The Aristocrats!

The other night we watched “The Aristocrats” on DVD. OMG. It is a movie about what is probably the most disgusting joke I have ever heard, but it was really funny.

This movie has its problems. The editing and the presentation is definitely not as good as it could have been. The filmmakers erred (IMHO) in not providing more complete tellings of the joke by the different comedians. I think that even if the premise is the same, it is still satisfying to hear each one’s “performance” of the joke. So, I think it could have been a lbetter if they’d presented it with less splicing of the parts of the joke throughout.

That said…I thought it was a really funny movie about an interesting phenomenon. This joke has become a kind of inside-joke among comedians and everyone who tells it puts his or her spin on the joke – some even try to drag it out as long as possible. The film interviewed LOTS of comedians – many of whom roundly criticized the filmmaker for making a movie about this joke as it is so horrible (not just in taste…it’s just a bad joke). I liked the movie, though because it was interesting to watch these comedians discussing the comedic art and well, some of the takes on this joke are pretty friggin funny. This is possibly the only time I have ever found Gilbert Gottfried funny; they show a clip from a Friar’s Club Roast in 2001 and the story behind the event and his presentation there is priceless.

I’ll also never be able to think of this movie without thinking of Drew Carey’s delivery of the punchline (you’ll understand when you see it).

There is something really satisfying in watching other people laugh. This joke and the artform in making it so gross makes comedians howl. It’s so bad it’s good, I guess.

Anyway if you rent it, prepare to be offended, but you’ll laugh too.