"The Aristocrats" is a taboo-defying off-color joke that has been told by numerous stand-up comedians since the vaudeville era . It relates the story of a family trying to get an agent to book their stage act, which is revealed to be remarkably vulgar and offensive in nature, with the punch line revealing that they incongruously bill themselves as "The Aristocrats". When told to audiences who know the punch line, the joke's humor depends on the described outrageousness of the family act. Because the objective of the joke is its transgressive content, it is most often told privately, such as by comedians to other comedians. It came to wider public attention when it was told by Gilbert Gottfried during the Friars' Club roast of

Hugh Hefner Hugh Marston Hefner (April 9, 1926 – September 27, 2017) was an American magazine publisher. He was the founder and editor-in-chief of ''Playboy'' magazine, a publication with revealing photographs and articles which provoked charges of obsc ...

. Gottfried told the joke to recover after losing the crowd and eliciting “booing and hissing” with a joke about the

9/11 terrorist attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...

, which had occurred just 18 days prior. It was the subject of a 2005 documentary film of the same name by

Paul Provenza Paul Provenza (born July 31, 1957) is a television presenter, actor, radio panelist, stand-up comedian, filmmaker, and skeptic based in Los Angeles. He has appeared on several podcasts and in recent years has interviewed other stand-up comedians. ...

and Penn Jillette.

Format

This joke typically has these elements—alternative versions may change this form. # ''Setup:'' A family act (or a representative, usually a head of household) goes in to see a talent agent about booking their act. The agent asks what their act consists of. #''Act:'' If the whole family is present, the act is performed for the agent; otherwise it is described, in as much detail as the teller prefers, typically

ad lib In music and other performing arts, the phrase (; from Latin for 'at one's pleasure' or 'as you desire'), often shortened to "ad lib" (as an adjective or adverb) or "ad-lib" (as a verb or noun), refers to various forms of improvisation. The ...

. Traditionally, the description is tasteless and ribald, with the goal to significantly transgress social norms. Taboo elements such as racism, animal cruelty, incest, rape, child sexual abuse, coprophilia,

coprophagia Coprophagia () or coprophagy () is the consumption of feces. The word is derived from the grc, κόπρος , "feces" and , "to eat". Coprophagy refers to many kinds of feces-eating, including eating feces of other species (heterospecifics), o ...

, bestiality,

necrophilia Necrophilia, also known as necrophilism, necrolagnia, necrocoitus, necrochlesis, and thanatophilia, is sexual attraction towards or a sexual act involving Cadaver, corpses. It is classified as a paraphilia by the World Health Organization (WHO) ...

cannibalism Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is well documented, b ...

, and

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...

are common themes. #''Punch line:'' The shocked (or intrigued) agent asks what the act is called, and the proud answer (sometimes delivered with a flourish) is: "The Aristocrats!"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aristocrats, The Fictional families Incest in fiction Jokes Off-color humor Professional humor Works of unknown authorship

Format

See also

References