Ali G

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Ali G, delivering the Class Day speech to the Harvard class of 2004.

Ali G (born 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.

History

Ali G first appeared on Channel 4's Eleven O'Clock show as the "voice of da yoof" in 1998. He interviewed various public figures in the United Kingdom.

One particularly memorable interview occurred with fashion designer Max 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 Gerryl Robinson with the question, "Why is it that everything you fund is so crap?"

Ali G was featured as a limousine driver in Madonna's video, "Music,"[1] and subsequently recorded his own record with reggae/pop performer Shaggy.[2] 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. 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 was featured 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.

Background

Ali G (Alistair Graham) is a gang member of the "West Staines Massiv", and 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 in Staines. Staines is a middle-class 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. Just the same, he purports to exemplify gangsta culture.

Notable people interviewed by Ali G

External links

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