History Film / TheAristocrats

* FreudianSlip: As noted in the lead, saying "Aristocats" as in the Disney movie screws up everything.
-->'''Creator/PaulReiser:''' "What do you call yourself?" "The Aristocats." Oh, no - the "Aristocrats!" So people would think that was part of the joke, that the guy himself got the name wrong, and people would be saying, "Why did he say 'cats' and then 'crats?'" He didn't. I just had a problem. Which was more absurd.

* WildMassGuessing: Billy Connolly muses that the guy explaining the act in the joke will go back to his family and only ''then'' explain what they have to do.

* SpiritualSuccessor: ''[[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3132632/ Misery Loves Comedy]]'', which follows the same format but instead discusses the nature of pain and melancholy behind comedy.

* {{Corpsing}}: Creator/BobSaget spends half his time laughing at himself. This is in comparison to other comedians, such as Creator/GeorgeCarlin, who tell the joke ruthlessly deadpan.
** In fairness, the unedited version of Saget's rendition of the joke is available on the internet and shows that he wasn't corpsing as much as he appeared to be; they just left in the corpsing because those are the funniest bits.
** Creator/KevinPollak can't stop chortling through his rendition either, which might be because he's performing it in a Creator/ChristopherWalken impression.

* BreadEggsMilkSquick: Creator/SarahSilverman's version, which places herself in the position of having ''been'' an Aristocrat, and eventually concluding that Joe Franklin raped her.

* DeconstructedTrope: Sarah Silverman's version is a deconstruction of the joke itself, which normally goes out of its way to never really humanize the characters. (The characters are almost never named, being 'The Father', 'The Daughter' and 'The Agent', etc. This insulates the audience a little to the shock by abstracting it.) Silverman, of course, immediately casts ''herself'' as one of the Aristocrats, not just giving you a name, but a ''face'' to all the horrible suffering she then describes. The end result is a "joke" that is incredibly uncomfortable.

-->'''Paul Reiser:''' "What do you call yourself?" "The Aristocats." Oh, no - the "Aristocrats!" So people would think that was part of the joke, that the guy himself got the name wrong, and people would be saying, "Why did he say 'cats' and then 'crats?'" He didn't. I just had a problem. Which was more absurd.

* DeconstructedTrope: Sarah Silverman's version is a deconstruction of the joke itself, which normally goes out of its way to never really humanize the characters. (The characters are almost never named, being 'The Father', 'The Daughter' and 'The Agent', etc.) This insulates the audience a little to the shock by abstracting it. Silverman, of course, immediately cast herself as one of the Aristocrats, not just giving you a name, but a ''face'' to all the horrible suffering she then describes. The end result is a "joke" that is incredibly uncomfortable.

* PrecisionFStrike: Wendy Liebman's version inverts the joke: describing an extremely bland, sedate act... and then the interviewer asks "What do you call that act?" [[spoiler:"The Cocksucking Motherfuckers."]]

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_artistocrats_2005_poster.jpg]]

In 2005, [[Creator/PennAndTeller Penn Jillette]] and Paul Provenza made ''The Aristocrats'', a documentary featuring about a hundred comedians telling their own version of [[TheAristocrats the eponymous joke]] and their own stories about the history of the joke. While the joke itself isn't funny (which they note during the film), the comedians talking about it are frequently hilarious.

'''Nobody''' should confuse this film with ''[[WesternAnimation/TheAristocats The Aristo]]'''[[WesternAnimation/TheAristocats cats]]'''''. Several comedians in the documentary note the hazard of accidentally saying "The Aristocats" instead of the actual punchline.

* {{Corpsing}}: Bob Saget spends half his time laughing at himself. This is in comparison to other comedians, such as Creator/GeorgeCarlin, who tell the joke ruthlessly deadpan.

In 2005, [[Creator/PennAndTeller Penn Jillette]] and Paul Provenza made ''The Aristocrats'', a documentary featuring about a hundred comedians telling their own version [[TheAristocrats of the joke]] and their own stories about the history of the joke. While the joke itself isn't funny (which they note during the film), the comedians talking about the joke are frequently hilarious.

In 2005, [[Creator/PennAndTeller Penn Jillette]] and Paul Provenza made ''The Aristocrats'', a documentary featuring about a hundred comedians telling their own version [[TheAristocrats of the joke]] and their own stories about the history of the joke. While the joke isn't funny (which they note during the film), the comedians talking about the joke are frequently hilarious.

-->''And then the talent agent says, "That's awful. What do you call the act?" Like he wants to know, like the name's the important thing! I don't understand why he would say that. It doesn't matter what it's called! Because no one is gonna book this show! [[FridgeLogic Where did these people find employment?! How did they develop this act?! What made them think this was entertaining?!]] I mean it's surprising they haven't... that they're not all in jail! I mean... and waiting... waiting for the death penalty! You can put people to death for what goes on in the best versions of this joke! Because you're probably saying, if you have any sense of human decency, "Well, why didn't he stop them the minute he saw the father unzipping his pants?!" And saying, "This is totally wrong! Call the cops! Something horrible's happening! This is a family who are raping their own children, and performing bestiality! Why, oh, why, is he allowing this to happen!" But that's a whole other story. But, anyway, he says, "[[WhatTheHellHero What is it called?]]" [[RuleOfFunny because in a joke that's what happens]]. [[SocialServicesDoesNotExist There's no legal system at all in play in a joke]].''

** Creator/HankAzaria can't stop chortling through his rendition either, which might be because he's performing it in a Creator/ChristopherWalken impression.

-->"What do you call yourself?" "The Aristocats." Oh, no - the "Aristocrats!" So people would think that was part of the joke, that the guy himself got the name wrong, and people would be saying, "Why did he say 'cats' and then 'crats?'" He didn't. I just had a problem. Which was more absurd.

'''Nobody''' should confuse this film with ''[[Disney/TheAristocats The Aristo]]'''[[Disney/TheAristocats cats]]'''''. Several comedians in the documentary note the hazard of accidentally saying "The Aristocats" instead of the actual punchline.

* CruelAndUnusualDeath: The punch line to Creator/MartinMull's version of the joke. Three religious missionaries run afoul of an aboriginal tribe and are given a choice of "Death" or "The Aristocrats". The first two choose The Aristocrats, which consists of the men of the tribe brutally violating them in every sexual way imaginable. The third guy, having witnessed the utter horror of The Aristocrats twice now opts for death. The chief says "very well, you shall be put to death... But first, The Aristocrats!"

* OrphanedPunchline meets Memetic Mutation: Since the movie took it from an InJoke among comedians to something better known, "...the Aristocrats!" has gained status similar to "that's what she said" in some circles.

* OrphanedPunchline meets MemeticMutation: Since the movie took it from an InJoke among comedians to something better known, "...the Aristocrats!" has gained status similar to "that's what she said" in some circles.