Who Is America?stars creator Sacha Baron Cohen as four new characters.
If you ever watched Cohens cult comedyDa Ali G Show, you recognize the format.
Cohens doing accents so unlikely the poor saps onscreen can only assume hes authentic.
Credit: Gavin Bond/Showtime
Nominally, they were deploring Cohens fake-news tactics.
Actually, they were giving free advertising and receiving some, too.
Now I know who Joe Walsh is.
The first episode is hit or miss with big laughs and long humorless pauses.
The basic structure is familiar, a bit tired.
It opens with Cohen in character as Dr. Billy Wayne Roddick Jr., a grotesque of alt-right tropes.
Billy Wayne doesnt understand math, has incoherent thoughts about healthcare, is overweight.
Are we laughing yet?
The bigthingin this scene is the lowest form of modern comedy: Cameo humor,uuuugggghhhh.
Billy Wayne is talking to Senator Bernie Sanders.
You get the vibe that this is not the first interview Sanders had that day.
You wonder if it was even the weirdest.
The second segment features Cohen as Billy Waynes polar opposite.
He hangs out with a southern conservative couple.
The woman is a Trump delegate.
The man is a Trump voter.
Is this Sarah Silvermans whole Hulu thing?
Has every southern household booked a dinner with a curious comedian?
Remember the identical I-voted-for-Jill-Stein jokes inAmerican Horror Story: CultandRoseanne?
The broadest of stereotypes, but they shared an excitable innocence.
You remember thatDa Ali G Showrose to prominence alongsideJackassandPunkd.
Those shows utilized an undercover comedy tactic dating back toCandid Camera.
Now, that tactic is an actual political strategy, utilized by people like James OKeefe.
You wonder if this kind of comedy has hit a dead end, is what Im saying.
Grimsbywasnt perfect and continued a downward box office trajectory for all Cohens star vehicles post-Borat.
(Like: Why is this rich British dude bothering people?)
But theres a rewarding feeling of discovery here, too.
You forget how funny it is to see someone be politely horrified.
Sherman is the most boring of Cohens new characters.
(Like, Cockney seems to be the character summary.)
Shes the picture of SoCal serenity, blonde, smiling.
Oh goodness gracious me, some art world humor!
Fetch the caviar, Farnsworth!
Shermans art is sliced cardboard covered in feces.
But the gallerist, seemingly game for anything, looks at his work with blank awe.
Inspired, he goes to the toilet and produces another piece of art.
Unflappable, she remarks that he might be a genius.
He makes an extremely private request, unprintable for this family-friendly website and shes totally down!
This womans giving a wonderful performance, and it becomes impossible to figure out whos putting on who.
Does the gallerist know that shes on a comedy show?
Its the least political piece of this first episode, and unquestionably the funniest.
I spotted Nathan Fielders name in the end credits.
Hard to figure out his precise contribution; many writers and directors are credited.
Then theres the super political segment.
Morads the one character who arrives as a fully-conceived creation, a cartoon spoof of gun-mad jingo.
(Even just the way hewalksis hilarious.)
Like Cohens earlier characters, Morad is both over-the-top and sly.
So he gets to speak truth to power.
The power looks on, mesmerized.
He promises that a first grader can become a first grenadier.
You wonder who this comedy is for.
You dont imagine anyone involved will feel embarrassed.
Hell, Joe Walsh might start selling First Grenadier T-shirts.
The first politician Cohen speaks to in the segment is Matt Gaetz, a Republican representative from Florida.
On camera, Gaetz is the one person to clock what Cohens up to.
He says that theres no way any politician will support the Kinderguardian program on camera.
Unsurprisingly, Gaetz is the one stooge onWho Is America?to fully endorse the show.
WhenThe Daily Beastspoke to Gaetz, he cheerfully admitted to being fooled.
Gaetz is a big fan of Cohens, actually.
Hes the right age to have discoveredDa Ali Gshow in college, like me.
Hes also a political creature of the moment, eternally willing to appear on televisionto defend President Trump.
Or defend anything, really.
And yes, it was Gaetz whoinvited a Holocaust denier to this years State of the Union speech.
So, of course, Gaetz is stoked about appearing on Cohens show.
Hes on TV, dummy!
Whats wrong with that?
Cohens haphazard comedy instincts feel topical in the worst way.
Some politicians said crazy things on television?
Thats not strange anymore.
