....very entertaining and extremely funny
Tools:
Recommend review to a friend »
Yo! Check it! Booyakasha! Ali G iz in da house!
And he rocks!
British media personality, comedian and satirist, Sacha Baron Cohen recently crossed the pond to bring his unique brand of humor stateside. Now in its second season on HBO, Baron Cohen´s creation, "Da Ali G Show" is one of the most unique and mockingly hilarious comedies to be produced for American television in a long time.
Like all struggling would-be comedians before him, the Cambridge University-educated Baron Cohen did his time on the comedy club circuit until he landed a gig on British telly. After a successful stint on Channel Four´s satire late night news show called "The 11 o´clock Show" in 1998 and 1999, Baron Cohen graduated to headlining his own show in 2000, appropriately titled "Da Ali G Show". So--for those of us not usually plugged into the mainstream--who in the world is this Ali G guy? And how did he land a juicy part in Madonna´s music video for the song "Music" back in 2000?
Ali G is one of three distinctive personalities that inhabits Baron Cohen´s deliciously twisted mind. This British chameleon´s portrayal of all three characters is wonderfully executed on the show and hell of a lot funny to boot. About the only common thing among all three characters is that they are all reporters (to a certain degree!) with vastly different personalities and attitudes. Armed with a racially ambiguous name, Ali G is the unusual combination of a wanna-be gangsta rapper and a so-called hip-hop journalist. Next, we have Borat Sagdiyev, a mustachioed roving reporter from Kazakhstan, sent to America to report on all aspects of the American experience. Then there is Bruno, the effeminate Austrian fashionista who is most at home when interviewing the fashion world´s glitterati. While the flashy and rhyming Ali G is the obvious star of the show, the other two Baron Cohen characters are no slouches either. As you can see, all three characters are as diverse and as different as night, day and dusk.
What sets "Da Ali G Show" apart from all other comedies is its continuing success in creating amazingly funny and satirical interview situations without the knowledge and obviously not the consent of the subject. Each half-hour episodes are divided into various segments that feature either one of the three personalities. Of course, the Ali G character gets the most airtime on the show, mostly due to the fact that he is Baron Cohen´s bread and butter personality and also the funniest.
Ali G thinks of himself as a British bad boy rapper straight out of Staines in the UK. And just like any rapper, he has the right attitude and converses in a colorful language that includes lots of British street lingo common among rappers. It may not sound funny now but wait till you see and hear him interview serious American political personalities like Newt Gingrich and former Secretary of State James Baker in the exact same language. Certainly something that one has to see to believe! What´s worse is the fact that Ali G, with his worldly, know-it-all attitude, is actually a dim-witted bloke with hollow rocks for brains!
You will definitely cringe (and probably also laugh your head off at the same time) when you watch Baron Cohen´s interview subjects stare in utter disbelief when he starts asking them really out-of-this-world questions with a straight and serious face. Some of them are kind enough to brush it off and try to explain his misconceptions but there are others who at times seem ready to storm off in disgust. Ali G´s segments on the show include roundtable discussions with experts on various explosive subjects like sex and religion and one-on-one interviews with unsuspecting dignitaries. Among the notable names that fell under the Ali G trap are former attorney general Richard Thornburgh, former U.N. secretary general Boutros-Boutros Ghali, former national security advisor Brent Scowcroft, the host of "Inside the Actor´s Studio" James Lipton, former astronaut Buzz Aldrin, social activist and presidential candidate Ralph Nader and former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop. Donald Trump should consider himself lucky when he somehow managed to excuse himself early in his interview with Ali G.
Borat Sagdiyev´s segments are titled "Borat´s Guide to America". In it, Borat goes around the country interviewing clueless denizens about their seemingly normal lives and practices that when examined under the microscope from the slanted view of a "foreign" journalist like Borat, becomes a total riot to watch. The most shocking and probably also the most embarrassing moment comes in Episode 6 in the segment "Borat´s Guide to the South". In that segment, Borat interviews a sweet and elderly Southern lady who mentions proudly that she once went to school with Barbara Bush. Of course, Borat spontaneously seizes on that moment and goes on to describe in detail the meanings of the words "Barbara" and "Bush" in Kazakhstan, which is most unflattering, to say the least. The poor old lady could only stand stunned in total silence for what seemed like an eternity and finally, to her credit, regained her composure and in the most elegant way, changed the subject. Some might say that Baron Cohen went too far in that particular interview and most times I would readily agree. However, one must also keep in mind that comedy comes in many forms and embarrassing situations such as what was described above could also bring out the best in people, as so nicely shown by this genteel Southern lady. Other segments include a brief attempt by Borat to do a Michael Moore, by interviewing a gun club owner about America´s fascination with firearms and a visit to a minor league baseball club where he sings the Kazakhstan national anthem that seems to go on and on forever.
Average user rating (1-5):
Not yet rated.
Not yet rated.
[release]12826[/release]