Shrek 2

The Aristocrats (2005)

HBO Broadcast, Somerville, MA

July 26, 2006

*** / ****

Just because a movie is a technical piece of crap doesn’t necessarily mean it is a horrible movie. Make no mistake, The Aristocrats is a technical piece of crap, but like a joke that makes you laugh even though it is long-winded, kind of dumb, and has an obtuse punch-line, so too can a movie with terrible writing, directing, and editing be worthwhile so long as it piques your interest and keeps you entertained.

That is the strange case of The Aristocrats, a documentary about a Hollywood inside joke (the supposed filthiest joke of all-time) passed down for generations among comedy’s elite. Never heard of it? Well neither had I, but with interviews from a who’s who of comedians past and present, male and female, black, white, and every color of the rainbow, the documentary provides an inside look at the joke’s history through recollections, musings, and personal interpretations.

The magic of the aristocrats joke is that it is constructed in a way that allows everyone to tell it differently, adding one’s own personal signature. “A guy and his family walk into a talent agent’s office and proclaim, ‘we have the most spectacular act you’ve ever seen…” and so it goes. The laughs come not from the punchline, “the aristocrats!” but from the embellishment leading up to its anticlimactic conclusion. But oh, the ways one can embellish!

In a sense, the aristocrats is more anti-joke than funny ha-ha. It gets its mileage by presenting the teller an opportunity to pull out all stops in the telling, throw caution to the wind, and take the ultimate risk in joke telling: unbridled laughter or total audience alienation. Generally, it seems, most comedians make the joke’s point by telling the tale foul, grotesque, and repulsive. As we find out in the film, this depravity usually involves profanity, incest, bestiality, racism, sexism, masochism, and just about any other lewd and perverse act or ism one can imagine, and usually populated by the most colorful language one can muster. While some may find the raunchy presentation offensive, the way it is clinical in its obscenity makes finding it offensive about as odd as finding perversity in watching a baby pop out of its mother. Or something like that.

The Aristocrats has its share of surprises, both in who does the telling, where, and how. Rather than spoil the fun and reveal too many details, suffice it to say Bob Saget’s version steals the show. Yes, that Bob Saget, he of Full House and America’s Funniest Video fame. There is something utterly perverse about Saget’s lengthy, obscenity laden, demented diatribe and the way he gleefully enjoys it that must be seen to be believed. Is this really Danny Tanner? Unquestionably, Bob Saget alone is worth the price of admission.

Other aristocrat telling champions in the film include Taylor Negron, Martin Mull, Paul Reiser, Trey Parker (as Cartman), The Smothers Brothers, Billy the Mime, magician Eric Mead, and some dude who tells the joke in the bathroom… with visitors! All get the laughs with their own unique brand of fervor and creativity.

The Aristocrats may not be a great film in any sense of the word but it does provide an original and interesting behind-the-scenes look at the world of comedy and joke telling that few are ever privy. If you think you can stomach the profanity, see your way past the technical and structural flaws, and enjoy the idea of jokes in general, The Aristocrats is certainly worth your time… or just watch a baby being born. Both will likely have the same effect on you, one way or another.