Line #11 Film/TheAristocrats


1	[[quoteright:310:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_artistocrats_2005_poster.jpg]]
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3	''No Nudity. No Violence. Unspeakable Obscenity.''
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5	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 its history. While the joke itself isn't funny (which they note during the film), the comedians talking about it are frequently hilarious.
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7	'''Nobody''' should confuse this film with ''[[WesternAnimation/TheAristocats The Aristo]]'''[[WesternAnimation/TheAristocats cats]]''''', although several of the featured comics acknowledge the hazard of accidentally ending the joke with "The Aristocats" instead of the actual punchline.
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9	----
10	!!This documentary includes examples of:
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12	* TheAristocrats: TheMovie
13	* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: In the version Creator/GilbertGottfried tells, he frequently recaps all the bodily fluids the family is covered in -- including blood, urine, and feces -- and only makes a big deal out of the sweat.
14	* BewareTheNiceOnes: This movie is where many people discovered that Creator/BobSaget ain't exactly a family-friendly comedian, despite his work on ''Series/FullHouse'' and ''Series/AmericasFunniestHomeVideos''.
15	* BreadEggsMilkSquick: Creator/SarahSilverman's version, which places herself in the position of having ''been'' an Aristocrat, and eventually concluding that Joe Franklin [[BlackComedyRape raped her]].
16	** Leading to a BrickJoke when, towards the end of the movie, there's a brief snippet of Joe Franklin being asked about Sarah Silverman. Who he hasn't met.
17	* 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 highest-ranking tribesmen sexually violating them in every hideous 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!"
18	* DeconstructedTrope: Creator/SarahSilverman'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.
19	* DependingOnTheWriter: Some comics prefer the more American and modern, "The Sophisticates" as a punchline.
20	* DontExplainTheJoke: ''Completely'' inverted. The whole purpose of the movie is to explain it. Due to the simple foundation of the joke and the tremendous amount of adlibbing and embellishing involved making each telling different, the joke is ''not'' killed in the explanation. Creator/GilbertGottfried and several other comedians break the joke down a bit to examine why it's funny:
21	-->''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! 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]].''
22	* FreudianSlip: As noted in the lead, accidentally saying "Aristocats" as in the Disney movie screws up everything.
23	-->'''Creator/PaulReiser:''' "What do you call yourself?" "The Aristocats. Oh, no – the Aristo''crats''!" 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.
24	* {{Inversion}}: The inverted version of the joke is an inversion; the act is sedate, the title is profane.
25	* 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.
26	* PerversePuppet: One of the segments is a ventriloquist trying to deliver a sedate version of the joke... only for his puppet to get ''incredibly'' graphic describing how it should go.
27	* PrecisionFStrike: Wendy Liebman's version inverts the joke: describing an extremely bland, wholesome, sedate act... and then the interviewer asks "What do you call that act?" The response: [[spoiler:"The Cocksucking Motherfuckers."]]
28	* SelfDeprecation: Carrot Top -- "It's not a fucking prop act, is it?"
29	* SocialServicesDoesNotExist: As noted under "Don't Explain the Joke", this trope is in play for the sake of the joke as realistically, the police and family services should be called the minute the act begins.
30	* TheVoiceless: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-Oz1s3nb38 One version]] is told by Steven Banks as a mime... ''in pantomime''. The best part is he ''does it in public'' while wearing a lapel microphone.
31	** To the horror of passersby who pay any attention, most of whom don't.
32	* WildMassGuessing: Creator/BillyConnolly 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.
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Context Film / TheAristocrats