A labor of love three years in the making, encompassing more than 100 comedians and culled from over 100 hours of footage, provenza and jillette shot the documentary holding dv cameras in their own hot little hands and. One hundred superstar comedians tell the same very, very dirty, filthy jokeone shared privately by comics since vaudeville. One of the smash hits of the 2005 sundance film festival, this critically acclaimed, starstudded comedy extravaganza, which celebrates the art of improvisation. Uk comics give the verdict on the aristocrats film the. With the aristocrats, paul provenza and penn jillette have made the funniest movie ever, because it has more funny people than have ever been in one movie before. A labor of love three years in the making, encompassing more than 100 comedians and culled from over 100 hours of footage, provenza and jillette shot the documentary holding dv cameras in their own hot little hands and edited it at. And indeed, the joke itself is easily the least interesting part of the whole thing with a few exceptions. One of the smash hits of the 2005 sundance film festival, this star. Oscars best picture winners best picture winners golden globes emmys san diego comiccon new york comic con sundance film festival toronto intl film festival awards central festival central all events.
Yet such deeper concerns merely intrude upon the films fun, and. And its an important thing to bear in mind when considering the film, because the film is not the joke. The aristocrats is a taboo defying offcolor joke that has been told by numerous standup comedians since the vaudeville era. Originally shown on the bbc in 1999, the british miniseries the aristocrats subsequently aired in america on the pbs anthology masterpiece theater. Aristocrats is a 1999 television series based on the biography by stella tillyard of the four aristocratic lennox sisters in 18th century england. The film is dedicated to johnny carson, as the aristocrats was said to be his favorite joke. And when dealing with a joke that often requires the use of terms like. Like the aristocrats itself which on paper really isnt all that funny, unless youve never read anything scrawled on a bathroom wall the film. The film discusses the camaraderie within the comedy world that inspired the joke in the first place, as well as the role of obscenity within humor.
In fact, comedians and coinstigators paul provenza who directed and penn jillette who executive produced think so little of the punch line that. The aristocrats 2005 directed by paul provenza, penn jillette. All of the comedians and noncomedians appear as themselves, many of which tell very crude and graphic versions of the joke. Sep 02, 2005 directed by penn jillette, paul provenza. Oct 07, 2014 the aristocrats bbc 1999 episode one of six full complete series duration. That this one rudimentary joke could be done so many different ways and in different styles. The aristocrats t here is a kind of hollywood comedy veteran who can no longer laugh spontaneously at a joke but merely nods with shrewd connoisseurship and says. We had already shot gilbert doing the aristocrats joke in private three or four. The aristocrats is a 2005 documentary film about the famous dirty joke of the same name. Rent the aristocrats 2005 on dvd and bluray dvd netflix. The film becomes an hilarious and often moving treatise on shock, surprise, taste.
The film was not submitted to the mpaa for a rating, but its the equivalent of at least an r and possibly an nc17 due to graphiccrude language and sexual material. While the joke isnt funny which they note during the film, the comedians talking. Everything you need to know about the aristocrats movie 2005. While the joke isnt funny which they note during the film, the comedians talking about the joke are frequently hilarious. It is the jokes midsection which may be as long as the teller prefers and is often completely improvised that makes or breaks a particular rendition. Its release marks the completion and end of something, or perhaps several things, though what, exactly, is difficult to.
And in this regard, it stands as one of the funniest films ever made. The aristocrats was released in 2005 on friday, august 12, 2005 there were 6 other movies released on the same date, including the skeleton key, the great raid and deuce bigalow. Jul 29, 2005 the aristocrats is how shall i put it. Overview of aristocrats, the, 2005, directed by paul provenza, with sarah silverman, whoopi goldberg, lisa lampanelli, at turner classic movies. It received publicity when it was used by gilbert gottfried during the friars club roast of hugh hefner in september 2001.
Its release marks the completion and end of something, or perhaps several things, though what, exactly, is. This joke is a legendary old joke that allows comedians to improvise almost endlessly on the set up, in which the goal is to compete to see who can invent the most disgusting, filthy, sick, twisted, scatalogical, gross, perverse, nauseating, evil and bizarre tale imaginable. A young man with a guitar walsk in to a record producer and asks for an audition. The aristocrats 2005 this documentary about the worlds funniest dirty joke features over 100 standup and performing comedians discussing and telling the joke. It was conceived and produced by comedians penn jillette and paul provenza, edited by emery emery, and released to theaters by th. The idea that the filmmakers had was very interesting.
Penn jillette produced the movie as a documentary on the joke every comedian knows but never tells on stage. The aristocrats bbc 1999 episode one of six full complete series duration. This is a fact admitted at several points through this film. The aristocrats 2005 cast and crew this documentary about the worlds funniest dirty joke features over 100 standup and performing comedians discussing and telling the joke. Mar 20, 2009 with the aristocrats, paul provenza and penn jillette have made the funniest movie ever, because it has more funny people than have ever been in one movie before. The series consists of six episodes of 50 minutes each and was first broadcast in the united kingdom on bbc, starting on 20 june 1999. Within a single joke, the aristocrats unlocks an entire universe of comedy. Woefully for americas film community, dick smothers would have been in the minority at robert redfords 2005 sundance film festival, where this movie reportedly was a smash hit. Directed by paul provenza and starring chris rock, gilbert gottfried, robin williams and jon stewart. This 2005 documentary directed by penn jillette and paul provenza about a famous insidejoke between comedians is a film that i imagine not everyone will care for or find particularly interesting. The aristocrats might have made a nice short subject. The aristocrats 2005 rotten tomatoes movie trailers.
With an allstar cast of comedians riffing on a famed joke known only to comic veterans, paul provenzas the. This tale of standup comedys must inside joke delves into the multifaceted nature of human comedy. In 2005, penn jillette and paul provenza made the aristocrats, a documentary featuring about a hundred comedians telling their own version of the joke and their own stories about the history of the joke. Aristocrats, the on dvd 821575540759 from velocity home entertainment. The aristocrats is a taboodefying offcolor joke that has been told by numerous standup comedians since the vaudeville era. Sep 01, 2005 the aristocrats is a fascinating essay on the nature of standup. Comedy veterans and cocreators penn jillette and paul provenza capitalize on their insider status and invite over 100 of their closest friends who happen to be some of the biggest names in.
The cinema snob said that caligula, being a bigbudget mainstream porno film for those craving the finest in bestiality and the finest in shakespearean actors, was like tracking down laurence olivier and asking him to perform the aristocrats joke. With george carlin, don rickles, chris rock, chris albrecht. Clearly, the release of the aristocrats marks a new low among americas cultural elite, where too many people, including members of the supreme court, have. The joke has far more appeal to comedians than to regular civilians, in that its effectiveness relies heavily or. Comedy veterans and cocreators penn jillette and paul provenza capitalize on their insider status and invite over 100 of their closest friendswho happen to be some of the biggest names in entertainment, from george carlin, whoopi goldberg and drew carey to gilbert gottfried, bob saget, paul reiser and sarah silvermanto reminisce, analyze, deconstruct and deliver their own versions of the. The value of the film lies in the story of the joke. The joke was the subject of a 2005 documentary film of the same name. The aristocrats is an uncensored documentary that sheds a bright light on the way that a true comedic mind works. The aristocrats is a 2005 american documentary comedy film about the famous dirty joke of the same name. United states august 12, 2005 canada august 12, 2005. Its release marks the completion and end of something, or perhaps several things, though what, exactly, is difficult to determine or describe. The subject of this documentary film is one joke with the punch line, the aristocrats. The aristocrats is a fascinating essay on the nature of standup.
The joke at the center of the aristocrats really isnt much of a joke. Get the aristocrats dvd and bluray release date, trailer, movie poster and movie stats. A bevy of todays must popular comedians are individually. While the joke isnt funny which they note during the film, the comedians talking about the. With the aristocrats, paul provenza and penn jillette have made the funniest movie ever, because it has more funny people than. Sep 08, 2005 the aristocrats t here is a kind of hollywood comedy veteran who can no longer laugh spontaneously at a joke but merely nods with shrewd connoisseurship and says. Aristocrats represents the very best of society, so giving this name to an act that comprises the most vile acts in society is the basis of the joke. In 2005, penn jillette and paul provenza made the aristocrats, a documentary featuring about a hundred comedians telling their own version of joke and their own stories about the history of the joke. Contains crude sexual humour, some relating to race or religion, and very strong language. The aristocrats is a longstanding transgressive joke amongst comedians, in which the setup and punchline are almost always the same or similar. Go to and click on the external link, where it says go to external site. All of the comedians and noncomedians appear as themselves, many of. It was conceived and produced by comedians penn jillette, paul provenza, and peter adam golden, edited by emery emery, golden sold the aristocrats to thinkfilm who distributed and released it theatrically. Since the joke, which can involve a great deal of improvisation, is so profane, usually only comedians have heard it, and it became legendary as a way for comedians to perform.