The Aristocrats (2005)

One hundred superstar comedians tell the same very, VERY dirty, filthy joke--one shared privately by comics since Vaudeville.

Director:

Paul Provenza

Stars:

Chris Albrecht, George Carlin, Don Rickles

4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Chris Albrecht	...	Himself - HBO Chairman / CEO
Jason Alexander	...	Himself
Hank Azaria	...	Himself
Shelley Berman	...	Himself
Steven Banks	...	Billy the Mime (as Billy the Mime)
Lewis Black	...	Himself
David Brenner	...	Himself
Mario Cantone	...	Himself
Drew Carey	...	Himself
George Carlin	...	Himself
Mark Cohen	...	Himself
Scott 'Carrot Top' Thompson	...	Himself (as Carrot Top)
Billy Connolly	...	Himself
Pat Cooper	...	Himself
Wayne Cotter	...	Himself

Storyline

Comedy veterans and co-creators Penn Jillette and Paul Provenza capitalize on their insider status and invite over 100 of their closest friends--who happen to be some of the biggest names in entertainment, from George Carlin, Whoopi Goldberg and Drew Carey to Gilbert Gottfried, Bob Saget, Paul Reiser and Sarah Silverman--to reminisce, analyze, deconstruct and deliver their own versions of the world's dirtiest joke, an old burlesque too extreme to be performed in public, called "The Aristocrats."

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Plot Keywords:

joke | comedian | aristocrat | surprise | burlesque | 

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Taglines:

A family walks into a talent agent's office. What happens next is . . .

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Genres:

Documentary | Comedy

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Official Sites:

Mighty Cheese Productions [us] Think Film Company

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 September 2005 (Ireland)

Also Known As:

The @r!$t* (r@t$

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$243,796 (USA) (29 July 2005)

Gross:

$6,377,277 (USA) (20 January 2006)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mighty Cheese Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Promos for this film promised a film with no violence or nudity but tons of bad language. However, Penn Jillette had to add blurring to the private parts of a "friend" sharing a jacuzzi with one of the comedians in order to fulfill this promise.

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Quotes

[first lines]
George Carlin: The joke leads me down one path and then it switches the path on me suddenly and hits me with a hammer. It's just, "Here we go folks."

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Crazy Credits

After the credits, this appears on screen: "Now that you know the joke - keep it alive, spread it around. It's easy. 'A guy goes into a talent agent's office...' All you have to remember is ONE word." Then, Paul Provenza and Penn Jillette are standing among a group of goats and say "Aristocrats!" while doing the hand flourish that Drew Carey invented.

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Connections

References Mad About You (1992)

User Reviews

We all LOVED this movie!!!!!!!

I don't know what movie RT Firefly saw... I saw this at the Deep Focus film Festival, and think it is one of the smartest and funniest movies I have ever seen. A bunch of friends and I are still talking about it. Every one of us found different things all through the whole movie. It's only repetitious if you are not watching for the nuances and subtle variations in each different version. Little things make a big difference every time someone else tells the joke. Some are funnier than others, but none of the people I saw it with agree on who - some love what others didn't and vice versa (except we all agree SarahSilverman, Taylor Negron, Bob Saget, Gilbert Godfrey and Billly the Mime are hilarious). Yeah, some of it is childish but that's part of the fun, and kinda the whole point of it. Let yourself go and see what happens. The creativity is amazing, no matter how filthy. But it's got so much to say about being free, and about the art and craft of comedy. when you see how many different ways this one joke can go, it is truly amazing. I thought it was just going to be a dirty joke, but it is also about crossing lines and where are those lines anyway? It's hilarious to see all these big stars just being silly and having a blast. It's like we're at their private party and they don't care what anyone thinks. We all LOVED this movie and can't wait to see it again because we missed so much from all the laughing throughout.