For those of you who haven’t watched it yet, The Ali G Show on HBO is hilarious. The creative genius behind the show is Sacha Baron Cohen, a British actor who “traveled across America as the ‘hip-hop journalist’ Ali G and interviewed some of the most important figures in politics, business, sports and the arts.” Besides the Ali G persona, Cohen also plays the “Borat, the easily confused TV reporter from Kazakhstan [my personal favorite], and the supercilious Austrian fashion reporter Bruno.” The things Cohen’s characters get away with are hilarious, albeit a bit unsettling at times. Their exploits are especially funny considering how easily he gets some people to accommodate and agree with him.
Slate has a great article delving into how the show continues to dupe people into interviews, although some people refused to comment because they didn’t want to publicly admit that they were fooled. The show actually started on British television, where it only lasted two seasons before Ali G became too well-known to continue his antics. As the show continues its second season on HBO, I hope it manages to last, because I would definitely miss it if too many people caught on… 😉
