"The Aristocrats"

“The Aristocrats” is a legendary joke that has been told by countless stand-up comedians dating back to the age of Vaudeville. This joke is so controversial that quite often it is only told in front of a small audience of fellow comedians. Throughout history, it has been referred to simply as "the world's filthiest joke" and for good reason...

The joke is something of a game; an exercise in “shock value” in which the participants try to top each other in their use of profanity and vulgarity. The setup the joke is always the same; it begins with a "family act" going in to see a talent agent. The “family” always consists of a mother and a father and a various combination of a son, a daughter, a baby and/or a dog. At first the agent has no interest in the family. He considers family acts to be too old-fashion and cutesy. But after a brief appeal by the family, he agrees to an audition.

What follows next is what garners this joke its notoriety. The “act” the family performs has probably never been told the same way twice, but it is always disgusting and offensive. The actual performance of the family differs; depending on who is telling the joke. The aim is that the family’s routine dives into the deepest depths of debauchery and perversion to create the most appalling sequence imaginable. Absolutely nothing is off limits.

The punchline is when the bewildered agent asks what this act is called, and the answer is always the same: "The Aristocrats!” Sometimes for effect the line is delivered in a very “snobbish” manner. Obviously it is the set-up, not the punchline that is the real selling point of this joke. The success of the joke depends entirely on how outrageous the routine is.

“The Aristocrats” is such a legend among comedy circles that it has now become the focus of a documentary. Basically the film is the re-telling of “The Aristocrats” by 100 famous comedians, from Jon Stewart to Phyllis Diller to Billy Connolly. Each re-telling is as different and disgusting as humanly possible. The film has received mixed reviews, depending on individual tastes in “humour”. This certainly isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but one thing is definite; it has already been hailed as one of the most “offensive” movies every made, which to the film makers and the comedians involved is the entire point of the joke and the documentary.

There is also an online joke database devoted to the telling and subsequent re-telling of “The Aristocrats”. Here, anyone with the time and the mindset can customize their own version of the joke and show it off for the entire world to see.