Don Barris, the warmup comic for "Jimmy Kimmel Live" and "The Man Show," during an open mic night audition at The Comedy Store in Westwood, Los Angeles, California.Barris offered Caravello a chance at stardom and, along with Tony Barbieri playing a perpetually stoned "Walter 'Mole' Molinski," befriended Caravello and have played pranks on him since 1995.Caravello's ongoing commitment to achieving this stardom, with the assistance and participation of Barris and Barbieri, is known as The Perry Project, which is noted with a title card at the beginning of the film.