(I tried to search for an Ali G Show thread, but couldn’t find one. If there is one already, this show is funny enough for two)
Da Ali G Show was on HBO tonight. I’ve never really heard much about this show before until I saw Sacha Cohen (aka: Ali G, Borat, etc) on The Daily Show. He seemed pretty funny so I Tivo’ed it.
MAN! That’s a funny ass show.
He (Ali G) interviewed Pat Buchanan and started talking about the Iraq war. Ali went on about WMD but then switched to saying BLT’s. Old Pat didn’t blink an eye. Pretty soon Pat’s calling them BLT’s. I was falling over.
But the best part of the show was when Ali was interviewing some Vet (as in animal doctor) who just happened to be a Vet (as in war veteran) on his farm when a chicken appears in the barn doorway. It was one of those weird poofy chickens you pretty much only see at state fairs. Ali freaks out “Oh me god. Lookin at dat fuckin ding”.
The Vet-Vet says “he’s got feathers on his feet”.
“Whys he be wearin those?”
(of course, it doesn’t read as well)
So I understand this is the second season. I can’t wait to catch the first season. That’s some funny stuff right there.
Was it just me, or did Buchanan seem to know what was going on? He didn’t have that look that said “is this guy really that stupid?” like most other people on the show do.
The first season comes out on DVD on 8/17, rekognize!
Borat chugging wine at the wine tasting was hilarious, same with the polaroid of him doing his sister. It really is a show that you have to see in order to understand it’s depth.
Most Americans upon seeing him and hearing him talk, don’t realize he’s doing parody. They instantly dismiss him, and never watch the show. It’s also more difficult to spread by word of mouth because most of his bits translate very, very poorly when relayed to another person. This causes the person hearing about the show to think that it’s stupid, and that the person reccomending it is easily amused.
As long as his show still has new episodes and is viewable on my TV, I’m content being a part of the lucky minority that gets him.
Also, America’s first glimpse of him was in that god-awfull Madonna video Music where he plays her chauffer. He just seemed like a lame-ass poser, and nobody knew that Ali G was one of Sacha’s charachters.
I’ll admit I’m in this camp. I do remember flipping around and catching just a few seconds of this show months ago, but not sticking around long enough to see what was going on.
I thought it was just another Mtv-ish white suburb boy thinking he’s a black urban youth doin’ the shiznit.
And now I kick myself for not watching this sooner.
As far as I’m concerned, the longer Americans fail to get Ali G, the better. His act entirely depends on the other side being completely oblivious. The last season of his british show became painfully bad because both sides were so enthusiastically trying to play the parody and it didn’t work.
I can’t believe anyone wouldn’t “get him” after seeing five seconds of his show. I’ve read interivews with him and he seems very nice–but I don’t like “ambush interviews,” even of people I dislike. Always makes me feel sorry for the victim.
I’ve only seen the American version of the show on HBO, and I’d be curious to hear more about this. As others have noted, it seems to me that this ONLY works if the other person doesn’t know what’s going on. This seems to me to raise two issues. First, practical, because it seems like the show must very quickly become a victim of its own success, and second, ethical (for want of a better term) because of the “ambush” that is fundamental to the show.
What exactly did happen on the last season of the British show? I’m assuming that people tried to be funny themselves, and of course that was terrible because they weren’t funny at all. What did he do (other than stop trying and move to the US)? Did he try to up the ante by being more outrageous? Did he try to do some “meta irony” where the joke was still on them because they thought they were being funny, but they really weren’t, so look how lame they are when they are trying to be funny?
And, again from a practical standpoint, how can the show possibly continue in the US, where celebrities are surrounded by media handlers, pr firms, etc. Surely everyone in politics, etc., is now aware of this phenomenon, and nobody can really be ambushed anymore, right?
I saw a couple of the US shows, and not all the people he ambushes are celebs. I also read an interview with him–can’t remember the actor’s name, offhand–and he is a very nice guy who professes to feel very guilty for making people feel and look stupid. I think his schtick will be short-lived, he wants to go into more traditional acting.
I just discovered Ali G due to the joys of HBO on Demand and the coaxing of a visiting friend. He is incredible-- I love how he draws out the ignorance of others by playing ignorant himself. I’ve noticed that every episode, someone gently and slowly tries to explain to him that “we don’t do it that way in America…” Just priceless. So yeah, I’m a convert and will be watching in the future.
Sacha Cohen’s humour is hit and miss. When it works it is sublime, when it does not it is ridiculous. One of my favourite interviews he performed was with the British socialist Tony Benn. Mr. Benn was not playing the “lets talk jive with the cool dude” game - he was apoplectic that Ali G referred to women as bitches. The interview was great on two levels: Ali G sending Benn up, and also on the level of Benn reacting in a really cool way to what he thought was a serious point of view.
