Sacha Baron Cohen returns? Image by Getty Images

Consider this — is there any chance that the last year has been so odd because we have actually all been unwitting participants in a Sacha Baron Cohen mockumentary?

Baron Cohen dropped a 20-second teaser trailer on Sunday on Twitter for what looks like a brand new project. This is the second tweet in days from the irreverent comedian that suggests a new, politically-driven project is forthcoming. In the new lo-fi clip, a screen reads “Imagine if Sacha Baron Cohen had been undercover secretly filming a new show for a year.” Then, after a series of fast cuts that includes a anonymous bare butt, an elderly Dick Cheney is shown signing an empty gallon container, which a voice off-screen identifies as a “waterboard.”

“That’s a first!” says Cheney, grinning. “That’s the first time I’ve ever signed a waterboard.”

Variety reports that Baron Cohen is promoting a show he created in the vein of “Da Ali G Show,” which will be distributed by Showtime and premiere on July 15. It seems risky and mildly unfair to suggest that Sacha Baron Cohen, a 46 year-old British Jew and longtime comedian, holds on his shoulders the responsibility for saving the republic if not the world, but it is what it is. If anyone can extract the rumored “pee tape,” we do believe that person is Sacha Baron Cohen.

Godspeed, SBC.

Jenny Singer is the deputy lifestyle editor for the Forward. You can reach her at Singer@forward.com or on Twitter @jeanvaljenny

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