What do you call the dirtiest joke ever told?
“A guy and his family walk into a talent agent’s office…”
“I believe you can joke about anything,” George Carlin said in an old comedy special. He must have had a certain joke in mind.
The Aristocrats, just out on DVD, is a documentary film with 100 different comedians indirectly testing Carlin’s proposition while telling, explaining and philosophizing about their versions of “the world’s dirtiest joke,” one so filthy, in fact, that comedians only tell it to other comedians.
Since it dates back generations, no one knows who wrote the joke. But most in the movie agree that it’s a powerhouse.
This is not a movie for everyone. Seriously. Between the profanity-laden references to incest, bestiality, rape and necrophilia (and that’s just the first 15 minutes), there’s a segment of the population — say, 99 percent – that will immediately dismiss The Aristocrats as offensive and vulgar.
But in showcasing the outrageous and hilarious spins that comics such as Carlin, Drew Carey and Sarah Silverman put on the joke, filmmakers and comedy insiders Paul Provenza and Penn Jillette — the loud half of Penn ‘ Teller — have made more than just a very funny movie; they’ve captured the creative essence of comedy.
In the film, Jillette draws a connection between comedy and improvisational jazz. Indeed, there is a little John Coltrane in each of the comedians who methodically and brazenly build on the joke, until the film morphs into a lesson on comic construction with teachers such as Paul Reiser and Robin Williams.
Before long, however, the movie throws another curveball — a revelation about the power of comedy — that is the reason that you owe it to your sense of humor to see this. A mere three weeks after Sept. 11, 2001, in front of an audience of comedians unsure of the role and appropriateness of humor in a still-grieving New York City, Gilbert Gottfried’s now-legendary telling of the joke united the crowd in what was nothing sort of a comedic catharsis. Gottfried’s comic high-wire act reveals comedy’s most treasured trait — it unites us. We laugh together.
Provenza and Jillette say they set out merely to make a movie for their friends. The goal was modest, but the results are rewarding and miraculous: they’ve bottled the comedy genie. At a brisk ninety minutes, The Aristocrats is like a great comedian’s performance — challenging, surprising and, above all, immensely entertaining.