Ali G
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ali G (Alistair Leslie Graham) is a satirical comic character invented and played by the English comedian Sacha Baron Cohen. Originally appearing on Channel 4's Eleven O'Clock show, Ali G is the title character of Channel 4's Da Ali G Show, which now appears on HBO, and was the title character of the film Ali G Indahouse.
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[edit] History
Ali G first appeared on Channel 4's The Eleven O'Clock Show as the "voice of da yoof" in 1998.[1] He interviewed various public figures in the United Kingdom.
An early interview occurred with fashion designer Tomasz Starzewski. Ali G suggested that the Wonderbra should be banned, as it misleads men into thinking that a girl's breasts are larger than they are. He tells an anecdote of being disappointed when a girl he had "pulled" was wearing a Wonderbra. He also asked Starzewski if he was pleased Gianni Versace was slain because it meant less competition, and suggested that he heard a rumour that Calvin Klein did it.
Other examples of his bold interviewing style include getting the Bishop of Horsham to admit that God created the Universe, and then asked him, "And since then, He's [God's] just chilled?" Ali G asked the Bishop about God's appearance, to which the Bishop replied, "Well, he's sort of Jesus-shaped." During an interview with James Ferman (former director of the British Board of Film Classification), Ali G asks whether his made-up vulgarities would restrict a film to an over-18 audience, and suggests that film censorship be performed by younger persons who understand contemporary slang. Ali G begins an interview with the Chairman of the Arts Council of England Gerry Robinson with the question, "Why is it that everything you fund is so crap?"
Ali G was introduced to American audiences as a limousine driver in Madonna's 2000 video, "Music," and subsequently recorded his own record with reggae/pop performer Shaggy. In 2001, Ali G hosted MTV Europe Music Awards in Frankfurt, Germany. In 2002, he was the central character in the feature film Ali G Indahouse, in which he is elected to the British Parliament, and foils a plot to bulldoze a community centre in his home town of Staines. The film featured a duet between Ali G and Shaggy, Me Julie, which reached number two on the UK charts.[2] Ali G is presently the title character of HBO's Da Ali G Show, which features two other characters played by Cohen: Borat Sagdiyev, a foreign correspondent from Kazakhstan, and Bruno, a fashion reporter for Austria's fictional 'Gay TV'.
Ali G is Sam in a series of ads for the 2005-06 NBA season, in which he used his brand of off-kilter journalism to interview various NBA stars. The spots were directed by Spike Lee.
[edit] Background
Ali G (Alistair Leslie Graham) is a fictional gang member of the "West Staines Massiv", who lives with his grandmother in a semidetached house at 36 Cherry Blossom Close, in the heart of the "Staines Ghetto". He was educated at what he calls "da Matthew Arnold Skool" which is a real secondary school.
Staines is a middle-class commuter town to the west of London that has been the butt of jokes for many years, and is far different from the inner city ghetto that Ali G claims. In the same comic vein, he also makes reference to other similar middle-class towns in the area, such as Egham and Englefield Green. Despite the incongruous nature of his home town, he purports to exemplify gangsta culture.
Ali G's non-standard grammar has been the point of ridicule by at least one interviewee. Claiming to be black and of Jamaican ancestry, some of his catch phrases include "Booyakasha", "West Side", "Respek" (respect), and "Keep It Real". His trademark hand gesture is the dip snap.
[edit] Notable people interviewed by Ali G
- Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, former astronaut, and the second man to walk on the moon. (Ali G also called him "Buzz Lightyear").
- Football player David Beckham and wife Victoria Beckham, a former singer (Spice Girls' Posh)
- Tony Benn, former British Labour MP, chairman and cabinet minister
- Boutros Boutros-Ghali, former Secretary General of the United Nations
- Rhodes Boyson, former British Conservative cabinet minister
- Professional basketball players Kobe Bryant (whom he asks about the number of springs in a basketball), Steve Nash (who was last year's "MP3" according to Ali G), Ben Wallace (who he accuses of "playa-hating"), Shaquille O'Neal, Tim Duncan, Robert Horry, Dwyane Wade, Richard Jefferson (Whom he called Thomas Jefferson and then his son), Vince Carter, Steve Kerr (who, according to Ali G, works on "TMT"), Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, Reggie Miller
- Pat Buchanan, political commentator
- Noam Chomsky, MIT Professor
- Jarvis Cocker, Pulp singer
- Gaz Coombes, Supergrass singer
- Paul Daniels, magician
- Sam Donaldson, veteran journalist
- Mohamed Al-Fayed, owner of Harrods and Fulham FC
- Daryl Gates, former LAPD Chief
- Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House of Representatives
- Neil Hamilton, former Conservative politician
- Kent Hovind, evangelist and Young Earth creationist
- Jenna Jameson, Adult film star
- C. Everett Koop, former US Surgeon General
- James Lipton, host of Bravo's Inside the Actor's Studio
- John McCain, United States Senator from Arizona
- Ralph Nader, consumer activist and former US presidential candidate for the Green Party
- Thomas J. Pickard, former FBI Director
- Gail Porter, television presenter
- Sally Jessy Raphaël, former talk show host
- Andy Rooney, of the CBS program 60 Minutes
- Brent Scowcroft, former National Security Advisor and Air Force General
- Dick Thornburgh, former U.S. Attorney General
- Christine Todd Whitman, former New Jersey governor and EPA administrator
- Donald Trump, real estate developer
- Gore Vidal, author and essayist, (whom Ali G mistook for Vidal Sassoon)
- Sammy Wilson, northern Irish politician Democratic Unionist Party
- John Gray, author of Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus
[edit] References
- ^ "'He becomes the character, certainly with Ali G and Borat. He has a mix of Sellers's acting and Rod Hull's bottle'" by Kirsty Scott, The Guardian, September 29, 2006.
- ^ Garrett, Daniel. Review: Ali G Indahouse (English) (HTML). BBC. Retrieved on January 10, 2007.
[edit] External links
- Da Ali G Show on HBO
- Official Ali G site
- Ali G, Borat and Bruno.,
- UK Ali G fan site
- Channel 4 Ali G website
- Sacha Baron Cohen interview with NPR's Robert Siegel
- An article in the Guardian
- Ali G interviews NBA stars
- Ali G Comes to America: Recognise!
- Tricked into Silly interview with Ali G, Alex Alonso, Streetgangs.com, March 12, 2002
- IndexTube List of Ali G movies from Youtube and Google-Video
| Sacha Baron Cohen |
|---|
| Characters |
| Ali G | Borat | Bruno |
| Films and TV series |
| The Eleven O'Clock Show (1998-1999) | Da Ali G Show (UK: 2000, US: 2003-2004) | Ali G Indahouse (2002) | Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006) | Bruno (scheduled 2008) |
