The Aristocrats (2005)
Saturday, February 4th, 2006
Directed by: Paul Provenza
Cast: Jason Alexander, Drew Carey, George Carlin, Billy Connolly, Gilbert Gottfried, Eric Idle, Eddie Izzard, Penn Jillette, Richard Lewis, Kevin Pollack, Paul Reiser, Andy Richter, Don Rickles, Chris Rock, Jeffrey Ross, Bob Saget, Sarah Silverman, Doug Stanhope, Jon Stewart, Fred Willard, Robin Williams and Steven Wright
Runtime: 86 min
Rating: R
Trailer
Watching The Aristocrats documentary is ultimately just as anticlimactic as the controversial joke it spotlights. The documentary sheds light on an old vaudeville routine with dubious origins called The Aristocrats, a vile joke that is usually told within a small circle of comedians and not to the public because of its graphic language. The basic outline of the joke itself goes something like this: it usually begins with a family walking into a talent agent’s office looking for work and after the agent inquires about what the act performs, the comedian spews forth the most appalling and disgusting acts ever imagined (usually involving incest, pedophilia, child abuse, bestiality, and for good measure a healthy dose of fecal matter), at which point the horrified agent asks what the name of the act is and they reply, “the Aristocrats!”. Having George Carlin, Drew Carrey, Bob Sagat, Kevin Pollock (doing an impression of Christopher Walkin) or the South Park gang tell it is hysterical because of the way the joke is infused with their personalities, their sense of pacing, rhythm of speech, and the sheer panic of the listener not knowing when the joke will end. Unfortunately, the problem with most of the comedians in the documentary is that most of them don’t tell it well and the joke loses its appeal after being told for a second time, or a third, and on and on…there’s only so much scatological humor a person can take before it grows tiresome. More interesting however is the light it shines on the process of telling a joke properly; changing it over and over again to reshape it, define it, and mould it to their personalities much in the same way Comedian showed a couple of years back. The documentary plays out much like the joke itself: the punch line is not important or funny on the whole, but the setup and the way it’s told is the reason to tell it in the first place. Like one comedian says, “It’s not the punch line, it’s the journey”. The Aristocrats is a funny and offensive journey worth taking. A word of warning though, if you have children or are sensitive to vulgarity, this documentary is not for you.
Richard X
© Cinephile Magazine, 2006
