'The Aristocrats' - Q&A with Paul Provenza

Chris Tilly catches up with the sick and twisted individual responsible for the funniest film of the year.

Sep 13 2005

Paul Provenza is an actor and stand-up comic who, together with good friend and collaborator Penn Jillette, made the most talked about documentary of the year, 'The Aristocrats' (reviewed here).

A 90-minute exercise in bad taste, the film features the finest comedians in the world telling the dirtiest joke known to man, and manages to be disgusting, outrageous, insightful and most importantly of all, funny as hell.

Time Out caught up with the first-time director to discuss the making of the movie, but before the interview has even started, Provenza sets us a challenge – to ask an 'Aristocrats' question that he had not been asked before, with a double whisky riding on our efforts.

Needless to say, TO rose to the challenge and the outcome can be found at the end of the Q&A…

I went to a screening in Edinburgh last week it went down really well, although there were a couple of walk outs. Does that make you happy?

No, I want 50 percent to walk out! Actually, when you think about it, our average walk out rate is not that different to a Spielberg movie. A couple of people walk out every once in a while, but a lot of that has to do with the fact that there is some serious language here, and if people have issues with that, they shouldn’t come.

Have you ever walked out of a movie?

Have I ever walked out of a movie? You know, I very rarely do, I am one of those guys that feels that there's a good chance that in the last ten minutes, it's going to turn around big time. And that's happened a few times. It's very hard to walk out of a movie. I can't remember what the last one was…oh, I know – it was 'AI' – what a piece of shit that was.

Are you offended when you see people walk out?

People do it all the time; I don't think our ratio is that much higher that other peoples. But partially because everyone's prepped. We don't want to sucker-punch anyone – we don't want anyone who doesn't want to be there. We're not trying to piss anybody off, we are just trying to have some fun, come and join us if you like, and if it's not your thing, there are a lot of great movies out there, so enjoy them. We don't want anyone to come to this movie and be miserable. We are not like Michael Moore, who is trying to change an election, we just want people to enjoy themselves. This is not my mom's cup of tea, and I am not judging her for that. But the bottom line is that most people really like a dirty joke, and those people are enjoying it.

How did it all begin?

Penn [Jillette] and I have been friends for a long time and he really got deeply into jazz. When Penn and I get together we talk about art, music, philosophy, politics or whatever and it will go on for hours and hours. He is really deep into be-bop jazz and improvisation and got really analytical about it. What's genuine improvisation, what's just re-capitulation, does technique get in the way or does it enable it? And I don't know as much as he does about jazz, so eventually we started talking about comedy. We thought it was interesting how the jazz connection is strong – that they are very similar art forms. People are fascinated with the vernacular of any number of jazz artists and the changes they make to the same song. And if you did the same thing with comedians, you'd begin to get a different respect for comedy. So the exercise was 'it's the singer, not the song'. We thought it would be fun and interesting, and then we agreed, it's got to be 'The Aristocrats' joke.

Why that joke in particlar?

Well, we chose this joke not because it's filthy, that was secondary. The reason we chose it is because of its improvisational structure – the fact that there is no actual joke and there's a wide open field to be improvisational with. It's very simple, it's nigh on ubiquitous and it's inside the comedy world so you get this behind-the-scenes experience. And the nature of the joke being filthy means that everybody has to start out by letting their hair down. You can't do this joke and be concerned about how well you're doing, or how good you look – you have to just let go and be free. That's what we wanted and that's why this joke was perfect!

Was it tough to keep everyone relaxed and loose?

It wasn't actually because making this movie we were very conscious of not making a movie – it's a home video really. It's got this DIY aesthetic which is actually appropriate, because you are voyeurs of this world – we're operating behind closed doors, and every time you set up lights and do a little make-up, you add layers that get in the way of genuine spontaneity, and we said we weren't going to do any of that. So we had real small, unobtrusive cameras, because we didn't want them to feel like they were making a movie, we wanted them to feel like they were hanging out with other comics and just shooting the shit. And that's why the production values are as they are because we didn't want to sacrifice genuine spontaneity and authenticity for good pictures. And because Penn and I were just having such a good time, it was actually very easy for people to sort of let go and cut loose.

Do you think people thought it would never get released?

Yes, I think some thought that this would never see the light of day, so they were fearless. They thought 'this is a great idea guys, I am happy to do it for you and we had a great time,' but then they would probably turn to their wives and girlfriends and say 'these guys are out of their fucking minds - nobody is going to see this.' So they were really loose. John Ross, the guy who tells the joke in the men's room, came up to me at the premiere and said 'man, in a million years I never thought anybody would see this thing. If I had thought for one nanosecond that anyone would see this, I might have taken a shower and put on a long sleeve shirt when I left the gym to come to see you guys.'

How have the critics responded to the film in the States?

It's a little disturbing to me that critics have picked certain performances apart, expecting so and so to be funny and saying that they aren't. That's so wrong. They're not doing something prepared for an audience – they're performing for me and Penn – they're hanging out with their friends. They didn't work on this, so the point is not to nit pick at what people did or didn't do, but to let it wash over you enjoy it. Laugh and appreciate the fact that people are going out on a limb here – they're taking chances, they're taking a leap of faith, putting their images and opinions at risk in order to engage in a creative exercise. That's an important point that some reviewers are missing.

Are you surprised that it's got this big or did you have a sneaking suspicion that it would do well?

Both of those are true. I am surprised because first of all it's hard for any film that doesn't have a big studio behind it to get attention and break through. I am surprised that it even got a distributor – that somebody would have the balls to put it out there. I am not surprised that once it did get out there, people are loving it, because it’s a really beautiful movie. It's filthy, it's vile, it's disgusting but we think of it as a love story. Everybody is having the time of their lives, everybody is full of joy for the freedom, the creativity, the fact that we get to do this for a living; they are all amused by one another and they all get what everybody else is doing. I think it's uplifting and joyful and I think audiences are craving something in which people just don't give a fuck. These are people who are willing to go out there and make asses of themselves, and possibly be perceived in an ugly way, because they are just having fun. So once it got out there I really thought people would enjoy it.

What's next for you?

We are doing a children's version called 'Knock Knock', and a sequel, 'Who's There?'. 'Two Jews Walk into a Bar' – that's another one we're working on. Seriously though, no joking, I am actually doing a children's movie, a film version of the bestselling children's book 'Everyone Poops'. And don't ask me how but I’ve already got footage in the can.

Finally, what is your favourite curse word?

Oh man… my favourite curse word…you get a double Scotch! That's the first time I've been asked that one. I think 'cunt' because it sounds like a great name for a puppet. In my mind it's a cute little fuzzy thing with googly eyes, yet it can make people crazy. But the most offensive word in the world is war. And the fact that people get so upset by a group of people sitting around telling a dirty joke in 'The Aristocrats' when thousands and thousands of people die around the world all the time, makes me fucking insane. That’s offensive to me.

'The Aristocrats' is out now.

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