Thinkcorps

This movie was way funnier than I expected. I don’t think you can really begin to understand it without first understanding the joke, which the reviews I originally read passed over. I guess revealing the joke is considered a spoiler, but in this case, it’s the way the joke is told that’s really the point. The joke itself isn’t even that funny—but get the right comedian to tell it and watch out.

Described in the film as the “perfect” joke, The Aristocrats (or Sophisticates) starts with a simple line, “A guy walks into a talent agent’s office”. He then describes his act, which is disgusting. The agent, taken aback, says, “What do you call it?” The guys says, “The Aristocrats!”

What’s brilliant about the joke is that the middle, the disgusting description of the act, is completely open-ended and has evolved within the culture of comedians into a contest of one-upsmanship, where comedians put their own stamp on the joke, trying to outdo one another.

Since the joke is such a reflection of the individual comedian, it’s also become a kind of barometer of comedy over the years and between the sexes. Female comedians tend to tell the joke very differently (and more creatively) than the men, who focus on the gross-out factor. Sara Silverman’s take took the form of a bizarre reminiscence/confessional and was hilarious.

Robin Williams did have one great quote about the vulgarity of the joke: “Vulgarity is a very comedian-centered thing. You don’t see a lot of physicists saying ‘It’s a muon, you cunt.’” Which made me think of the New Yorker cartoons, and I couldn’t help myself.