Finally, The Aristocrats made it to the top of my Netflix Queue. I know, isn't it amazing when a movie finally gets there all on its own? I am usually re-arranging the Q, putting some up to first place and putting some further down, depending on my mood, how I'm feeling, did I get around to reading that book yet, etc. Anyway, the movie made it to the top and I really did want to see it. For those who don't know, The Aristocrats should definitely not be confused with the Disney movie. In fact, the beginning of this movie deals with just that problem.
SPOILER ALERT!
This is a comedy/documentary that discusses the origin, the anatomy, the analysis, the style (comparing and contrasting) of delivery, of a joke that is called The Aristocrats. By the way, that is the punchline. Paul Provenzano and Penn Jillette (of Penn and Teller) gather together 100 of their friends and fellow comedians to work on this small project. You will probably recognize many of the participants. I recognized quite a few. Some have passed on (the movie came out in 2005) ...... George Carlin and Richard Jeni come to mind. Most are still with us. Phyllis Diller takes part though does not give us a version of the joke. The joke itself is legend among comedians and no one, it appears, quite knows where it started. However, it has a certain structure. It begins with:
A family walks into a talent agent's office. What happens next is.....
From there is up to the imagination of the story teller. Or rather joke teller. It can go on as long as one wants to. The point is tell the most sick, vile, depraved, disgusting, unspeakably obscene, gross, crude story one can. Then the talent agent will ask...... "And what do you call yourselves?" And we all know the answer.....
"The Aristocrats".
The movie was putting me off for the first fifteen minutes or so, but then I became quite intrigued. There were fascinating side points such as hand gestures (Drew Carey had the best, I thought). And, I didn't want to miss Bob Saget's telling of the joke which had been much bally-hoo'd as the ultimate. After a time, I think I developed a numbness and just was curious to see what each person said and was interested more in the creative process. I was more impressed with those who were less obscene and came up with more interesting stories. But that's just me. Though I did like Bob Saget's because he kept adding more, and more in a "but wait, did I tell you...." style. And he has that "All American" look that let's him get away with it.
The movie itself is only 1.5 hours long (a selling point for one of my friends) but the extra features are quite the bonus. There are additional scenes that continue the movie, essentially. Then there are the featured comedians telling other jokes (my favorite!).
My overall recommendation: If you can handle the obscenity and the horrible, unspeakable degradation of human beings and move forward from there, it is a very entertaining movie. I liked it a lot, but like the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and Altar Servers, better be prepared.
have to admit this is a new one to me. I'll have to look for it. I have a friend who grew up in the belly of the beast (son of a mildly famous catskill comedian who rubbed elbows with the much more famous variety). Perhaps he'd like this as a Hannukah gift...hmmmmm....mixing obsenity and a religous holiday....just my style.
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