[edit] # 22:36 (4) comments

The Aristocrats

The Aristocrats is a film shot by Paul Provenza on a crappy camera, the film tells the origins and evolution of the comedian’s all-time in-joke. Because the joke is possibly the dirtiest joke ever told it isn’t printed in its entirety in any review ever written (so far) about this funny and engaging film. The premise of the documentary is that the joke reveals more about the person relaying the joke, than the punchline itself. With the same beginning and the same punchline, comedians are given a free pass to elaborate the intricacies of the "act" which is central to the comedy of the joke.

And elaborate they do - the all-star project has versions from Bob Sagat, Gilbert Gottfried, Howie Mandel, George Carlin, Carrie Fisher, Lewis Black, Penn & Teller, Robin Williams, Paul Reiser, Tim Conway, Sarah Silverman, Don Rickles, Harry Shearer, Eric Idle, Eddie Izzard, Drew Carey, Whoopie Goldberg, Fred Willard and many more known and unknown comedians. Ruckus and uncomfortable, the chances that you don’t laugh or squirm just a little bit are slim – no taboo is too big to be included in the joke. The film's jokes contains everything from the inaneness of a ventriloquist telling the joke to inclusion of the victims of 9/11 in the telling.

My favorite tellings included Billy the Mime's version (the only work-safe telling, but only if your colleagues close their eyes), Kevin Pollak's attempt to tell the joke as Christopher Walken and Sarah Silverman’s non-sequitteur relay. Go see it already and practice your own version.