The Aristocrats

Over the weekend I went to see The Aristocrats. If you don't know about it here's a brief outline. It's a documentary featuring around 100 (mostly American) comedians telling one particular joke. The joke is 'a secret handshake among comics' and is traditionally told backstage. It always has the same set up and punchline but the idea of it, is that in the middle section everyone can improvise their own take on it. Oh yeah and it has to be the filthiest, craziest, vilest acts and situations you can think of.

Anyway, it was very funny. Although it sounds repetitive it never really is. As well as numerous tellings of the joke people talk about why it's funny, why it's not funny, where the idea comes from, how it bailed out Gilbert Gottfried from a post 9/11 faux pas and how people's ideas of what's offensive have changed over the years.

The highlights for me were Kevin Pollak doing an impression of Christopher Walken telling it, an hilarious South Park segment where Cartman tells it to his bemused chums and Doug Stanhope reciting it to his infant nephew. A mime does a great version of it, obviously without using words at all and Steven Wright performs a completely clean version.

The Wikipedia page on it has links to many pages on it, including a Windows Media file of Cartman's version and an article on family entertainer Bob Saget's appearance in the film.

It's not a film I would recommend to everyone, cos if you don't like jokes about pedophilia, incest and excrement you probably won't go for it.