Those Dirty 'Aristocrats' Trivia Quiz

Answer: George Carlin

George Carlin is famous for going to the Supreme Court after a radio station played one of his comedy albums on the air. The album ("Class Clown") had some dirty language on it and one man got offended and placed a complaint with the FCC who ended up taking legal action against both Carlin and the radio station that played his album.

Answer: Bill Maher

Bill Maher was apparently one of the few who didn't like the idea of doing the movie, but was such a good friend of the producers of the film that he did it anyway. Even though he is the first to say the phrase "The Aristocrats" his version of the joke replaces the phrase "The Aristocrats" (the more popular version of the punch line) with "the Osbornes".

The Aristocrats is the preferred version of the punch line but there are several reasons why it does or does not work. Some of the comedians in the movie say that it's the contrast that makes the joke work, but Eric Idle points out "There's no act in England that an aristocrat wouldn't do".

Answer: Jay Marshall

He also wrote the joke for the book "No Laughing Matter: Rationale of the Dirty Joke" by G. Legman. His is considered to be the joke in its purest form. He is also one of the few in the film who is not a comedian. He was actually from the variety arts area, specifically vaudeville. Sadly Jay Marshall died shortly after the film was made.

However he did see the film and apparently his only quote was "Cub Scout joke got a good laugh". Those that have seen the film will know what joke he's referring to, those that haven't I'm not telling it.

Answer: Gilbert Gottfried

Gilbert is well known in the comic community as a 'comic's comic', Gilbert claims it's because the audience doesn't think he's funny. Now the Friars' Roasts are well known for being incredibly dirty, but this one was something else. See, this event happened a few days after the tragic events of 9/11. Comedy was considered a tough thing to do as this time according to some of the comics in the movie but to their credit they gave it their all, then Gilbert took the stand. Gilbert told a few small bad taste jokes and then made a joke about 9/11 (I found it harmless and today it would be, but at the time the pain was still fresh, and no I'm not telling you) and everyone started booing, someone yelled "Too soon" and Gilbert just said "OK".

His hands were shaking and he was obviously more than a little nervous, but he pulled out "The Aristocrats" joke and just wowed everyone. Everyone was laughing and Rob Schneider was literally on the floor holding his sides. Gilbert took the joke and essentially said "I can't push the envelope of taste in the direction of what happened in September, so I'm going to push it another way" and he was highly praised for it.

Answer: Billy The Mime

Billy, who's real name is Steven Banks, has had an oddly child-friendly writing career, he actually has written 20 episodes of "Spongebob Squarepants", two episodes of "CatDog" and three episodes of "Jimmy Neutron". What I can point out about his version of the joke is that, if you look closely, you'll notice that Billy is wearing a mike pack, which is funny because they removed all sound from that footage.

Answer: Dana Gould

It's one of the best versions of the joke and one I feel happy to tell you, at least the part they showed. "In the Amish version the father flicks on a light switch. The mother is watching television, using a remote. And the talent agent says 'What d'ya call yourselves?' 'Tis well we call ourselves the Aristocrats'". A lot of you would probably know Dana best as a writer of "The Simpsons".

He has penned such episodes as "The President Wore Pearls" where Lisa feuds with Principal Skinner after being elected school president.

It mirrors the movie "Evita" and he also wrote "Papa's got a brand new badge" where Homer becomes chief of police after a scandal forces Wiggum out.

Answer: The Onion

They were asked to work on the joke like it was an article for "The Onion" which is why they are sitting around a table writing ideas on a white board. "The Onion" is a well known satirical magazine that started printing in 1988 and is published weekly. It tends to parody current news stories and sometimes just makes them up.

Answer: Popeye

Gilbert Gottfried actually has voiced several cartoons himself, the two most famous being Iago from "Aladdin" and Digit from "Cyberchase". And for the record I am NOT telling you why he is describing an arm, that would get me in trouble.
Popeye started life as a comic strip created by E.C. Segar way back in 1919. Since then it has been turned into cartoons, both theatrical and TV, a radio show, a video game and perhaps most memorably a film starring Robin Williams, who appears in this movie.

Answer: Drew Carey

They all do 'the Snap' in the film, but Drew is the first to do it and he is adamant that the joke doesn't work without 'the Snap'. I tend to agree.
Drew Carey is probably best known for his work on the TV show 'The Drew Carey Show' as well as his frequently dirty stand up gig. He also has hosted "The New Price Is Right" and "The Power of 10".

Answer: Eddie Izzard

The story goes that the director (Paul Provenza) called Eddie the night before and told Eddie the joke. Eddie, being a good sport, decided to do it anyway so what you are seeing is Eddie's process in telling the joke. Having never heard the joke before he was willing to tell it on camera.
Eddie is a well known and well liked stand up comedian, who sometimes wears women's clothing in his act. His style can be compared to that of 'Monty Python', in the free-association of ideas sense.

Answer: Johnny Carson

While Johnny Carson isn't and probably wouldn't be in the film, the joke is said to be a favorite of his. Johnny was a late-night talk-show legend, hosting "The Tonight Show" from 1962 until 1992. The show gave us the famous phrase "Heeere's Johnny" which would later be used in the movie "The Shining". Sadly Johnny died on January 23rd 2005.

His friend James Randi said "I loved you, Johnny. We all did. Yes, I'm rambling because I just don't know what else to say. I will miss Johnny Carson like no other person in my life.

He was such a good man, one of my minor gods, and a good friend that I regret to say, I did not meet again in person after he left TV so long ago. Just one small example, if I may, of how generous he was. When I called and asked him if he might place a telephone call to Martin Gardner on that gentleman's 90th birthday, John had no hesitation agreeing to do so. "I've got most of his books", he told me, "and it'll be fun to speak with him." They did speak, on the afternoon of Martin's birthday, for some 20 minutes. That's the kind of gentleman that Johnny Carson was. John, I will miss you, as will so many millions here and around the world, but your legacy lives on. I've just run out of words."

Answer: The Aristocats

"The Aristocats" is a Disney film about a bunch of Jazz singing animated cats. I know it's not the best description but I haven't seen the film in years. But think about it, this film (the one you just did a quiz about) has no cats, no animation and no songs - so how could you legitimately confuse the two? This led to a funny incident.

A old woman, who was writing a review for a local paper, was invited to a screening of what she thought was the Disney film 'The Aristocats' so therefore she thought she'd bring along her grandchild.

When they got to the theatre she asked the person at the ticket office "Is this 'The Aristocats' " which got a response of 'Yes'. She went in and she and the child stayed there for 20 minutes before they realized that it wasn't 'The Aristocats'. Keep in mind that by the twenty minute mark there is no animation or cats and the first curse word is uttered 4 minutes and 34 seconds into the film (I timed it).

Answer: Glasgow

This joke I can tell you, though I am paraphrasing slightly.
A man goes into a pub in Glasgow and another man comes over to him and hit's him on the head with an iron bar.
The first man say "Was that serious or was that a joke".
The other guy says "It was serious".
The first guy says "Thank god, I can't stand jokes like that".
Eric Idle would probably be best known to all of you as a member of the world famous comedy troupe 'Monty Python'. He's also a well respected songwriter penning the funeral favorite 'Always Look On The Bright Side of Life' amongst many others. Lately he has been enjoying the success of the musical "Spamalot 'which is based on the film 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail' and has won several Tonys.

Answer: Dick

It's written in subtitles over Tommy telling the joke to Dick. And an interesting side note, Penn Jillette (One of the producers) has played the Dick role in the Smothers Brothers act.
Dick Smothers (That is his first name by the way) was born on born November 20, 1939 and he and Tommy's act is (essentially) them playing folk music and getting into arguments as brothers often do. He is the straight man of the duo.

Answer: Daisy

The gorilla was from the Belgian Congo. The Belgian Congo was established in 1908 until the dawn of Congolese independence on 30 June 1960. During it's time as a colony it had 4 Kings, Leopold II, Albert I, Leopold III and Baudouin I. Nowadays we would refer to the Belgian Congo as Democratic Republic of the Congo. By calling it the Belgian Congo we can work out that Daisy the gorilla would be at least 45 years old because if the gorilla was any younger it would be from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and not the Belgian Congo.