Groucho Marx undistinguished vaudeville singing group billed as "The Four Nightingales". The brothers Julius, Milton (Gummo Marx) and Arthur (originally Adolph, but Harpo Mark from 1911) and another boy singer, Lou Levy, traveled the U.S. vaudeville circuits to little fanfare. After exhausting their prospects in the East, the family moved to La Grange, Illinois, to play the Midwest. After a particularly dispiriting performance in Nacogdoches, Texas, Julius, Milton, and Arthur began cracking jokes onstage for their own amusement. Much to their surprise, the audience liked them better as comedians than as singers. They modified the then-popular Gus Edwards comedy skit "School Days"
In Their Skin Hughes (Joshua Close), a lawyer, have an 8-year-old son, Brendon Hughes (Quinn Lord), but grieve over their recently dead 6-year-old daughter, Tess, who died in an accident. They also have a dog named Harris. One night while out for a walk, they come across a vehicle, appearing as if they were being watched. The next day, they meet their neighbors, Jane Sakowski (Rachel Miner), Bobby Sakowski (James D'Arcy) and their 9-year-old son, Jared Sakowski (Alex Ferris), inviting them over for afternoon lunch. That afternoon, the mood becomes unsettling when the Sakowskis bombard the Hughes with endless questions about their lives