The Aristocrats

Waiting for the movie to begin

On Sunday I went with my mom to check out The Aristocrats—the movie about a donut of a joke where comedians fill in the middle with offensive whatnot. No real spoilers here.

It was okay, and relatively disappointing. Certainly nothing that requires a big screen.

Much of the film has comedians talking about the joke, not telling it. So much set-up that I almost felt like it was a spoof. When they finally get around to digging into the meat of things, most comedians used the same schtick.

Incest and fecal matter get real old after a while. Whoopi Goldberg did bring up some good points that what offends folks is changing. Her rhetoric was brief though, and probably for the best.

The true gems were the folks that put an original spin on things: including Billy the Mime, Sarah Silverman (though she seemed tame), and this one guy I can’t name, but sounded like he was imitating Carol Channing Liza or something. His delivery had me wiping tears away. The South Park clip that’s been circulating the ‘net for a while pretty much does a better job of folding all the other variations into a compact piece.

Some nice discussion with my mom on the way home though, reliving childhood memories when she bought us kids these Steve Martin head band/clip things that made it look like an arrow was through your head.

Postnote: Taking pictures during a movie with a digital SLR that has a loud shutter is cramping my style.