Sacha Baron Cohen is set to revive his famous character Ali G, who brought him into the spotlight during the late 1990s.
Per Variety, Baron Cohen is currently working on a stand-up tour that will feature Ali G’s return, just in time for the 25th anniversary of the character’s debut. Baron Cohen initially portrayed Ali G in 1998 as part of a sketch series named The 11 O’Clock Show, through which the character gained immense popularity conducting satirical interviews of unaware public figures.
Ali G, who leads a crew of fellow wannabe gangsters, is distinguished by his rude boy-style accent and streetwear. Some have accused the character of perpetuating Black stereotypes, though Baron Cohen maintains that he’s a parody of the privileged suburban white youth who appropriate Black culture in England.
During the early 2000s, Baron Cohen leaned more into Ali G with a standalone series called Da Ali G Show, in which he reprised the character and introduced two new fictional journalists: Borat, a Kazakh reporter seemingly unfamiliar with Western culture, and Bruno, an Austrian fashion enthusiast.
Da Ali G Show had a successful three-season run, with HBO picking up the latter two for the US. All three characters later got their own spin-off movies, such as Ali G Indahouse, Bruno, Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, and Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. But don’t expect another movie with Ali G anytime soon, as Baron Cohen is abiding by the terms of the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strikes.
Last December, Baron Cohen also revived Borat to perform a brilliant roast at the 2022 Kennedy Center Honors.