Margaret Cho: I'm the One That I Want

Margaret Cho is a Genius. She has the uncanny ability to talk about very sensitive issues (racism, self image, family, cruelty in the entertainment industry, and of course sex in all of its forms), and make them accessible through sheer hilarity. Her timing is impeccable, her imitations uproarious, and her candor admirable. This movie is an autobiographical account of her life including the failure of her sit-com. Through it all, she is able to show her audience a great deal of vulnerability, and still come out triumphant. I laughed so hard I thought I had gone through a 90 minute abdominal workout.

I gave this film a 10 rating. I struggled with that, because although I feel that this comedy film is truly outstanding, the pace through me off for a moment or two. She comes on stage in a flash of energy and dives right in with the one liners. I had tears in my eyes. But then around the middle, the stories became more involved, not so funny. But then she gets the motor going again at the end.

The fact is Margaret Cho is the funniest woman alive. I identify with her life so much it scares me. The mother-answering-machine jokes are pee-in-your-pants funny, although a little too long in the tooth. The main reason I gave this film a 10 out of 10 is mainly for the brutal honesty Margaret gives the audience. She can't be making this stuff up!

Some of the highlights of the show are: "Lesbians love whale watching!", " Am I Gay? Am I Straight? No, I'm just easy. Where's my parade?" and the always laughable, "A**Masters" skit. Always a crowd favorite.

After I rented this movie, I went right to the web and bought this disc. I highly recommend this flick to any fan of stand up comedy. The special features are worth the purchase price.

As a fan of her for several years now, I feel that her performance in "I'm the One That I Want" isn't as well-paced and sharply, unrelentingly funny as her previous stand-up performances. She seems to "ham-it-up" a lot more in this performance. Also, whereas in past stand-up performances, the laughs would come rapid-fire, one after another (I guess because of time-restraints), Margaret seems to be stretching out her jokes a little too long, either through repeating the same thing over and over (e.g.the "vagina-washer" bit, "fag-hag") or by making silly faces and ogling at the camera.

This is not to say that this movie isn't funny, there are some bits that are absolutely hilarious. Her best material is the stuff regarding Asians, such as the prejudice and stereotyping (e.g. The Margaret Cho Rice Diet, the "Asian Thing") and her impressions of her decidedly ethnic Korean mother. While I used to like her material about gays, it seems like she hams it up a little too much here, and is specifically playing it up for her large gay audience. It feels more forced in this performance. That being said, "Ass master" still made me laugh till I cried.

All in all, a good performance with some rather sad and touching(but not necessarily funny) material about her ordeal with her failed sitcom. She is becoming little too much "drama-queen" or "diva" though and it takes a toll on her humor. I liked her "raunchy, rebellious, F the system, Asian-chick" persona much better.

Actress/comedienne Margaret Cho's 1999 concert, filmed before a live audience in San Francisco, catches the wonderfully embittered (and yet still hopeful) comic genius at a professional peak. Regaling against the Hollywood machinery which nearly put her away for good, Cho masterfully segues from stories about her failed TV-sitcom "All American Girl" to side stories and family memories which gives her main theme--being true to yourself--more depth and punch. Smartly opening with rebel grrl music, Cho appears on-stage without any gimmicks (her follow-up concert, "Notorious C. H. O.", added a back-screen which was probably helpful to that audience but a distraction for movie viewers). This concert keeps getting better, with the funniest of the jokes becoming staples in Cho's repertoire. *** from ****

Ahhh, you're in for a treat. This woman has something to say and she says it in the best ways possible-- funny, edgy, self-effacing, step off buddy, been-there and Hi, I'm baaaack.

And just in time. I love you, Margaret Cho. I've heard the ass master bit fifteen, twenty times, and you still make me laugh. God bless you.

It's interesting how easily male stand-up comedians slip into their eponymous network sitcoms, and how difficult it is to fit a female comedian into one. Cho gives us her story, and then she gives us her new mantra-- I'm the one that I want. This is the kind of tape you'll want to have around, not necessarily because of the humor, but because of the message. If you've never heard of Margaret Cho, then know that she is one of the best around. A 'must see'.