The Aristocrats Movie
|
|
| Rating: |
 
|
| Run Time: | 90 min |
| MPAA Rating: | NR |
| Released: | 2005 |
| Directors: |
Paul Provenza |
| Genre/Type: |
Comedy Culture & Society Standup Comedy |
| Producers: |
Peter Adam Golden |
Plot Synopsis by Matthew Tobey
"A family walks into a talent agent's office..." So begins "The Aristocrats," a joke kept mostly secret by stand-up comedians for decades. An intentionally "bad" joke, the laughs in The Aristocrats aren't in the punch-line (one of the only elements that's the same every time), but in the set-up, made unique by each comedian who tells it in an attempt to fashion the world's dirtiest joke. The cat was finally let out of the bag by Penn Jillette and Paul Provenza, the seasoned funnymen who gathered together a hundred people to tell a hundred different renditions of the bit. Among those presenting their personal take on The Aristocrats in this film of the same name are Jason Alexander, Robin Williams, Gilbert Gottfried, Jon Stewart, Emo Philips, and Chris Rock. The Aristocrats premiered at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival.
Popular Products on The Aristocrats
|
|
|
Videos of The Aristocrats
Back to the top Top Questions about The Aristocrats
The name of the mother cat in the movie "The Aristocats" is Duchess. Thanks for asking ChaCha!
An aristocrat is a person of noble birth. It is often known as the ruling class of a society. Today's aristocrats are the Hollywood elite. Aristocracy is kind of government where only a few elite citizens rule.
The aristocrats From about 800-1800/1900 (onwards) most countries in Europe (and many in Asia) had a landowning class called 'lords' or 'aristocrats' that enjoyed enormous privileges that were guaranteed by law. In view of the huge time-spa...
Cast
| Actors | Character | Born |
| Jay Marshall | ||
| Eric Mead | ||
| Otto & George | ||
| Judy Gold | ||
| Drew Carey | May 23, 1958 in Cleveland, OH | |
| Merrill Markoe | ||
| Todd Glass | ||
| Wendy Leibman | ||
| Susie Essman | ||
| Jonathan Ross | ||
| Gregg Rogell | ||
| Richard Jeni | ||
| Peter Tilden | ||
| Jake Johannsen | ||
| Penn Jillette | Mar 5, 1955 in Greenfield, MA | |
| David Steinberg | Aug 9, 1942 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada |
Back to the topReview
Review by Josh Ralske
The Aristocrats is an odd little documentary. The film has the ultimate one-joke premise, and the joke isn't even very funny (as many of the comics in the film note), but it offers an opportunity for several talented, inspired comics to riff, and make it their own, while commenting on the nature of standup comedy, and the intricacies of what makes something funny. The joke itself offers the basest, most falsely transgressive type of humor. While startling, the jokes about incest and spousal abuse don't seem very far-removed from the misogynistic nursery rhymes of Andrew Dice Clay. While it's certain to anger some of the right people, it's hardly a mighty salvo for freedom in the culture wars. Many of the comics seem content to merely shock. The ones that come off the best are those that break down the joke effectively (Jake Johannsen discussing the eponymous act's legal ramifications, and the illogic of the talent agent's interest in what they call themselves) or have a certain credibility derived from the genuinely transgressive nature of their previous work (Gilbert Gottfried, George Carlin). Billy the Mime works thanks to the incongruity of seeing a street performer in whiteface enact such atrocities. And the brilliant Sarah Silverman transcends the mean-spirited nature of the joke by improvising a personal history with the act, and caps it with a scandalous (and, okay, mean-spirited) revelation that is also the funniest movie line in recent memory. Director (and comic) Paul Provenza, who conceived the project with Penn Jillette and co-edited the film with Emery Emery, keeps things moving at a good clip, and structures the film in a slick, consistently engaging way. It offers a much richer, more enjoyable experience than listening to the same joke over and over for 90 minutes.
