Physical comedy is a form of comedy focused on manipulation of the body for a humorous effect. It can include slapstick, clowning, mime, physical stunts, or making funny faces.
Peter Baynham is a Welsh screenwriter and performer. He appeared in a series of comedic Pot Noodle television adverts in the 1990s. His writing work includes collaborations with comedy figures such as Armando Iannucci, Steve Coogan, Chris Morris, Sacha Baron Cohen, and Sarah Smith. Born in Cardiff, Baynham served in the Merchant Navy after leaving school and later pursued a career in comedy — first in stand-up, and then as a writer and performer for various news and sketch comedies in radio and television while enjoying personal fame starring in Pot Noodle adverts. He then became a writer in feature film.
Da Ali G Show is an English satirical sketch comedy television series created by and starring English comedian Sacha Baron Cohen. In the series, Baron Cohen plays three unorthodox journalists: faux-streetwise poseur Ali G, Kazakh reporter Borat Sagdiyev, and gay Austrian fashion enthusiast Brüno Gehard. These characters conduct real interviews with unsuspecting people, many of whom are celebrities, high-ranking government officials, and other well-known figures, during which they are asked absurd and ridiculous questions.
Borat Margaret Sagdiyev is a satirical fictional character created and performed by Sacha Baron Cohen. Depicted as a Kazakh television journalist, the character serves as the main protagonist of the mockumentary Borat! Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006) and its sequel Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2020), and a main character of Da Ali G Show.
Paul Christian Scheer is an American comedian, actor, filmmaker, and podcaster. Scheer is best known for his roles in FX/FXX's The League and Showtime's comedy series Black Monday. Scheer also co-created and starred in MTV's Human Giant and Adult Swim's series NTSF:SD:SUV::, and has had recurring roles on ABC's Fresh Off the Boat and HBO's Veep. He is also known for voicing Chip Whistler in Disney’s Big City Greens.
Aziz Ismail Ansari is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is known for his role as Tom Haverford on the NBC series Parks and Recreation (2009–2015) and as creator and star of the Netflix series Master of None (2015–2021) for which he won several acting and writing awards, including two Emmys and a Golden Globe, which was the first award received by an Asian American actor for acting on television.
Borat! Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, or simply Borat, is a 2006 mockumentary black comedy film directed by Larry Charles and starring Sacha Baron Cohen. Baron Cohen plays the leading role of Borat Sagdiyev, a fictional Kazakhstani journalist who travels through the United States to make a documentary which features real-life interactions with Americans. Much of the film features unscripted vignettes of Borat interviewing and interacting with real-life Americans who believe he is a foreigner with little or no understanding of American customs. It is the second of four films built around Baron Cohen's characters from Da Ali G Show (2000–2004): the first, Ali G Indahouse, was released in 2002, and featured a cameo by Borat; the third, Brüno, was released in 2009; and the sequel to Borat, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, was released in 2020.
Borat is a 2006 mockumentary comedy film directed by Larry Charles.
Daniel Gideon Mazer is a British director, screenwriter, producer, and comedian. He is best known as the long-time writing and production partner of comedian Sacha Baron Cohen and worked with him on his three unorthodox characters Ali G, Borat, and Brüno. He also co-wrote and co-produced the films based on Baron Cohen's characters such as Ali G Indahouse, Borat, and Brüno.
Human Giant is a sketch comedy show starring writer/performers Aziz Ansari, Rob Huebel, and Paul Scheer, and directed primarily by Jason Woliner. The show ran for two seasons on MTV. In 2008, the group was offered a third season and was reportedly developing a feature film with Red Hour Productions, but these projects did not transpire due to Ansari's commitments to starring in the NBC show Parks and Recreation. In 2010, Ansari, Huebel and Scheer reunited to do a skit for the 2010 MTV Movie Awards.
James Bobin is a British filmmaker. He worked as a director and writer on Da Ali G Show and helped create the characters of Ali G, Borat, and Brüno. With Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement, he co-created Flight of the Conchords. He directed the feature films The Muppets (2011), Muppets Most Wanted (2014), and Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016) from Disney, and Dora and the Lost City of Gold (2019) from Paramount Pictures.
Brett Gelman is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his role as Murray Bauman in Netflix's horror-supernatural series Stranger Things and as Martin in the BBC comedy Fleabag.
Jena Friedman is an American comedian and writer. She is the host of the comedic true-crime series Indefensible on AMC+. She has been a field producer at The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and has written for Late Show with David Letterman. She is the creator of Soft Focus with Jena Friedman for Adult Swim, the first installment of which premiered in February 2018.
Dinner with Friends with Brett Gelman and Friends is a 2014 American television special created and written by Brett Gelman and Jason Woliner for Adult Swim. The special features Brett Gelman as a demented version of himself, along with several guests, who also play fictionalized characters of themselves. Gelman and Woliner had frequently collaborated on other projects before producing the special.
Janicza Bravo is an American film director, film producer, and screenwriter. Her films include Gregory Go Boom, a winner of the short-film jury award at the Sundance Film Festival; Lemon, co-written with Brett Gelman; and Zola, co-written with playwright Jeremy O. Harris.
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, or simply Borat Subsequent Moviefilm or Borat 2, is a 2020 mockumentary black comedy film directed by Jason Woliner. The film stars Sacha Baron Cohen as the fictional Kazakh journalist and television personality Borat Sagdiyev, and Maria Bakalova as his daughter Tutar, who is to be offered as a bride to then–U.S. vice president Mike Pence during the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 presidential election. It is a sequel to 2006's Borat! Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.
Maria Valcheva Bakalova is a Bulgarian actress. She rose to prominence after starring in the 2020 mockumentary film Borat Subsequent Moviefilm. Her performance in the film earned her various accolades, including a Critics' Choice Award and nominations for an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award.
Paul T. Goldman is an American true crime documentary television miniseries directed by Jason Woliner. The show revolves around Paul Finkelman, a man who uncovers fraud and deception caused by his ex-wife. According to Vulture, the show is "an inscrutable blend of true crime and true-crime satire, documentary storytelling, and dramatized reenactments" of Finkelman's life." It premiered on January 1, 2023 on Peacock.
