08/10/06 Cho Revolution

Cho Revolution (2004), directed by Lorene Machado

watched w/ Leslie; DVD rental (Blockbuster) @ home

I would like to say that the only reason I even rented this film tonight was to honor a much more important local film festival that I was not going to be able to go to...at which comedienne Margaret Cho would be one of the key performers. The great film festival that I speak of is the North Carolina Gay & Lesbian Film Festival and it had a lot of interesting films being shown. Unfortunately, Leslie & I were packing our luggage for our annual X-Country road trip and needed to stay home with a cozy rental. Since she was performing on stage, I thought...what better (or worse) than to watch one of her previous stand-up routine films to get us in the mood. Well, nothing could have gotten me out of the mood (whatever mood that could have possibly been) quicker than this crap. And speaking of crap...that may have been the only glimmer of funny in her whole routine, when she waxes poetic about the ever pressing social issues of...crapping your pants while sitting in your car on the interstate. Yes, that's about the gist of her performance here...dung, to put it a little more scientifically. I never thought that Cho was all that funny to begin with, but this attempt at stand-up comedy is horrible, and she should quit her day job. Pronto. It's sad to see a cult favorite who is followed so feverishly by fans (when she knows her audience, she sticks with it...never trying to broaden her comedic horizons) become a parody of even themselves. She's a shallow shell of her former self, which in retrospect was never a full comedic self anyway. She plays all of her jokes like kicking a dead horse, whether they be sexual, political, or familial in nature...they are always the same. And when they don't even work here, she drones on with weird noises and antics to get the crowd riled up...and it doesn't work. She bombs, but her fans seem to be so die-hard that they won't let her bomb with dignity...so they egg her on with laughter and applause. I'm sorry, it was a waste of a couple bucks, and I'm so glad that we never wasted any more dinero on seeing her live in concert tonight. Beyond that regret, I'm more sorry that we couldn't find time to make it to a showing of the film festival...which I consider a respectable affair, and one that may show some intelligent insight into the personal life and talented performances that the gay & lesbian population have to offer to the mainstream society. That is the revolution that I would want to be a part of...but lets ditch Cho on our way to the parade!

1 out of 5 stars