The Aristocrats

Reviewed by:
Pete Hammond

The Aristocrats is a one-joke movie and proud of it. Co-producers Paul Provenza and Penn Jillette came up with the idea of exploring the origins of one of the most famous jokes never told, a legendary riff by stand-ups that is so relentlessly dirty and tasteless that comedians could only tell it to other comedians. Until now. And so we're treated to scores of yuksters like Steven Wright, Fred Willard, Sarah Silverman, and even the South Park kiddies delivering their own versions of the joke. (Gilbert Gottfried takes it a step further, performing it to raucous, horrified laughter before a live audience after 9/11.) So what's the joke? Let's just say there's bestiality, incest, vulgarity, and more unimaginable dirty words and descriptions than you'll find on a box of Steak-Umms. At times hilarious, and at other times tedious, this high-minded doc explores the off-color subject matter so exhaustively, it occasionally trespasses on the old adage, "If you have to explain the joke, it isn't funny." They even dwell on how the joke should be worded for optimum effect: “You have to say pee first, and then shit, and then fuck,” says one comic. Not for the easily offended, The Aristocrats gives it to you from every angle—which in this case, is perfectly appropriate.