Margaret Cho, a bisexual Korean-American, made her stand-up film debut with 2000's \I'm The One That I Want."" Witty and outrageous, that first foray into concert comedy established Cho's comedic talent. In her second concert comedy film, ""Notorious C.H.O.,"" Cho continues to fashion herself as a comedian in the style of Richard Pryor and Eddie Murphy; however, her act starts to weaken when she tries her hardest.
Unfortunately, the film stumbles at the most important junctures: beginning and end. To convey the cult sense of this concert experience, director Lorene Machado opens the film with a series of pre-show interviews. Numerous flamboyant audience members express their excitement'however, the whole segment just reads as self-congratulatory hype. Of course, this concept rears its head again after the show is over; live audience members unsurprisingly gush over Cho's performance for several minutes afterwards.
However, Cho is undeniably funny. Throughout the film, her Seattle audience barely has time to catch their collective breath before the next hilarious line is delivered. The act is impeccably polished'using precise timing, Cho leads the audience from gag to gag. Her crowd-favorite imitation of her Korean mother should be getting old, but Cho keeps even this bit as funny as ever. This control, matched with her facial impressions and contortions, reveal a master of the comedic stage.
The material covered by Cho is far from groundbreaking, but remains entertaining and fresh when presented by Cho. Focusing almost exclusively on sexual issues, she mocks anyone and everyone. Despite her predominantly gay and lesbian audience, Cho riffs on her two gay high school friends that have died from AIDS (""my drag queen guardian angels""), on the difference between straight and gay personal ads and numerous other sexual experiences. In all, the material leaves her target minority audience rolling with laughter'and everyone else too. She's hilarious and she knows it.
The second major stumbling block of the show presents itself when Cho decides to close her routine with a rant. Presenting her message on the importance of self-esteem, she loses focus. Breaking away from any semblance of comedy, the last several minutes are just Cho's soapbox. While the ""revolution"" she advocates is admirable, it is redundant; the very nature of her routine conveys this message in a much more subtle and successful manner.
""Notorious"" marks the evolution of another comedian. Her flawless timing and material proves that she deserves the comparisons to Pryor and Murphy; however, Cho still has room for improvement. Those who do not fall into her target audience will most likely enjoy the film, but leave with a bitter taste'the more notorious she tries to be, the less entertaining she becomes.
