Sacha Baron Cohen has made a career in entertainment out of rendering himself unrecognizable — as the lovable but ignorant Kazakhstani reporter Borat, the fashion and fame obsessed narcissist Bruno, and the hip-hop idiot Ali G — hilarious fools he deploys to trick real people into exposing their real beliefs.
asserted
he → make → beliefs
At 55, Baron Cohen has been doing his undercover comedy for more than half his life.
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Cohen → do → life
In that time, the complexity, moral stakes and physical danger entailed in his deceptions has increased.
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complexity → entail → deceptions
He sometimes requires trap doors and getaway-vans to escape the situations he's created.
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he → require → situations
He is a rare combination, a mission-driven public intellectual and an adrenaline junkie, who has invented his own genre of comedy in the hopes of making us laugh and waking us up.
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us → drive → us
We talked to him at his alma mater Cambridge University, where his parents sent him in the hopes that he would become a lawyer.
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he → talk → hopes
I wanted to be a comedian.
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I → want → ?
But I was embarrassed to tell anyone that I wanted to be a comedian because it's a bit like saying, "I want to be a super model."
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I → tell → anyone
You know, and people go, "Well, you're not actually very good looking"
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you → know → ?
No one knows this.
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one → know → this
But Baron Cohen had been experimenting with a version of the character who would become Ali G for years.
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who → experiment → years
He was this upper-class kid who did all the same catchphrases as Ali G. Booyaka.
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who → do → Booyaka
So it was "Booyakabooyaka, you know, Junglist Massive."
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you → know → ?
Baron Cohen took his prototype of Ali G for a test drive among the skateboarders of London, with the intention of airing the sketch on a youth culture show he was hosting on cable.
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he → take → cable
And I start skateboarding terribly.
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I → start → ?
And they go, "You're-- you're crap, man.
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you → go → ?
After about five minutes, I went back to my real voice.
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I → go → voice
I said, "Guys, I'm pretending.
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I → say → ?
They were shocked.
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They → shock → ?
At the end of the hour, I get called by the head boss.
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I → call → boss
He says, "If you try that again, you're fired."
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you → say → that
And then I knew I was onto something.
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I → know → something
That something was honed into the character millions have come to know as Ali G: a White imbecile and hip-hop journalist who wants to be a Black rapper, and whose debut on a satirical late-night talk show in 1998, was the steppingstone to "Da Ali G Show," a smash hit in the U.K. that spawned an HBO series and a feature film.
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that → hone → series
So the core idea of "Ali G," was, I thought, "Would it be funny to have the world expert in something with the biggest idiot in the world, you know?
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you → think → world
Would that juxtaposition be really funny, if the world expert takes it seriously?"
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expert → take → it
Baron Cohen went on to unleash Ali G on dozens of credulous authorities.
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Cohen → go → authorities
I kept on-- telling him these stupid questions, like you know, "Ain't the heart a bit crap, you know?
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you → keep → questions
This is called Buckingham Phallus, and people from around the world come here to take photos and to wait and get boned by Prince Edward.
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people → call → Edward
Like if I play my cards right, that could be me.
uncertain
that → play → cards
Even if you switch those numbers around, that ain't gonna work.
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that → switch → numbers
We went along as Ali G commandeered a double decker bus and took us to see his version of the London landmarks.
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G → go → landmarks
Do you feel like you bring any element of your actual self to some of the characters?
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you → feel → characters
If I knew who I was, then I could answer that.
uncertain
I → know → that
But I don't know.
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I → know → ?
I mean, Ali G definitely, because in a way, at the age of 11, I was-- an Ali G of sorts.
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I → mean → sorts
The youngest of three boys, Baron Cohen grew up in northwest London the son of a fitness instructor and an accountant.
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Cohen → grow → instructor
Like, can you give me an example?
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you → give → example
Sorry, if you're watching this.
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you → watch → this
And she had such a distinct voice that everyone in my high school could imitate it.
uncertain
everyone → have → it
So everyone would go, "Sacha, telephone."
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everyone → go → ?
…and 64 more, not listed.
The Aporia
