# Sacha Baron Cohen = New Andy Kaufman? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 18, 2006, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sacha-baron-cohen-new-andy-kaufman/376941 "2006-10-18T14:32:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2006, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sacha-baron-cohen-new-andy-kaufman/376941/21 "2006-10-19T04:31:20Z")
[QUOTE=Hrududu] Sacha Baron Cohen has built a career ripping off smarter people who did it better. Particularly Chris Morris and the terrible Dennis Pennis. [/QUOTE] Mining a similar vein of comedy is _not_ the same as ripping it off. \*\*Gary McDonald’\*\*s character [Norman Gunston](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Gunston) had a very similar schtik in the mid 1970s on Australian TV, and is fondly remembered to this day for it. His interview of **Sally Struthers** is one of the greats of TV comedy. But no-one accuses Chris Morris of ripping him off. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2006, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sacha-baron-cohen-new-andy-kaufman/376941/22 "2006-10-19T05:03:49Z")
[QUOTE=Hrududu] Sacha Baron Cohen has built a career ripping off smarter people who did it better. Particularly Chris Morris and the terrible Dennis Pennis. [/QUOTE] I fail to see any meaningful comparison between Sacha Cohen and Chris Morris, much less any accusations of “ripping off.” Personally, I think Chris Morris’s comedy is much subtler, more intelligent, more absurd, and just plain weirder (Blue Jam, anyone?) than Cohen’s. Morris also seems to have much more range than Cohen. That said, I think Cohen’s comedy appeals to a broader audience. I think more people are apt to “get” Cohen’s style of comedy than Morris’s. Then again, I may be wrong. As for Cohen and Kaufman, I really don’t think they have much, if anything, in common. Kaufman was much more abstract and, well, modern performance art in his approach to comedy. A lot of times, you couldn’t tell _what_ the joke was with Kaufman, or even _if_ there was a joke. Cohen makes it pretty clear where the laughs are supposed to be. ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2006, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sacha-baron-cohen-new-andy-kaufman/376941/23 "2006-10-19T08:57:50Z")
See, when I read about Cohen’s comedy, I figured he was doing a live-action Lazlo Toth. ---
**Author:** ![Hrududu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Hrududu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hrududu)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2006, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sacha-baron-cohen-new-andy-kaufman/376941/24 "2006-10-19T09:52:35Z")
> [@](#): > > I fail to see any meaningful comparison between Sacha Cohen and Chris Morris, much less any accusations of “ripping off.” When I say he rips off Chris Morris I mean the interview segments from Brass Eye. Cohens comedy doesnt resemble any other facet of Morris’. I think Ali G was funny when he first appeared but there was always the sense of having seen it before. ---
**Author:** ![minlokwat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minlokwat/32/2844_2.png) [@minlokwat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minlokwat)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2006, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sacha-baron-cohen-new-andy-kaufman/376941/25 "2006-10-19T13:12:25Z")
Ali G: “Now I want to make sure I get this right. How do you spell your name?” Buchanan: “Well it’s B-U-C-H-A-N-A-N.” Ali G: “No, I mean how do you spell ‘Pat’?” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sacha-baron-cohen-new-andy-kaufman/376941.md?page=1)