Ali G

The two main problems with Ali G are, one, that it’s old hat (or old durag if you wish), and, two, that it somehow took hold that the programme was satire. Fair enough, he first appeared on a ‘satirical’ TV show but the joke was always incongruence, the juxtaposition of an expert – or Donald Trump – with a complete idiot. And a very good joke it was. But if it were satire, it must have had a target. Hence the tedious debate about whether Ali G was satirising black people, or white people who think they’re black, or white people who aspire to be black. (The film includes clips from commentators condemning the character for this cultural appropriation – the only one I recognised was Rachel Dolezal.) Ali G: Who Iz I?

Sacha Baron Cohen’s latest series Who Is America? isn’t funny. But then, nor was his terrible 2016 movie The Brothers Grimsby. Nor was his rubbish 2012 film The Dictator. Nor, let’s be honest, were his classic original characters Borat, Brüno or even Ali G. Obviously, they had their moments: the ‘mankini’ — that bizarre, electric green, giant-thong-like swim wear worn by Borat; the classic late-Nineties catchphrase ‘Is it because I is black?’ And sure it must have taken some nerve — even in character — to explain to a clearly impatient and unimpressed Donald Trump his business plan for some anti-drip ice-cream gloves. But how often, even at his best, does Baron Cohen ever make you laugh?