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Do you find Sacha Baron Cohen Funny?

1246

Comments

  • #92
    take everything
    Registered Users Posts: 9,800 ✭✭✭take everything


    He is a very funny guy.
    Borat getting a town hall meeting to do 10 minutes of silence for some massacre in Kazakhstan nobody has heard of is just insane and riotous stuff.

    Love his other characters as well.

    Having said that, I laugh wondering whether his targets are a bit lopsided. He is Jewish and seems to lampoon the other side a lot (the dictator, Borat etc).

    Has he lampooned Jewish culture as much.

    Still, deeply funny guy who commits to a character like nobody else.

    Edit:
    Someone mentioned the Israeli general interviewing Dick Cheney, which I hadn't seen. So maybe it's not as lopsided as I thought.


  • #93
    Grey Fox
    Registered Users Posts: 171 ✭✭Grey Fox


    [Deleted User] wrote: »
    In fairness..I'm funnier than Ricky Gervais..

    I don't get Gervais hate. He's undoubtedly one of the top comedy writers of his generation.


  • #94
    blade1
    Registered Users Posts: 12,091 ✭✭✭✭blade1


    El_Duderino 09 wrote: »
    Yeah that's GIVING OJ a doing. The really good ones are when he gives them enough rope and someone completely hangs themself. OJ didn't hang himself there. He just laughed along awkwardly while SBC tried, unsuccessfully, to get him to hang himself. Not SBC's best work.

    You hardly expected him to say he killed his wife. :pac:

    And he was found not guilty btw.:D


  • #95
    El_Duderino 09
    Registered Users Posts: 19,922 ✭✭✭✭El_Duderino 09


    blade1 wrote: »
    You hardly expected him to say he killed his wife. :pac:

    And he was found not guilty btw.:D

    Poor choice for an interview then. In any case, he didn't say anything. He just laughed along. That's not SBC's best work.

    The ones where he encourages the people to say some outrageous things they think. He offers the a safe space to say things they already think and that's the real gold.

    He gets this credulous creature (Jason Spencer) to Completely hang himself. He does an I personation of what he thinks a Chinese tourist looks like to take an upskirt photo of a woman in a burqa (he tried to bring in a burqa ban in Georgia). He got him to shout "n*gger" to attract attention if he's being attacked by isis. He got him to take off his trousers and back into a terrorist because SBC convinced him that Muslims believe that if they touch another man's bum they become gay.

    In other words, he facilitated that man's own stupidity and prejudice come out. Gusts great stuff and really interesting social commentary - the guy was involved in making laws in Georgia.

    Here's a bit where Spencer reacted after the show came out.
    https://www.businessinsider.com/who-is-america-jason-spencer-n-word-exposing-himself-sacha-baron-cohen-2018-7


  • #96
    Gwynplaine
    Registered Users Posts: 2,910 ✭✭✭Gwynplaine


    Very funny. Borat and Ali G are brilliant. But Bruno and the Dictator, couldnt watch either of them.


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  • #97
    Randy Archer
    Registered Users Posts: 859 ✭✭✭Randy Archer


    He’s a genius . He’s no a Chris Morris , but Sacha is brilliant .

    Ali G on tv was hilarious, the film wasn’t bad

    Borat, whose character I wasn’t gone on while on Ali G tv, was a fantastic film

    Bruno, was really uncomfortable but a funny film. Crazy

    The Dictator was fanatic despite the meh reviews .

    The latest stuff he did was funny enough, didn’t appeal to me too much


  • #98
    Randy Archer
    Registered Users Posts: 859 ✭✭✭Randy Archer


    paul71 wrote: »
    It took me years to appreciate him. When I first saw Ali-G I did not know he was played a character and was kind of aware of him in the background not something I sought out to watch. Borat was a revelation. I'd love to see him do an Irish theme, I'd say we would hate it and love it.

    Check YouTube, Ali G did Northern Ireland for his tv show. I know you said Borat , but I doubt it would be much different

    He couldn’t do it now as his characters are too well known


  • #99
    sweet_trip
    Closed Accounts Posts: 275 ✭✭sweet_trip


    Who is America was amazing and hilarious.

    Really just showed how batshít insane the US is. Highly recommend you watch it if you haven't seen it.


    iirc it sparked an FBI investigation after he uncovered a pedophile ring while filming it too.


  • #100
    jimmycrackcorm
    Registered Users Posts: 14,329 ✭✭✭✭jimmycrackcorm


    His takedown of the DuPs Sammy Wilson was awesome...

    "So you is on holiday here?"


  • #101
    timthumbni
    Registered Users Posts: 4,845 ✭✭✭timthumbni


    Zebra3 wrote: »
    Kazakhs were furious about his racist attitudes towards them and it was no parody. It was about portraying Kazakhs and muslims as backwards people.



    He was in his hole doing that.

    You appear to be the sort of person that would think that Till Death do us part was racist and taking the piss out of black people and Asians. It was actually the racists they were taking the piss out of.

    SBC is exactly the same. I know the Kazakhs were annoyed at the start but a lot then changed their minds as it actually hugely boosted their tourism. I can’t believe anyone thinks that SBC is really a racist when what he does in nearly every show is exposes racists and idiots.


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  • #102
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    sweet_trip wrote: »
    Who is America was amazing and hilarious.

    Really just showed how batshít insane the US is. Highly recommend you watch it if you haven't seen it.


    iirc it sparked an FBI investigation after he uncovered a pedophile ring while filming it too.


    Check out 'all gas no brakes' on the YouTube..

    Thank me later..


  • #103
    Thesiger
    Registered Users Posts: 443 ✭✭Thesiger


    Zebra3 wrote: »
    Interesting that he did racist stereos types against people from Kazakhstan and muslims and it was "genius".

    Now imagine he had try to do the same about Israelis/jews.

    He made Borat at a time when islamophobia was on the rise, and he exploited it to the full.

    Did you miss his Erran Morad character?

    https://youtu.be/efbQmrMfzlc


  • #104
    Obvious Desperate Breakfasts
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,474 ✭✭✭Obvious Desperate Breakfasts


    The White Wolf wrote: »
    Ali G was peak Sacha I think. Pulled off some amazing strokes without the gross out moments of Borat (still easily his second best creation) and Bruno.

    When he sticks to the artful takedown such as with "Throw the Jews down the Well" no one living really touches him. That's why it amazes me that the same bloke will give us utter bollox like The Brothers Grimsby. I can only assume such ventures are purely for the pay cheque.

    Have to say, Borat was always my favourite character of his. I loved when he showed up on Ali G (or was it The Eleven O’Clock Show?). I was way more excited about there being a Borat film than an Ali G one. And I just think Borat had legs as a character more than Ali G, who could be a bit one-note.


  • #105
    CrankyHaus
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,281 ✭✭✭CrankyHaus


    He's genius. Nobody can touch him at the stuff he does best.

    His recent call for online censorship was ridiculous though.
    He'd never have had a career of it existed when he was active.


  • #106
    Obvious Desperate Breakfasts
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,474 ✭✭✭Obvious Desperate Breakfasts


    Ironman76 wrote: »
    Borat is the most I have ever laughed at the cinema. It was absolute genius.

    I agree that when he gets it right he hits an absolute home run.

    It’s funny from the very first thing he utters in the film (“My name a Borat. I like you. I like sex. It’s nice”) to the very end. Good to the last drop. Which is pretty rare even for comedy films.


  • #107
    king_of_mayo
    Closed Accounts Posts: 127 ✭✭king_of_mayo


    I worked with a Kazakh last year. Good guy and boy did he hate Borat. And I couldn't blame him, stupid "potassium" jibes and other quotes were a near daily occurrence.

    I like Bruno but not any of his other stuff.


  • #108
    Dub Ste
    Registered Users Posts: 479 ✭✭Dub Ste


    TheDavester wrote: »
    it wouldve been interesting to see him as Freddie Mercury, as it was initially him and not Remi Malek, but i think queen didnt want him to turn it into a r rated movie

    I think I read somewhere that he wanted to do a more realistic portrayal of Freddie, rather than the version that we got in the movie.

    Would have been very interesting indeed.......


  • #109
    Obvious Desperate Breakfasts
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,474 ✭✭✭Obvious Desperate Breakfasts


    Zebra3 wrote: »
    Interesting that he did racist stereos types against people from Kazakhstan and muslims and it was "genius".

    Now imagine he had try to do the same about Israelis/jews.

    He made Borat at a time when islamophobia was on the rise, and he exploited it to the full.

    Ahhhh, what? You haven’t seen Borat, have you? The character is openly anti-Semetic. I can’t even remember the bits where he commented on Islam. The character makes a lot of comments about Jews. That’s what I mostly remember about the film. It even prompted questions at the time of whether Baron Cohen was a self-hating Jew. And Borat is an unnamed Christian denomination himself, not Muslim. When he’s afraid of the Jewish B&B owners, he holding a cross. So Borat being portrayed as backward wasn’t Islamophobic either.
    Dj Stiggie wrote: »
    He interviewed Dick Cheney as an Israeli general and told him what a hero he was and got him to sign his waterboarding gear.

    Borat featured the "Running of the Jew" and plenty of anti-Semitic slurs. Did you even see it?

    My thoughts too!


  • #110
    CrankyHaus
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,281 ✭✭✭CrankyHaus


    Obvious Desperate Breakfasts wrote: »
    Ahhhh, what? You haven’t seen Borat, have you? The character is openly anti-Semetic. I can’t even remember the bits where he commented on Islam. The character makes a lot of comments about Jews. That’s what I mostly remember about the film. It even prompted questions at the time of whether Baron Cohen was a self-hating Jew. And Borat is an unnamed Christian denomination himself, not Muslim. When he’s afraid of the Jewish B&B owners, he holding a cross. So Borat being portrayed as backward wasn’t Islamophobic either.

    Much as I enjoyed Borat it was, to put it mildly, unfair to portray Kazakhs as he did, and make a fortune from doing so. He would have never gotten away with portraying a better represented group in that way, so he found one that he could ridicule with impunity like a school bully hunting out the weakest kid.
    Brilliant comedy though, and I appreciate what he was doing in highlighting shallowly hidden prejudices and apathetic consent towards such prejudice.


  • #111
    Thesiger
    Registered Users Posts: 443 ✭✭Thesiger


    CrankyHaus wrote: »
    He would have never gotten away with portraying a better represented group in that way, so he found one that he could ridicule with impunity like a school bully hunting out the weakest kid.

    Yeah but it needed to be a really obscure country that no American knew anything about for it to work. He could have picked any of those Central Asian ‘Stans, just unlucky for Kazakhstan.


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  • #112
    Thesiger
    Registered Users Posts: 443 ✭✭Thesiger


    Obvious Desperate Breakfasts wrote: »
    Ahhhh, what? You haven’t seen Borat, have you? The character is openly anti-Semetic. I can’t even remember the bits where he commented on Islam. The character makes a lot of comments about Jews. That’s what I mostly remember about the film. It even prompted questions at the time of whether Baron Cohen was a self-hating Jew. And Borat is an unnamed Christian denomination himself, not Muslim. When he’s afraid of the Jewish B&B owners, he holding a cross. So Borat being portrayed as backward wasn’t Islamophobic either.

    I though Borat once said he “follows the Hawk”?

    Anyway the portrayal of Borat is mostly a parody of the stereotypical ignorant and antisemitic Slavic peasantry of the late Russian Empire. Nothing really to do with Islam or Muslims at all.


  • #113
    pickarooney
    Moderators, Arts Moderators Posts: 35,087 Mod ✭✭✭✭pickarooney


    Strumms wrote: »
    It’s a weird one... she’s well.. stunning and well he’s... Sacha Barron Cohen


    Bit of the ‘odd couple’ about that one in every aspect.

    She's not all that and he's seriously handsome, talented, fit... I'm not sure how people don't see that.


  • #114
    CrankyHaus
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,281 ✭✭✭CrankyHaus


    Thesiger wrote: »
    Yeah but it needed to be a really obscure country that no American knew anything about for it to work. He could have picked any of those Central Asian ‘Stans, just unlucky for Kazakhstan.

    True. It still gives me a laugh. I was watching S3 of the Ali G Show recently and when he keeps on bringing up a 1992 massacre of Uzbeks, for a 10 minutes silence at a town hall or a new age painting, and then clarifies that he is celebrating it as a joyous occasion gets me laughing every time


  • #115
    scamalert
    Registered Users Posts: 3,739 ✭✭✭scamalert


    well if you look at some of his early actings such as ali-g it was on top at the time, ex the Beckham interview, his movies were a bit hit and miss yet over the years he did evolve into better actor, and the comedy seems brought him fame in general.




  • #116
    El_Duderino 09
    Registered Users Posts: 19,922 ✭✭✭✭El_Duderino 09


    CrankyHaus wrote: »
    Much as I enjoyed Borat it was, to put it mildly, unfair to portray Kazakhs as he did, and make a fortune from doing so. He would have never gotten away with portraying a better represented group in that way, so he found one that he could ridicule with impunity like a school bully hunting out the weakest kid.
    Brilliant comedy though, and I appreciate what he was doing in highlighting shallowly hidden prejudices and apathetic consent towards such prejudice.

    Yeah you can't really do parody on any topic if the audience doesn't know anything about the topic. I gathered it was just jokes and the scenes set in Kazakhstan could have been anywhere as far as I knew because I don't know anything about Kazakhstan.

    It's like when foreigners do potato jokes to Irish people - not generally funny at all. But one person who does good Irish jokes is Steve Coogan. It's clear he actually knows about Ireland (he lives in Mayo) when he does his Irish jokes as Alan Partridge and the character he played in Moone Boy, Michael (Touchy) Feeley.


  • #117
    YFlyer
    Registered Users Posts: 9,717 ✭✭✭YFlyer


    paul71 wrote: »
    It took me years to appreciate him. When I first saw Ali-G I did not know he was played a character and was kind of aware of him in the background not something I sought out to watch. Borat was a revelation. I'd love to see him do an Irish theme, I'd say we would hate it and love it.

    Like Steve Coogan portraying Gerry Adams?


  • #118
    ziedth
    Moderators, Entertainment Moderators, Regional South East Moderators Posts: 9,081 Mod ✭✭✭✭ziedth


    Obvious Desperate Breakfasts wrote: »
    It’s funny from the very first thing he utters in the film (“My name a Borat. I like you. I like sex. It’s nice”) to the very end. Good to the last drop. Which is pretty rare even for comedy films.

    I was never a fan of Ali G as such and begrudgingly went to see Borat only because I read the good reviews. I have never ever enjoyed a cinema experience as much because it was so unexpected.... my sides hurt from laughing. The scene towards the start "The Running of the Jew" had me in pure belly laughing for so long that I missed easily the next 10 minutes of the movie...... I would just about get it together and then think of "Yes yes she's laying a jew egg" and off I would go again. I would go as far as to say something broke inside of me for that time. Easily the best comedy I have ever seen.

    His films following that haven't lived up to that standard but I still got a good laugh here and there out of Bruno and This is America.


  • #119
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 13,712 ✭✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    This is one of my favourite SBC clips

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-gjf4WnkiI


  • #120
    Obvious Desperate Breakfasts
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,474 ✭✭✭Obvious Desperate Breakfasts


    ziedth wrote: »
    I was never a fan of Ali G as such and begrudgingly went to see Borat only because I read the good reviews. I have never ever enjoyed a cinema experience as much because it was so unexpected.... my sides hurt from laughing. The scene towards the start "The Running of the Jew" had me in pure belly laughing for so long that I missed easily the next 10 minutes of the movie...... I would just about get it together and then think of "Yes yes she's laying a jew egg" and off I would go again. I would go as far as to say something broke inside of me for that time. Easily the best comedy I have ever seen.

    His films following that haven't lived up to that standard but I still got a good laugh here and there out of Bruno and This is America.

    Yeah, I wasn’t really an Ali G fan. I did always like Borat whenever he turned up on TV shows but I wasn’t expecting the film to be as good as it was. What a great surprise. To this day, my sister and I recreate the bit where Borat is awkwardly using the escalator whenever we’re on one.

    Nothing he has done since has been as funny but I’d be pretty proud to have that as my career high point.


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  • #121
    El_Duderino 09
    Registered Users Posts: 19,922 ✭✭✭✭El_Duderino 09


    A Tyrant Named Miltiades! wrote: »
    This is one of my favourite SBC clips

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-gjf4WnkiI

    That character is funny but it's not a good interview because Sanders played it straight. He got frustrated but he didn't make a fool of himself. Although the character is funny I'd class that I yer view as a fail. He just takes the p1ss out of an unwilling participant by saying ridiculous things to them. When he gets the participant to expose themself by doing something ridiculous, that's a win.


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