Movie reflections
I've seen a couple of movies recently that have made me think a bit. The first is The Aristocrats.
A documentary showcasing a hundred of todays top comedians telling the same joke. It's a joke that first appeared on the Vaudeville circuit over a hundred years ago. It's generally considered the dirtiest joke ever.
The joke can be summarized in a few sentences, but the variations in the telling can take as long as the imagination of the comedian or the patience of his audience.
A manager is promoting his act to a theatrical producer. He describes the act, a family act, involving both parents, children, grandparents, and even pets, indulging in all sorts of sexual and scatalogical depravities. The manager, aghast, asks what the act is called. The Aristocrats!
Now if you know me, I'm not a huge fan of 'in-your-face' crudity, and this joke is nothing but. And most of the variations got tedious in the repetition. The joy came in the few comedians who attempted to tell the joke in a classy way. There is no way to tell this joke for a family audience. The humor in the joke is in the juxtaposition of the crudity of the act, and pretentiousness of the name. But the few comedians who attempted to tell this joke in a classy way made the whole journey worthwhile. I think Wife probably disagrees, she's even more prudish than I am. But seeing the variations in the telling styles of this joke was fascinating. Seeing the comics trying to avoid telling the joke was equally amusing, John Stewart went to incredible lengths to finally not tell the joke. Contrasted with Gilbert Gottfried, who relished telling the joke, and who's version probably went on the longest. Or the British comedian who told the regional variant, called "The Sophisticates!" (which I happen to think works better than Aristocrats.)
Well, that's enough rambling for now. I'll go into my thoughts on the other movie some other time soon. I've got an AET season kick off party to get ready for.
A documentary showcasing a hundred of todays top comedians telling the same joke. It's a joke that first appeared on the Vaudeville circuit over a hundred years ago. It's generally considered the dirtiest joke ever.
The joke can be summarized in a few sentences, but the variations in the telling can take as long as the imagination of the comedian or the patience of his audience.
A manager is promoting his act to a theatrical producer. He describes the act, a family act, involving both parents, children, grandparents, and even pets, indulging in all sorts of sexual and scatalogical depravities. The manager, aghast, asks what the act is called. The Aristocrats!
Now if you know me, I'm not a huge fan of 'in-your-face' crudity, and this joke is nothing but. And most of the variations got tedious in the repetition. The joy came in the few comedians who attempted to tell the joke in a classy way. There is no way to tell this joke for a family audience. The humor in the joke is in the juxtaposition of the crudity of the act, and pretentiousness of the name. But the few comedians who attempted to tell this joke in a classy way made the whole journey worthwhile. I think Wife probably disagrees, she's even more prudish than I am. But seeing the variations in the telling styles of this joke was fascinating. Seeing the comics trying to avoid telling the joke was equally amusing, John Stewart went to incredible lengths to finally not tell the joke. Contrasted with Gilbert Gottfried, who relished telling the joke, and who's version probably went on the longest. Or the British comedian who told the regional variant, called "The Sophisticates!" (which I happen to think works better than Aristocrats.)
Well, that's enough rambling for now. I'll go into my thoughts on the other movie some other time soon. I've got an AET season kick off party to get ready for.
posted by Intothelight4now at 4:30 PM
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