Comedian pranks audience with the help of Grace Cullington

Nov 12, 2013 13:08 GMT  ·  By
Sacha Baron Cohen trips and sends “Grace Cullington” flying off stage at Britannia Awards
   Sacha Baron Cohen trips and sends “Grace Cullington” flying off stage at Britannia Awards

Sacha Baron Cohen, aka one of the funniest and most shameless (according to many) comedians of our time, has done it again, pulling a fast one on audiences at the Britannia Awards 2013, where he was honored with the Charlie Chaplin Britannia for Excellence in Comedy.

Cohen, who has a reputation for not breaking character for the duration of a project, be it a television series (“Ali G”) or a film (pick one), was presented with the award by Salma Hayek and Grace Cullington, aka the oldest woman to have starred with Charlie Chaplin in a silent movie, when she was just 5 years old.

Grace was helped on stage by an assistant, as she was in a wheelchair because of her age, as the video below will confirm.

Salma introduced Sacha for the audience, praising him for his talent and dedication, and citing Chaplin’s words that it takes a lot of courage to make a fool of yourself.

After he walked up on stage, Grace presented him with a cane, which had actually belonged once to Chaplin himself. To the unsuspicious eye, Cohen was so thrilled with his gift that he wanted to recreate some of Chaplin’s most famous move but “tragedy” unfolded when he leaned on the cane and it broke.

The breaking of the cane was actually the start of a chain reaction that ended with Grace being flung off stage face down, wheelchair and all. To say that the audience was shocked is most definitely an understatement and, if you think about it, the whole thing was planned so carefully that probably anyone would have been distraught to see the venerable actress pushed off stage like that.

Cohen carried the joke through, EW informs.

“Grace Cullington is the oldest, no, sorry, was the oldest surviving [Chaplin co-star]. I dedicate my award to her. This is obviously a tragedy. She has upstaged me. But on the bright side, what a great way to go, giving an award to me. Thus, she’ll probably make the Oscars In Memoriam segment,” he said during his acceptance speech.

“I’d like to say a few words to her family: Do not try to sue me. If you decide to get the lawyers involved, I will take you down just like I did your granny. The cane that woman forced on me was clearly defective and I’ve got lots of witnesses. At least 400 in this room and at least 500 watching on TV. Anyway, tonight is not about her, it’s about me,” he continued.

You guessed it, Grace Cullington was a stunt man in excellent makeup. Enjoy!