borat

You read that headline correctly: the current issue of Rolling Stone has an interview with comedian Sacha Baron Cohen. Not Borat, not Ali G, not even the somewhat clueless version of himself that he projected when he was promoting Talladega Nights. For some reason, the ever-elusive Cohen decided to bare all and speak to writer Neil Strauss, who's sold a lot of books by putting on a character himself.

In the excerpt that RS has posted online, we learn a few interesting things: for instance, we've known for some time that Cohen is Jewish, but here we learn that he's so observant that he keeps kosher and observes Shabbos (you'll never see him on Friday nights or Saturday during the day). We also find out that he's a bit reserved and would rather be plying his comedic trade behind his characters' faces than do anything on his own. It's an interesting read that makes me want to actually pick up the dead-trees version to read the entire article, which is saying something in this web-centric world.

With the Village Voice reporting on the general lameness of SNL's afterparties these days, it figures that it took two British dudes to shake things up post-show. When Hugh Laurie and Sacha Baron Cohen hit a local bar after their SNL appearance, Cohen - still in his Borat character - couldn't resist messing around with the locals on the walk over. Unfortunately he messed with the wrong local.

British newspaper The Sun is reporting that he tried to buy a man's clothes saying, "I like your clothings. Are nice! Please may I buying? I want have sex with." I wonder which part the guy didn't find funny? He was so offended that he punched Cohen in the face and continued punching him. Who came to his rescue? None other than Dr. House, who pushed the attacker away and helped Cohen to his feet. Cohen received no lasting bruises, and I'm sure if there was something internal House would have noticed right away.

You got to give it to the guy for staying in character even in off hours, but for his own safety, maybe it's time the real Sacha Baron Cohen please stand up.

Thanks to TV Squad reader Chris W for the tip.

Remember the '90s, that golden age of the internet when hamsters danced, there were mullets galore, sexually ambiguous men dressed as Peter Pan, all our base were belong to somebody, and a man from Turkey offered his lips to the online world? Those were good times. Now one of those long lost remnants of Web's past have returned, and we can thank Borat for it. It seems that Mahir Cagri of "I Kiss You!" internet fame feels that Borat, the character created by comedian Sacha Baron Cohen for HBO's Da Ali G Show, and the star of the new film, Borat: Culture Leanings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, is based on him. In an e-mail and brief interview with Wired, Cagri said he planned to seek legal action against Borat, and that "sometimes, I been no mustache." I think that goes to show that no matter how separated we are by geography, there are still some things that unite us all, for I have also never been a mustache.

No doubt capitalizing on Borat fever, CBS' broadband channel Innertube is broadcasting the full-length pilot episode of The Papdits created by Da Ali G Show writer and producer Ant Hines. The show's Borat-type premise follows the misadventures of a family from Kashmir as they interact with Americans while looking for the perfect place to settle and make their fortune. Their journey begins in Arkansas.

The show, again like Borat, is a comedy/reality hybrid. You've got mockumentary, talking head shots like The Office, but also scenes in which the actors are improvising off of unwitting American dupes. The Papdits perpetuate that uncomfortable, cringe-inducing humor we've all come to know and love.

Those of you who saw Borat last weekend probably also saw the incredibly hilarious trailer for the Reno 911! movie, called Reno 911: Miami. In the film, the team goes to Miami for a law enforcement convention and then ends up taking over for the Miami PD. From Dangle's short shorts to Wiegel's trash-talking on the beach... you're gonna love it. Plus, the whole cast of MTV's The State makes an appearance. The trailer is now up exclusively on Australian Yahoo! and it plays kinda crappy on a Mac (where's the love, y'all?).

I'm getting conflicting reports about when it will be released: Wikipedia says it's February 23rd, but Whitney at USA Today says it's not until May 10. Unfortunately, the Reno 911! fan site hasn't been updated in a year so it was no help. If you know a release date, put it in the comments!

*Update: Thanks, Whitney! The movie comes out in the states on February 23rd.

As part of The Daily Show''s good-bye to Ohio State University, a few of the correspondents donned OSU gear and talked about how much fun they had during the past week. However, Rob Riggle put on some Michigan gear and pretty much made the entire crowd want to kill him. What a brave, brave man.

John Hodgman, Daily Show Resident Expert and second busiest man alive (after Flavor Flav, because going through an intense book tour is just slightly less taxing than Flavor of Love), dropped by to talk about the new computerized voting methods. "These new voting machines are SHINY. They go beep and boop." This segment got me thinking... Which would be more awesome? The Diebold Transformer or the Diebold Accuclaw?

With the release of Borat this Friday to movie theaters around America, HBO wants to remind you that they were the ones who gave U.S. audiences a look at the lovable Sacha Baron Cohen character that appeared regularly on Da Ali G Show. So, with that in mind, the network is going to go Borat crazy over the next two weeks.

It will begin this upcoming Saturday when HBO airs all 12 episodes of Ali G not once, but twice. The run of episodes (I get tired of saying marathon because it really isn't) will begin at noon and end at 6:00 PM. Then, the network will air eight episodes on Monday (from 9:00 pm to 1:00 am) and four on Tuesday (8:00 pm to 10:00 pm). If you miss those episodes they will be available on HBO on Demand from November until late January.

One can hope that the media blitz on this new movie as well as the word on the street makes Borat the hit of the year in the theaters. We shall see come this Friday.

If you're like me, you think about a Halloween costume at the very last minute. This year, if I suddenly need to dress up, I may go to Forbes.com and . The financial website has printable face masks for all sorts of famous figures, including Stephen ColbertKatie Couric (although, it's the old Katie Couric and it's scary).

There's also a Lindsay Lohan mask-- which looks more like Kate Bosworth if you ask me-- and a Borat mask. For the politically minded, there's Kim Jong Il, and for the people who like to make others uncomfortable, there's always Rep. Mark Foley. Blackberry not included.

That was quite an impressive lineup of comics on Comedy Central last night, eh? The Night of Too Many Stars was a benefit for autism charities that attracted the likes of Jon Stewart (who hosted), Steve Carell, David Cross, Bob Odenkirk, Jerry Seinfeld, Borat, Will Ferrell, Triumph The Insult Comic Dog, and many others.

CCInsider (that's the Comedy Central site for video and other content) has some great clips of the event, including Cross and Odenkirk's banter about American Idol-type shows, Triumph singing about people like Star Jones and Kathie Lee Gifford, Ricky Gervais' routine about not doing enough for charity, and Jimmy Fallon impersonating Bee Gee Barry Gibb during the auction part of the show.

OK, so I'm not really sure what's up with Fallon's Gibb impersonation. Does Gibb really dance and do karate moves like that?

[via Best Week Ever]

Cracked, in honor of the upcoming movie with the cumbersome but hilarious title of Borat: Culture Leanings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, have selected their ten favorite Borat clips from HBO's Da Ali G Show. I haven't had HBO in several years, so I was never able to watch The Ali G Show, but thanks to this little site called YouTube I've seen several of Borat's appearances, and I'm convinced Sacha Baron Cohen is a comic genius. By hiding behind the facade of an out-of-his-element foreigner he's able to say some of the most outlandish and offensive things without getting the tar kicked out of him.