Comedian and actor Bob Saget talks about the new documentary The Aristocrats. The film features Saget and 100 other comics discussing and retelling one famous dirty joke that has been handed down in comedy circles since the vaudeville days.
ED GORDON, host: A new film called "The Aristocrats" is about a joke, one infamous dirty      joke that comedians have retold to one another for more than a century.</s>ED GORDON, host: Unidentified Man #1:  A guy goes into a talent agent's office.  He says,      `I have the greatest act in the world.'</s>ED GORDON, host: Unidentified Man #2:  Hey, oh.</s>ED GORDON, host: Unidentified Man #3:  Me and my wife go on stage.  We get undressed and I      start (censored) my wife.</s>ED GORDON, host: Unidentified Man #4:  I remember my grandmother sitting me down and      telling me the joke.  So she only spoke Yiddish.  The only English word      she knew was (censored).</s>Ms. WHOOPI GOLDBERG (Comedian): So when I would tell a joke like this,      you know, it would be all about dripping (censored) and maybe pulling      this (censored) back and maybe making helmets out of them.  You know, it      would be a whole thing.</s>ED GORDON, host: Whoopi Goldberg and Chris Rock join more than 100 comedians in      "The Aristocrats."  Although, or maybe because, it pushes the envelope      beyond vulgar, the documentary earned rave reviews at this year's      Sundance Film Festival.  Bob Saget turned up in the movie with his own      smutty version.  It's a surprising performance from the man who played      the straight-arrow father on the family sit com "Full House."  But      Saget's been in the world of stand-up comedy for a long time, long enough      to know where this joke wouldn't be welcomed.</s>Mr. BOB SAGET (Comedian): It's the kind of joke you wouldn't really give      to mass consumptions, not something you would tell on stage.  It's not      something you would--it's--behind the school yard is where a joke like      this originates. But the movie's dedicated to Johnny Carson.  Supposedly,      Buddy Hackett was on "The Tonight Show" once and during the commercial      break told the audience and Johnny this joke and then told the punch line      when they came back from a commercial:  "The Aristocrats."  It's not even      a good punch line.  Paul Reiser's hilarious.  He's kind of, `Is it "The      Aristocrats?"  Is it a Disney film?'  But it's the antithesis of that.      It is a joke about how desperate people would be to make it in show      business.</s>ED GORDON, host: One of the other interesting points here is ofttimes those of us      who are not comedians don't see the craft of comedy, particularly if you      get different people in the same room, you will be able to craft a joke      that started out one way and is a better joke in the end, is it not?</s>Mr. BOB SAGET (Comedian): It is.  It's--and if you can make a joke out of this joke,      you are quite a constructor.  But it's the gallows humor of it that make      it fascinating and to watch a comedian really love telling it.  George      Carlin launches into it, and he loves it because this man stands for      freedom of speech, started with the seven words you can't say on      television.  This movie is full of 400 things you can say on television.</s>Mr. GEORGE CARLIN (Comedian): You get to play with people's little      danger zones.  I do like finding out where the line is drawn,      deliberately crossing it, bringing some of them with me across the line      and having them be happy that I did.</s>ED GORDON, host: Let me ask you this.  In relation to the times that we're in      now, so many people talk about whether or not we are in need of      censorship, whether or not we have allowed our society to go too far.      Where do you fall on that in relation to where we sit and, again,      juxtaposing it to this movie?</s>Mr. BOB SAGET (Comedian): Whenever we go to a very conservative time, obviously this      kind of stuff comes out.  And this is where extreme art comes from.  It's      been an interesting thing that this came out.  It does lower the bar in      some ways as far as it's so dirty that--dialoguewise.  There's no nudity.      There's no violence.  And in the ad campaign, Penn Gillette is saying,      `And no penguins.' But what's interesting about it is we live in a      society where this movie can get released.  And there's something I say      beautiful about it.  And it's--the movie's about censorship, too, and the      freedom of speech and bad language and sexual situations with people that      are reasonable people.  It is not damaging. My 18-year-old saw it.  She      was in a theater in Santa Monica.  She saw it with 600 people.  They were      laughing hysterically.  But she's not damaged.  She's smart.  So if we      communicate with our kids--my kids are sophisticated. They're not      aristocratic.</s>ED GORDON, host: Comedian and actor Bob Saget joins more than 100 other comics in      the documentary "The Aristocrats" opening nationwide today.</s>ED GORDON, host: This is NPR NEWS.