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'The Aristocrats' review
More than 100 comedians discuss and deliver the dirtiest joke ever told
By Elizabeth Rhodes
Published: August 18th, 2005 | 3:23pm
No one said this was the funniest joke ever told. It’s not.
There’s a simple setup: A man walks into a talent agency, plugging his family act. The agent asks what the act consists of, and there’s an even simpler punch line: “What do you guys call yourselves? The Aristocrats!” It’s what’s in between that has separated the funny people from the true comics since vaudeville — and what’s in between is dirty.
To create The Aristocrats, Penn Jillette and Paul Provenza sewed together clips of 100 top names in comedy, including Robin Williams, Billy Connolly, Sarah Silverman, and Susie Essman, discussing and delivering their renditions of the most obscene joke ever told. So leave anyone remotely uptight at home and prepare to laugh hard while having your comfort zones ruthlessly attacked by vivid descriptions of incest, bestiality, and the least pretty of digestive functions.
There are two primary ways a comic can take this joke — emphasize either the sex or the poo. In George Carlin’s imagery-laden act, family members eat each other’s waste. Bob Saget, who played the loving and gentle father from Full House, sticks with incest for his hilarious extended version. Sarah Silverman claims to actually be the daughter and speaks in a somber, mock-confessional style that’s hysterical. When South Park’s Cartman tells his graphic version, the other boys go from horrified to confused when he recites the punch line. “I don’t get it,” Kyle says. “Neither do I,” admits Cartman.
Comedy is still a primarily male field — so it would be illogical to criticize Jillette and Provenza too much for their extremely biased subject pool. But it’s painfully noticeable that even though the comics try to use every combination of sexual acts imaginable, they never mention male to female oral sex — unless you count the whole family “crawling up grandma’s cunt,” which I don’t. When Susie Essman finally started the joke with a woman in the dominant sexual position, it was too little too late.
One opinion about the controversial yet timeless “Aristocrats” is that if you can make someone laugh at this joke you’re a true comic. Another is that if people laugh, it’s not obscene enough. Most everyone, however, agrees that Gilbert Gottfried’s rendition at the 2001 Friars Club Roast of Hugh Hefner was impressive. The screechy-voiced comic improvised his lengthy rant, bringing the audience to tears with laughter. Filmed over four years and taking between 80 to 100 hours of DV video tape, The Aristocrats could have been cut down to an hour-long special on Comedy Central. Although the material is consistently good, there’s too much of it.
Some people say laugher is just feeling nervous audibly. If you like comedy, film, or other artistic experiences that sometimes make you feel uncomfortable — and if you enjoy a dirty joke or 100 — see this hilarious documentary.
Issue #23
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