I'm really excited for this movie, even though I'm sure I'll have to wait for it to come to video before I get to see it.
The movie is a documentary that was the brainchild of Penn Jillette of Penn & Teller. The majority of the film consists of various comedians telling one joke. The joke is old, it dates back to vaudeville, but it is structured as such that the comedian is given lots of lee-way to make it his own. The real joke behind the joke is that the punchline is really stupid and unfunny, so the humor in it comes from the comedian's input in the middle section. Since I'm having trouble explaining it, let me just sort of tell it...
"A family walks into a talent agent's office and says they have a great family act for him. He tells them to show him their routine..."
This is where the comedian gets to make it his own, (usually) getting as dirty and graphic as they possibly can. Basically, the point is, the act is really disgusting and offensive.
"The talent agent, in disbelief, asks 'what do you call this act?' The family replies 'The Aristocrats."
See what I mean? Terrible joke. Really, the joke is not about making the audience laugh, it's more about making the other comedians in the club laugh by pissing off the entire audience. But anyway, the movie is more than just comedians telling the joke, it's more an exploration of the effect of humor on the human psyche, and the relationship between humor and just plain offensiveness.
Honestly, one of the biggest reasons I want to see it is because I've read that Bob Saget's (yep, Danny Tanner) interpretation of the joke is by far the most offensive and scatological and just generally gross, and I really want to see that!
Here's a short list of some of the people featured in the movie:
Bob Saget
Carrot Top
Gilbert Gottfried
Drew Carey
George Carlin
Carrie Fisher
Whoopie Goldberg
Eric Idle
Dom Irrera
The Smothers Brothers
Robin Williams
Steven Wright
Trey Parker and Matt Stone (they did a short South Park bit for the movie)
...just to name a few. It's ridiculous how many famous names they got to be in this thing. Can't wait!
The movie is a documentary that was the brainchild of Penn Jillette of Penn & Teller. The majority of the film consists of various comedians telling one joke. The joke is old, it dates back to vaudeville, but it is structured as such that the comedian is given lots of lee-way to make it his own. The real joke behind the joke is that the punchline is really stupid and unfunny, so the humor in it comes from the comedian's input in the middle section. Since I'm having trouble explaining it, let me just sort of tell it...
"A family walks into a talent agent's office and says they have a great family act for him. He tells them to show him their routine..."
This is where the comedian gets to make it his own, (usually) getting as dirty and graphic as they possibly can. Basically, the point is, the act is really disgusting and offensive.
"The talent agent, in disbelief, asks 'what do you call this act?' The family replies 'The Aristocrats."
See what I mean? Terrible joke. Really, the joke is not about making the audience laugh, it's more about making the other comedians in the club laugh by pissing off the entire audience. But anyway, the movie is more than just comedians telling the joke, it's more an exploration of the effect of humor on the human psyche, and the relationship between humor and just plain offensiveness.
Honestly, one of the biggest reasons I want to see it is because I've read that Bob Saget's (yep, Danny Tanner) interpretation of the joke is by far the most offensive and scatological and just generally gross, and I really want to see that!
Here's a short list of some of the people featured in the movie:
Bob Saget
Carrot Top
Gilbert Gottfried
Drew Carey
George Carlin
Carrie Fisher
Whoopie Goldberg
Eric Idle
Dom Irrera
The Smothers Brothers
Robin Williams
Steven Wright
Trey Parker and Matt Stone (they did a short South Park bit for the movie)
...just to name a few. It's ridiculous how many famous names they got to be in this thing. Can't wait!
