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:

George Carlin, Don Rickles, Chris Rock

6 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:

100 Comedians. One Very Dirty Joke.

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Genres:

Documentary | Comedy

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Mighty Cheese Productions [United States] Think Film Company

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 September 2005 (USA)

Also Known As:

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

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$243,796, 31 July 2005, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$6,377,277, 22 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

Everyone listed in the credits under "Very Special Thanks" was interviewed for the film but did not make the final cut.

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Connections

Featured in Todd's Pop Song Reviews: "Jealous" by Nick Jonas (2015)

User Reviews

Not a comedy. Not a bad thing.

The Aristocrats is not a funny joke.

This is a fact admitted at several points through this film. And it's an important thing to bear in mind when considering the film, because the film is not the joke. The film is *about* the joke. It's a documentary. It deals with far more light-hearted matter than the average documentary, but it's a documentary nonetheless. Yes, the joke is told frequently and in various ways throughout the film. But in and of themselves, only about four incarnations of the joke are worthwhile. Billy The Mime's version is inspired, the guy who does it with playing cards is clever, Gilbert Gottfried's is a masterpiece of saying precisely the wrong thing at the right time, and Sarah Silverman's first-person rendition lies perfectly between deadpan hilarity and abject horror.

The value of the film lies in the story of the joke. And in this regard, it stands as one of the funniest films ever made. The joke isn't something to be told at the dinner table. It's a challenge, told by comedians to comedians. And this is where the hundred or so comedians in this film come in, to tell us their own stories and experiences about the inception and reception of it - and of course, to do this it becomes necessary for one or two of them to provide their own interpretations. And so it goes on.

As a comedy, it's not that funny; it is, in a very literal sense, a one-joke movie. As a documentary, it's genius.