Of the many documentaries that open in theaters on a regular basis, “The Aristocrats” might be the most specialized. It is also the filthiest.
| Nasty: Utterly filthy documentary about the world’s dirtiest joke, re-told and analyzed by over 100 comedians. The vile and depraved variations will either seem liberating or appalling, but they are both.
Rated: Not rated; probably NC-17 for language, subject matter. Now showing: Meridian, Neptune. |
This film contains no nudity or violence – it’s just comedians talking. But each of the speakers is repeating the same dirty joke, in ways that bend the limits of taste, civilized behavior and sanity.
Standup comedian Paul Provenza and magician-comic Penn Jillette decided to make a film about a particular legendary joke. This joke is often told amongst comedians, who try to out-do each other with their elaborate versions.
The joke is in three parts (this isn’t giving anything away – it’s told in the first minutes of the movie and then repeated many times). First the set-up: A guy walks into a talent agent’s office and says to the agent, Boy, have I just seen a great act. You should book this act. The agent says, What’s the act?
The middle section of the joke consists of a description of a family going onstage and performing the most depraved, obscene, horrific things imaginable. Sometimes there’s a dog involved.
The punchline: The agent says, Wow – what’s the act called? And the guy says, “The Aristocrats.”
There are many comedians in the film who avow that the joke itself is not especially funny. The punchline is a simple switch on expectations.
But the middle section is the point. There are rumors of 90-minute versions of the joke, in which the joke-teller declaims every possible sick variation on the act.
“The Aristocrats” gathers people who should know about comedy. Over 100 comics weigh in on the joke, from the old guard (Don Rickles, Phyllis Diller) to the classics (George Carlin, Robin Williams) to people on the front lines today (Jon Stewart, Chris Rock, Sarah Silverman).
Many observe that the joke is a Rorschach test for a comedian. How a comic handles the middle section reveals his or her style. When nice-guy Bob Saget rolls out an unbelievably vile version, it’s all the funnier because it’s coming from a warm, fuzzy sitcom actor. When Gilbert Gottfried performs “The Aristocrats” at a televised roast shortly after Sept. 11, it says a lot about his fearlessness (and the uproarious reaction says a lot about the need for comic relief in the wake of horror).
The raunchiness of “The Aristocrats” may disguise its liberating effect. Yes, it’s dirty. It contains foul language. Don’t see the movie if you don’t like dirty jokes.
But the film does describe (and embody) a safety valve that is much-needed in human nature. Buffeted between political correctness from the left and the new Puritanism from the right, we probably need to laugh in an unbridled way. Jonathan Swift and Lenny Bruce knew that, and so does “The Aristocrats.”
Paul Provenza and Penn Jillette in “The Aristocrats.”
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