Aristocrats The DVD

Ok, so I bought this as I remembered watching sections of it when it was on TV and thought it would be a good watch. It is a good watch, but it isn't quite as special as I wanted it to be. Even though I feel I want to moan that it isn't all that long, the fact that it startes to feel dragged out in the last half hour is an overriding factor.That being said, I still think that ANYONE who is a fan of stand-up needs to have this DVD as I think it capture a moment in comedic history. Mainly because there are so many great comedians in here, and don't forget that the late great George Carlin is included here.

'The Aristocrats' is a joke so infamous amongst comedians that it got it's own documentary. It's also the punchline to the joke, a precis of which goes something like this:A guy walks into an agent's office, and says 'I've got a great act for you!'. The agent tells him that he has two minutes to sell the act to him.So he starts off describing his act(which usually involves his family members), which gradually gets more and more disgusting, stepping over the boundaries of most people's taste and moral thresholds. When the description of the act gets to the filthy, horrible climax , the agent says 'That's probably the most disgusting thing I've ever heard in my life. What do you call yourselves?'And the guy says - 'The Aristocrats!'It's not a very funny joke, really. Especially when I write it here. But the point of this documentary is that it's been the comedian fraternity's favourite joke to tell each other for years and years - 50 or 60 at least - partly because they can exercise their creativity with the foul nature of the act - and it really does get inventive at times - so there's the improvisational angle, and partly because no two people tell it the same way.There's a lot of household names here, all trying to out-gross each other; George Carlin is quite objectively deconstructive, and starts the doc off with quite a basic, short indecency. Others take it a whole stage further.The point of it is quite a zen one - the punchline, or the destination, doesn't matter. It's the telling of the joke (or the journey).It's a whole load of fun if you like stand-up comedy, if you've ever been a stand-up especially. It's not going to be fun for most clean-living, family-oriented Radio 3 listeners, but if you don't mind people trying their best to offend, it has a certain charm. And hearing one joke told differently by so many people gives an insight into how we are all individuals, especially when we perform on stage.It's not earth-shattering, heart-breakingly good, or life-changing. But it keeps a smile on your face. That's got to count for something, right?

The Aristocrats. A documentary about a joke you may never have heard told, but may have heard about.This oughtn't to be half as good as it is- but not for anyone who finds strong language offensive- this is about the contruction of a joke that is supposed to provoke outrage, and no-one minces words when recalling versions.As a social history, thearical history, comedic insight, or anything worthy you might want to call it- it is a hoot. I bought this for a friend as I loved my copy.

This could have been much better and I am actually disappointed. I am not offended or shocked by anything in this DVD, I just expected something different. I read that "100 comedians ultimately repeating their own version of the gag throughout the film's running time..." so, perhaps naively, I thought I would get, well maybe not a hundred but still, full versions of "The aristocrats". The movie goes through some of the history and the milieu the joke circulates in. But the DVD mostly contain disjoint sentences, of comedians/comediennes telling the story, but not the whole thing. It has some funny moments. But if you are offended by references to incest, pedophilia, beastiality, murder, other dark subject matter and *unbelievably* foul language, this is not for you! I am not exaggerating! If you are interested *IN* the joke, this is for you. If you (like me) are interested in *HEARING* comedians telling the joke, then maybe not so much.

This is vaguely interesting and great if you are a fan of all the American comedians that are featured. However, I am of the opinion that British stand-up comedy is far superior and so I was disappointed by the lack of UK representation. I guess this is because the fundamentally lame joke that is the subject matter for this documentary style film is more popular among US comedians than their UK counterparts. Eventually this film will wear you out due to the repetition and discussion of the Aristocrats joke but in saying that is worth watching as an insight into the comedic process and warped minds of those funny people we pay to make us laugh. Incidentally I did laugh quite a lot but not so my side split or my head exploded. Never trust the quotes that are put on the front of DVD's...