Is this turning into a comedy blog? Funny how strings of posts sometimes reflect my preoccupations that week.... Anyway, Borat's in Gotham, & he's been spotted...

New York magazine reports he was spotted on the 4 train, "lunging in to kiss surprised men and introducing himself in broken English as 'Borat from Kazakhstan.'" Of course, the "Borat" part was a giveaway, as was the semi-discreet entourage ("ten men, dressed to blend in with jeans, T-shirts, and nondescript backpacks or briefcases with camouflaged cameras")

And while we're talking about Ali G... Here's the scoop on the multiple ways to (mis) understand this act & his appeal, courtesy of Screen Online:

Among the most controversial figures of recent years is Ali G, created by white, Jewish comedian Sacha Baron-Cohen. Depending on your point of view, Ali is a white man playing a Black man to ridicule Black youth culture, a white man playing a white man desperate to appear Black in order to look cool, or even a white man playing an Asian man trying to appear black. Ali G has divided commentators, but he continues to attract huge audiences, many of them Black, who just think he's funny.