Sacha Baron Cohen revives character for stand-up shows

Sacha Baron Cohen plans to revive Ali G for some live shows.

The comedian performed a secret gig at the Comedy Store in Sydney this summer – and now says he wants to do more.

‘I just wanted to get on stage and muck around and see what Ali G would be like with a crowd,’ the 49-year-old said of his Australian appearances. ‘It was really good fun’

And asked by GQ magazine if he would do it again, he said: ‘Yes, I think I would. Because the reason I became a comedian was that I loved people laughing at my jokes.

‘To actually hear laughter is a rare thing for me. When I do the movies, I think it is funny, but I have to wait three months to hear an audience laugh.’

Ali G, first appeared on Channel 4’s The 11 O’Clock Show in 1998 as was given his own programme, Da Ali G Show, two years later, in which he tricked unsuspecting public figures with a series of stupid questions.

Fourteen years ago Baron Cohen said he would retire Ali G  because he had become too recognisable to fool people, noting that even the Queen Mother was able to do an impression of his alter ego.

But he has occasionally dusted down the leader of Da West Staines Massiv for public appearances.  In May this year Baron Cohen accepted the  Comedic Genius accolade at the MTV awards in the guise of Ali G, among others.

He now tells GQ – which last week award him their Icon award – that ‘the idea, really, is to give up all my undercover work now’ – after getting into some worryingly tight scrapes while shooting the  Borat Subsequent Moviefilm.

Baron Cohen earned an Oscar nomination this year for playing civil rights activist Abbie Hoffman in Aaron Sorkin’s film The Trial Of The Chicago 7, and said of such work:  ‘It is a lot easier, more pleasurable and you don’t have to wear a bulletproof vest when going to work’

The comedian has spent most of lockdown living in Sydney with actress wife Isla Fisher and their three children. Audiences at his show in the city had to put their phones in secure pouches so it couldn’t be filmed, although reports of his surprise show still leaked out.

Published: 5 Sep 2021