The Dirtiest Joke Ever Told
The project was the 2005 documentary “The Aristocrats,” a film with a simple, brilliant premise: get over 100 comedians to tell their version of the same famously off-color joke. The joke itself has a fixed structure: a family auditions a shocking, depraved
act for a talent agent. When the stunned agent asks what the act is called, the family proudly announces, “The Aristocrats!” The setup and punchline are constants; the middle is a blank canvas for comedians to paint with the most creatively obscene details they can imagine. Directed by Penn Jillette and Paul Provenza, the film became an exercise in comedic artistry and freedom of speech, featuring titans like George Carlin, Robin Williams, and Sarah Silverman.
America's Dad Goes Defiantly Blue
Among this roster of comedy royalty, Bob Saget’s performance became one of the most talked-about moments in the film. Leaning into the stark contrast with his wholesome “Full House” persona, Saget delivered a seven-minute masterclass in comedic shock. His version of the joke was a relentless, graphically detailed narrative involving acts so extreme that he occasionally broke character to laugh at his own audacity. For audiences who only knew him from family-friendly television, the scene was a jaw-dropping revelation. It wasn’t just dirty; it was an intricately woven tapestry of filth, a performance that weaponized his public image for maximum comedic impact. His telling was so over-the-top that it instantly became a legendary moment in the history of stand-up.
The Moment of Hesitation
While the headline implies a studio or director nearly shelved the scene, the truth is more personal and, in some ways, more interesting. The hesitation came from Saget himself. In a later interview, Saget revealed his own uncertainty about the performance. “I saw my part in the film before I saw the entire film,” he explained. “I wasn't supposed to see it out of context, but I wanted to decide if I should even be in the film.” The man who had just recorded one of the most outrageously filthy monologues in documentary history had a moment of doubt about whether it should be released. This wasn't a case of external censorship, but of an artist grappling with the potential fallout of unleashing such a potent subversion of his public identity upon the world. In fact, when Saget pitched an even more extreme version of the bit to the directors, they told him it was “too much,” making him, as he joked, “the one that was too much for The Aristocrats.”
A Legacy-Defining Performance
Ultimately, Saget gave his blessing, and the scene remained. Its inclusion was a defining moment in his career, forever shattering the one-dimensional box of the sitcom dad. It cemented his reputation among his peers as a true “comedian’s comedian”—a fearless performer willing to go to the absolute edge for a joke. The performance wasn’t just about being dirty for the sake of it; it was an act of comedic liberation. For Saget, it was a way to blow up his old image and embrace the full, uncensored spectrum of his comedic voice. He later reflected that the entire point of “The Aristocrats” was to champion freedom of speech, noting that comedians like Lenny Bruce had faced legal trouble for material far less explicit than what was celebrated in the film.
