Carrie Fisher: Wishful Drinking

I'm surprised with such negative reviews here. In a time where we are bombarded with so-called reality TV I find this one woman show has put the "real" in reality TV. Carrie Fisher covers her life from the beginning through current times leaving nothing to the imagination. This is certainly not a perfect world and she shows us her faults as well as those who have been a part of life. Given how far her family tree reaches into the world of celebrity it's amazing she has any scope of the real world. The show is at times sad as well as unbelievable. I didn't find it to be cruel, rude or obnoxious in any way. What is here is her life story filled with good times and bad, as all of us have, though hers has been in the public eye. Ms Fisher purposefully gives us plenty of under and overtones of comedy, be it tragic or all out slapstick. An enjoyable show to say the least.

The 1-2 punch of Carrie Fisher's and Debbie Reynolds' deaths was a fitting, but tragic, end to a year unprecedented in the number of famous/recognizable people who passed on. And for nerds, Carrie's death cut especially deep. As is the case when a celebrity dies, interest in their work surges for a time as people re-explore (or discover for the first time) why we fell in love with these people in the first place. Like most people, I'm familiar with Carrie Fisher through her work as Princess Leia in the Star Wars franchise, but only recently did I realize that she was a prolific writer. WISHFUL DRINKING was her first directly autobiographical work, based on a life which many people might envy if it weren't for all of the mental illness, drug addiction, etc. And based on this stand-up special, she was also a brilliant comedienne. Essentially a chronological overview of her life, it was filled with hilarious anecdotes and delivered with her trademark self-deprecation. Rarely have laughter and sadness coexisted so closely. And now that she's gone, the ending takes on a new poignancy. If you're a Carrie Fisher fan, I highly recommend checking this out if you haven't already (and her books, too).

The HBO taped production based on Carrie Fisher's memoir of the same name. Wow, what a life. Makes me want to read the book to see what didn't make the documentary. Eddie Fisher passed shortly after the taping and is dedicated to him. On the DVD version there is an hour long interview with her mother, Debbie Reynolds that was fascinating! Now Carrie is a star in the galaxy, interesting documentary for certain!

For some odd reason I never was aware of Carrie's "Wishful Drinking" show before after her untimely passing. So when I did happen to find it, I jumped at the chance to watch this. And I was sort of thrilled, because I have never seen her perform in something like this, much less did I actually know that she also did this kind of work.

It turned out that "Wishful Drinking" was a nice show on a couple of different levels. First and foremost, it was nice and open view into Carrie's life, past and struggles, and she didn't really wrap much in bubble wrap. And it was also a fun show, with a good amount of laughs and enjoyment.

I was genuinely surprised to see Carrie do this, and must admit that she excelled at it, and she felt very much at home on the stage. Watching "Wishful Drinking" does offer a good look into the real Carrie Fisher, especially if you haven't read her autobiographies beforehand. There are some very personal issues being aired, and they are delivered with honesty and often an approach that is spiced up with a pinch of comedy.

Now, this is not a stand-up comedy routine, so you should not expect that kind of show if you sit down to watch this without knowing what it is about.

"Wishful Drinking" is a very honest show, and one that all fans of Carrie Fisher should take the time to watch.

Carrie Fisher's one woman show is, in a word, hilarious.

Fisher tells it all, growing up in Hollywood, having Eddie Fisher for a father, the Liz-Debbie-Eddie triangle, Princess Leia, her drug addiction, and her "invitation to a mental hospital." She gives us a look via a big board of Hollywood Genealogy 101 ("but don't worry, Eddie wasn't alone for long...") filled with pictures and arrows of her parents, their spouses, their children, and her own two marriages and daughter, trying to find out if her daughter and another young man on the board could date, or were they, in fact, related?

Due to his retention of the Star Wars licensing, Fisher advises us that George Lucas owns her image and likeness so that "every time I look in the mirror, I have to pay him a few bucks." And she tells the audience, "If you have a chance to be a Pez dispenser, DO IT."

All in all, a fun evening, obviously from the mind that brought us the entertaining "Postcards from the Edge." Fisher sees the irony in life and mines it up and down roller coaster ride for all the humor there is. She is, after all, the daughter of Debbie Reynolds, who was nominated for an Oscar for "The Unsinkable Molly Brown"..."but lost to Julie Andrews for her multilayered, emotional, deep performance of Mary Poppins."