There are some who believe the Aristocrats joke -- the secret handshake among comedians -- can be told a hundred times and elicit a laugh every time. Not the exact same version, of course, as that would destroy the joke's premise. Still, I'm not sure I agree. It's not the vulgarity that bothers me so much as the snootiness of those who tell the joke. Take the 2005 documentary The Aristocrats, in which a bunch of comedians extol the post-9/11 telling by Gilbert Gottfried. Basically, they say his version that night -- which revealed you can always be dirty in comedy but not grossly insensitive -- was the funniest joke they've ever heard. Personally, I think this is better, but maybe it's a context thing. No matter.The first site linked above, if you haven't already realized, is a collection of crude and grody Aristocrat jokes. Very dirty. And by the dozenth version, it gets kind of old.
Kind of like the Kansas City Royals bullpen blowing another lead: 4.2 IP, 5 R, 4 ER. No need to name names. It's hard to believe, but the Royals fought back hard in the seventh and actually seized the lead, only to see it disappear on a Joe Crede's solo home run to lead off the next inning. I don't want to talk about the 9th, except to say if you have to go down, I suppose there's consolation in going down with the best you've got.
Oh well, at least I haven't started frothing at the mouth.
UPDATE: Correction appended. Thanks K.
it's gottfried
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