Review of The Aristocrats (2005) by Juliel. — 27 Feb 2006
You're going to love this film if you're interested in the craft of comedy, and in the relationships comedians have to other comedians, their intelligence about the craft and their delight in comdey's particular voices and styles.
And you'll hate it if you have some kind of agenda about keeping things clean and making comedy serve a social good. Don't bother to see it if you're only interested in the dirty joke, because that's not what this documentary is about.
What it's really about the delivery, the voice of the comedian, the style, the beautiful riffs of particular tellers of the joke, the sense of a pattern and the breaking of patters, almost like great improvisational jazz.
The stand-up comedians are very honest about the joke's old-fashioned appeal, its roots in vaudeville, the appeal of it, nostagically. Some of their talk wanders over intosweet melancholy, like that of Paul Resie, whose take on the joke is my own favorite.
Granted, some of the talk gets mind-bogglingly gross. But the movie is fascinating and funny. Listening to some of the comedians laughing and enjoying each other while telling it - I loved it, and laughed along with them, and learned quite a bit about the sense of voice among comedians.
This review of The Aristocrats (2005) was written by Juliel. on 27 Feb 2006.
The Aristocrats has generally received positive reviews.
Was this review helpful?
