Basic Trope: A stock joke about a family who goes to a talent agent and does a very lewd and/or scandalous act, which they call 'The Aristocrats'.
- Straight: Alice and Bob, and their two kids Carol and Dave, go to see a talent agent (Edward). Edward initially rejects them because he considers family acts too cute, but Alice says to give them a chance. They then do an act that involves screwing one another, drinking pee, and all kinds of disgusting stuff. Edward asks what they call the act and Bob replies, "The Aristocrats".
- Exaggerated: Family consists of mixed races and ethnicities people, and they act as people of these races and ethnicities would act in negative stereotypes. They actually rape, cripple and eat limbs and eyeballs of Dave, who is only five, and while doing the lewd things, they dress up in blackface and say all the slurs in the dictionary, and when they do the "eating poop" part, they use actual poop!
- Downplayed: This family's version of 'The Aristocrats' involves Alice and Bob having pretty normal sex but still explicitly, Carol hitting Dave in a pretty standard argument, and Dave wetting his pants.
- Justified:
- Alice and/or Bob have a grudge against the local aristocracy and wanted to prove a point.
- The family heard the joke and wanted to act it out to gross out Edward.
- The act is actually based on a aristocratic family.
- Inverted:
- Alice and Bob's act involves saving lives and other noble acts, and they call it "The Common People".
- Alice's and Bob's act is pretty normal, but it's called "The Nasty Fucking Bastards."
- Subverted: They do the nasty act, but when Edward asks what they call the act, Bob says, "The Most Shocking Act in the World".
- Double Subverted: "Just kidding. Its real name is The Aristocrats."
- Parodied: Alice and Bob pretend to mate like cats, while Carol and Dave scratch each other and they pretend to bring dead animals inside and cough up hairballs. When Edward asks what they call the act, he replies "The Aristocats".
- Zigzagged: The act consists of both tame and inappropriate things and Bob's not sure what to call it.
- Averted: Alice, Bob, and their kids don't go to a talent agent, or if they do, they just do a normal act.
- Enforced: There's a writers' strike on and the creators decided to base an episode around a stock joke.
- Lampshaded: "I know a lot of people think Aristocrats Are Evil, but that's going too far!".
- Invoked: "Hey, let's do the 'Aristocrats' joke!".
- Exploited: Edward wants the family to get arrested, so he goads them into doing "The Aristocrats" so he can have an excuse to call the police on them.
- Defied:
- "Eww, no way we're doing that!"
- The talent agent pulls out a gun and forces the family out.
- The talent agent has the police waiting in the next room to arrest Alice and Bob for whatever horrible crimes they committed.
- Discussed: "So, the idea is just to make it as nasty as possible before you finish by saying that the act is called "The Aristocrats"."
- Conversed: "Here it comes, the 'Aristocrats' joke again..."
- Implied: We don't see the act, but we see Bob declaring, "The Aristocrats!" and Edward looking shocked.
- Deconstructed: Edward calls the cops on Alice and Bob long before they get the chance to deliver the punchline.
- Reconstructed: When the cops take statements from Alice and Bob, one of them asks what the act is called, allowing them to proudly pronounce "The Aristocrats!" as they are arrested.
- Played for Laughs: Edward ends up more concerned with a part of the act that isn't even offensive, like being able to afford a high-profile celebrity like Frank to star in it (which they apparently can).
- Played for Drama: Little Dave has trouble sleeping after remembering what his family did.
Back to The Aristocrats.
