A family walks into a talent agency...

I have no hope "The Aristocrats" will land in Brazil anytime soon. And that's the kind of thing that makes it hard to imagine living here. For me, at least.

It's a documentary about one old, very dirty joke, with comedians from the Stone Age (Phyllis Diller, Larry Storch) to the modern era (Jon Stewart, Bob Saget) telling it over and over while discussing its history and lore.

The joke has been told since vaudeville days, though hardly ever in public. It's like a comedians' trade secret.

I won't bore you with the joke's setup. The middle is too crude to repeat, and varies with the teller anyway, which is the joke's whole point. It's an improvised tale about a depraved family's unspeakable habits, piling up the sexual and scatological horrors until the tension relieving, two-word punch line ("The Aristocrats!"). At this point the comedian's audience will either double over in hilarity or stare at him blankly. [You'll Laugh. You'll Cry. You'll Look Puzzled.]

Watch the trailer.

The Aristocrats Joke Database.