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Review

There is a joke that is so filthy, so depraved, that it is almost never told in front of audiences. Despite that, it has become a staple among comedians – a crude and sexually perverse “secret handshake” that they tell only to each other. Until now.

Be forewarned: The Aristocrats is an exercise in repetition — almost 90 minutes consisting of over 100 different comedians telling the same old joke, over and over again — and the joke isn’t even all that funny. But somehow, partially because of the bits of comedy lore and the history of the joke thrown in every now and again, but mostly because of the sheer good spirit and unspeakable bad taste of all the different performers, it works.

Each comedian has their own take on the joke, and each viewer is bound to find some funnier than others. Bob Saget’s version is hilarious not only because of his ingenuity in describing a seemingly unending series of aberrant sexual practices, but also because Bob Saget (aka Mr. "Full House") is letting loose a string of obscenities and rattling off a grocery list of sexual perversion. Other comedians get their laughs from the imaginativeness of their plotting, by subtly twisting your expectations, or by turning the joke completely upside down, like Sarah Silverman’s (Jesus is Magic) deadpan and incredibly disturbing take.

While it is — by definition — a one-joke movie, and while it is unquestionably one of the most obscene movies you will see outside of porn, The Aristocrats is also a very, very funny movie.

 -- David Gasiewski