The Good

An inventive movie that really takes chances with viewers expectations.

The Bad

The editing is a bit too choppy at times. Could have lost 15-20 minutes in the cutting room.

The Aristocrats is one of those films that could have only been made independently. It is so bold and so audacious that it almost can’t help but be groundbreaking. Made by Paul Provenza and Penn Jillette, this documentary examines an old Vaudeville joke. The beginning is the same and then many of the world’s top stand-up comics riff on this joke making it their own. While I think this movie could have lost 15-20 minutes, at it’s heart it as an examination of comedy and why we laugh. Even more to the point, it really looks at what a special thing comedy is and how jokes and tastes are truly subjective when it comes to what we find funny.

Featuring just about every major and non-major comic talent, watching The Aristocrats gave me the sense that I was an insider. That I was seeing these people how they really are amongst their friends. I also think this movie deconstructs joke telling. Comedy seems easy because, in a sense, it seems like we are just dealing with laughter. Yet, comedians seem to be (or have been) some of the most tortured souls in existence. This DVD really gets at the heart of who these people are. We learn about them by the jokes they tell, the way they riff on the “Aristocrat” joke, their body language in front of the camera, etc. All this does is give us information and insight into these people, and the fact that everything is cloaked in comedy makes this DVD that much more richer.

Features

This commentary track features director Paul Provenza and Penn Jillette. These two guys are funny and engaging so why wouldn’t this commentary be enjoyable? They tell jokes, talk about the editing of the film (explaining why certain comedians were cut next to one another), the different styles of comedy, etc. I would say my only complaint is that sometimes this was confusing because this movie is just people talking, and then you have Jillette and Provenza talking over that.

More From the Comedians

This is a mix of extended versions of the joke and additional footage of the comedians. Having interviewed Paul Provenza, I can tell you that there is a lot more of this stuff to be screened. When you make a movie over 4 years, shooting digital video with reckless abandon, something tells me that they could (and might!) release 10 DVDs worth of this material.

Aristocrats do the Aristocrats

This is a funny somewhat stream of conscious look at this movie, where a bunch of The Aristocrats jokes are cut together. It is actually pretty amazing, because it is put together like one long string of a joke. Like the movie, I didn’t laugh at all of this but I certainly laughed at a lot of it. This might even be something good to watch before you screen the film, just to have a general idea of what you are getting yourself into.

For Johnny Carson

I don’t know if this is true or not, but according to this segment The Aristocrats was actually Johnny Carson’s favorite joke. This short clip is almost avant-garde in it’s presentation, as we have someone imitating how Johnny Carson might have told the joke. While I don’t usually go for impressions, it’s actually done to pretty interesting effect here.

Behind the Green Room Door

Seems like another attempt by Provenza to pack this DVD with extra footage. It is a win-win situation because we see these people just telling jokes. In fact, a segment like this, if it was elongated correctly, could actually become a whole other DVD. It is a veritable wellspring of jokes and something to have handy should you ever need some quick cheering up. I also like how everything on this disc is very well indexed, so you can wade through it and watch what you want to watch, and then go back and examine some of the comedians you aren’t as familiar with.

”Be An Aristocrat” Contest Winners

This gives us Peter Kremidas dressed up like a cartoon character (he looks like someone out a Minstrel show) as he tells his version of The Aristocrats joke. After this, we have a cartoon called the “Ball Sack Follies.” That should tell you basically everything you need to know about this segment. Funny stuff but not for everybody.

Video

4:3 - Full Frame. I like the fact that the production values on this movie are not very slick. To have great lighting and camera composition to try and tell this story would be wrong. This film is quick. It needs to feel alive and real and that is precisely what gives The Aristocrats it’s vibrancy. Shot on DV and edited by people who admit they knew nothing about the equipment when they got started, this film is a testament to what you can achieve when you allow yourself to not know something. When you don’t get bogged down by all the technical mumbo-jumbo and just make the films you want.

Audio

5.1 Digital Surround - Digitally Mastered. When you think about how much footage they had to wade through, and all the different shooting conditions they worked in, it is pretty awesome that they got the film sounding this good. Sure, the sound is a bit uneven at times, but like all the other “technical flaws” that people might find in a movie like this, those very flaws actually become assets. This movie is supposed to look like the creators just pulled the cameras out and started shooting. It’s not supposed to be perfect which is what adds to it’s immediacy.

Package

The cover of this DVD is actually a tip of the hat to the beginning part of The Aristocrats joke. Essentially, it is the outside of an agents office and something dirty is happening inside. The back cover lists out the names of some of the biggest comedians featured on this DVD, a description of the movie, a bunch of pictures of some of the comics, an Extra Footage listing and some technical specs. I can’t put my finger on it but there is something very eye catching about this plain cover.

Final Word

What I like about this movie is that there are some performances (I’m not going to name them), that just aren’t that funny. Yet, The Aristocrats isn’t all about the jokes. It inhabits moments. It’s an expose on joke telling and joke tellers. It is immediate and in your face, and it never shows any signs of letting up or losing steam. Sure, I was wondering why they used some of the footage they did, but this is a really a film that seems like it could play differently each time out. It’s only structure is the setup of the joke itself, and that means that the punchline can be different every time.

While not for everyone, for the people who like a good dirty joke, The Aristocrats is a must own DVD.

The Aristocrats was released January 1, 2005.