Yes, recently, I have been watching famed British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen. He is probably best known for his character, Borat. That was one of the few movies that I remember laughing so much, and so hard, that I was almost literally crying of laughter. It was actually hard to regain some control.
There were some other characters that he did, some of which were also in movies. But The Dictator was, admittedly, not nearly so funny. I have enjoyed some of his other characters and pranks. Ali G can be funny at times, although again, not quite on the level of Borat (for me).
Indeed, these are characters of Cohen's that have been known for some time. In the case of some of these characters, perhaps especially Borat, they have become so famous, that there simply is no chance to be able to trick anyone with that character. So other characters had to be created, and some of them are incredible. One of the most effective ones would be the Israeli Col. Erran Morad, a fictional and quite creepy militant gun enthusiast who is the one who manages to disarm all of those self-professed home grown gun enthusiasts here in the United States, and gets them to endorse a program that would put guns in the hands of children as young as three and four. Some of these guys do so willingly, and see no real problem with it. I saw an interview with one of these politicians afterward, who expressed some measure of regret at having participated in this prank, while also trying to remain balanced and show that he can take a joke. In fact, though, all of these guys come across looking mighty stupid and, frankly, blind, in their removal of simple logic and common sense, traits that you would not normally think are so rare.
This is new material, and it takes a while to get used to the characters, and so see what Cohen is doing, and where he is going with it. But once you see to what effect he uses these characters - some of whom are outrageous to the point that it is hard to believe that anyone would actually take them seriously - it is actually quite amazing.
Indeed, these are characters of Cohen's that have been known for some time. In the case of some of these characters, perhaps especially Borat, they have become so famous, that there simply is no chance to be able to trick anyone with that character. So other characters had to be created, and some of them are incredible. One of the most effective ones would be the Israeli Col. Erran Morad, a fictional and quite creepy militant gun enthusiast who is the one who manages to disarm all of those self-professed home grown gun enthusiasts here in the United States, and gets them to endorse a program that would put guns in the hands of children as young as three and four. Some of these guys do so willingly, and see no real problem with it. I saw an interview with one of these politicians afterward, who expressed some measure of regret at having participated in this prank, while also trying to remain balanced and show that he can take a joke. In fact, though, all of these guys come across looking mighty stupid and, frankly, blind, in their removal of simple logic and common sense, traits that you would not normally think are so rare.
This is new material, and it takes a while to get used to the characters, and so see what Cohen is doing, and where he is going with it. But once you see to what effect he uses these characters - some of whom are outrageous to the point that it is hard to believe that anyone would actually take them seriously - it is actually quite amazing.
That said, some of the newer stuff is actually quite humorous. He has a show that came out a few years ago, “Who is America?”
It has it’s moments. Some of the interviews/pranks are absolutely hilarious. In particular, I was fond of the interview that he did with Dick Cheney, where he openly admired Cheney’s war fixation, and even got Cheney to sign a makeshift waterboard kit. Another very funny interview was with OJ Simpson, where he surprisingly repeated jokes about OJ being a killer, with OJ laughing along. Cohen really got some other prominent figures to make some statements and/or take actions that are jaw-dropping in their stupidity. One example is a Georgia lawmaker, Jason Spencer, a far rightwing conservative who revealed every bit of his ignorance and general buffoonery with Cohen. Spencer in particular was made to look like the screaming moron that he so clearly is. Somehow, Cohen manages to get Spencer to show both his racism, and then manages to get him to drop his pants and attack terrorists from the rear, so to speak.
Some people are not laughing. There are people who would accuse others of being whiny oversensitive snowflakes who are raising hell in protest at how unfairly they are being treated by Cohen’s practical jokes. In particular, Sarah Palin took exception to Cohen, claiming that he disguised himself as a disabled war veteran and misled her. She described a letter sent by Cohen’s character in the aftermath of the interview, and expressed outrage with what he wrote to her, saying that he was prevented from serving in the military because he had “bone spurs in his testes.” Palin feels that Cohen’s intent is to humiliate, and that he is guilty of mocking what she termed “middle class American” values.
As far as I can tell, though, Cohen is actually revealing some seriously ugly truths about Americans. Frankly, though, there is nothing that they do not voluntarily show about themselves. We all know that there is a distressingly large presence of people who hold seriously ugly beliefs. After all, look who is sitting in the Oval Office these days.
Cohen’s new show really reveals this. There are so many outrageous ideas that Cohen presents. One of the best is the "KinderGuardians" program, advocating children as young as three and four to carry and get familiar with real guns. To his credit, Cohen manages to get several sitting Congressmen to endorse it, as crazy as that sounds.
Another of my personal favorites was one in which he traveled to Kingman, Arizona. When my son and I went on our western trip in 2016, we actually passed through this town, which is in between Phoenix and Las Vegas, and probably the only fairly sizable city in between them. But it is a bastion of conservatism, which makes it all the more hilarious when Cohen poses as a very sensitive NPR type who promises a plan that will bring in hundreds of millions of dollars into town. It sounds good at first, and the locals are very enthusiastic, until they find out that the plan would entail building the largest mosque outside of the Middle East, which will then become a major tourist destination for Muslims all around the world, thus generating the money. The reactions of the assembled locals is rather stunning. Say what you will about Cohen (and some people legitimately do not like him), but he seems to have a great ability to get people to reveal things about themselves that they usually would not want to reveal. In this case, it was pretty blatant racism and intolerance. Some of the guys seem to be trying to test the waters with one another, revealing bits of their intolerance and racism. Unbelievable how Cohen manages to get them to do this.
Another surprising scene is when Cohen, once again as the overly sensitive NPR type, does a rap battle. Obviously, overly sensitive white guys are not known to engage effectively in rap battles.
There is also a much more recent video of Cohen in character as some redneck who manages to push a conservative, seemingly pro-gun rally in Olympia, Washington, into revealing some of their ugliness. He sings a song, and gets them to go a bit farther and farther in how they want to punish their political opponents, the liberal elites. He sings about injecting people like Obama and Hillary Clinton with the coronavirus, and it gets worse from there. Eventually, he is basically chased off the stage, but not before he has gotten a lot of the local nuts in attendance to sing along for part of it.
Some of his interviews are really funny and shocking in how much they reveal, as well. There is the one with Cheney, and with the Congressmen who support the program to get guns to young children. There was an interview with Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who comes across as incredibly dumb. There are also some more liberal figures who are interviewed, but these generally are not as funny. Why? Because Bernie Sanders and Jill Stein are a bit smarter, and don’t take the ridiculous beliefs of Cohen’s characters seriously. There was another interview with someone who is smarter and catches on quickly to the nonsensical nature of the interview. That would be Ted Koppel, and he walked away from the interview. Yet, the interview is quite funny, in fact, and shows that Cohen is an equal opportunity offender, and does not just stick to picking strictly on far right-wingers.
A bit of the material with more liberal personalities is funny, but not nearly so funny as with the most extreme conservatives, who are often adults in name only. They're exaggerated enthusiasm and general idiocy, and general tendency to identify themselves as virtual living, breathing caricatures who do not stand up to well to the seriousness of the times and problems that the country is facing - and all while usually trying to stand out as model citizens and patriots in good standing - is exposed as a ridiculous act for all to see. So Cohen does not restrict his pranks just to conservatives, but it just happens to be funnier when he does, because they often willingly reveal their own stupidity, even while knowing that they are on a television show.
So, here are some of the videos that I thought were really funny and worth sharing here. But check him out on your own. While I have now written an entire blog entry about him and his show, I admittedly have seen only one full episode, and a number of his sketches with real-life figures. And only the ones that are readily available for anyone to view on Youtube, for that matter. What I did see, however, was funny. If you like the material, then feel free to explore a bit more on your own, and see if you also do not appreciate his humor. It feels like he is putting himself in literal danger sometimes with some of the pranks and other stuff that he does, such as that recent posing as some kind of folk singer at a far rightwing rally in Olympia. Frankly, that could have ended very badly for him. So could the whole mosque in Kingman thing. Or with taunting OJ Simpson, repeatedly making knifing gestures and clearly insinuating that he is a killer. But that is, in part, what makes it quite funny.
And even though this next clip does not actually feature Cohen, it is a nationally televised interview with that noted conservative illuminary, Sarah Pain, who explains why what so much of what Cohen does is not funny. In explaining what Cohen actually does, which we the viewers are supposed to get outraged about, there is actually some real comedy gold. I would give specifics, but figured instead that you might want to check the video out for yourself. Keep in mind, though, that she is actually seriously trying to explain why this ISN'T funny, trying to defuse the potentially explosive nature of the humor in it. And in some instances, her very seriousness, mingled with the general idiocy that she has almost always revealed, and which she reveals here quite willingly, makes this all the funnier, adding to the impact of Cohen's prank (note: I could not actually find a video of the prank that Cohen pulled on her, unfortunately):
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