# Margaret Cho is Spectacularly Unfunny (and not for the reasons you'd think I'd have)! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 9, 2005, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margaret-cho-is-spectacularly-unfunny-and-not-for-the-reasons-youd-think-id-have/303046 "2005-05-09T13:16:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margaret-cho-is-spectacularly-unfunny-and-not-for-the-reasons-youd-think-id-have/303046/41 "2005-05-09T20:48:40Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > The usual Cho fans have shown up to defend her Well, i thought the OP made silly and inconsistent observations, and i’ve never even heard Margaret Cho’s comedy. > [@RickJay](#): > > once people become dedicated fans of a comedian, they’re pretty much immune to the comedian’s inevitable lack of funny later in their careers. Not at all. I’ve made clear many times on this board that i really love P.J. O’Rourke’s earlier material, but that most of his stuff over the past five or ten years has left me decidedly cold. > [@RickJay](#): > > Robin Williams’s manic act stopped being funny about twelve years ago; he’s recycling the same tired jokes and the same tired shtick, but people laugh almost reflexively at him because it’s a cultural meme that Robin Williams Is Funny. Eddie Murphy still got big laffs after he had long stopped being funny, because it’s Eddie Murphy, you’re supposed to laugh, right? People still said Dave Barry’s columns were funny long after they’d passed the point of self-parody where you couldn’t tell if it was Barry writing, or The Onion doing their version of a Barry column. Successful comedians always get laughs at least five years longer than they deserve them. But you’re dropping straight into the OP’s error here: the idea that, just because you no longer find someone funny, that they are objectively not funny and that the people who continue to find them funny are just deluded sheep. The “cultural meme that Robin Williams is Funny” is no stronger, as you demonstrate, than the cultural meme that “I’m the only person who really knows what comedy is.” ---
**Author:** ![Mojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Mojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mojo)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margaret-cho-is-spectacularly-unfunny-and-not-for-the-reasons-youd-think-id-have/303046/42 "2005-05-09T20:51:00Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > Gee, there sure was laughing when I went to see her in March. Maybe I imagined the deafening roar each time she told a joke, or the sharp cramp in my own stomach when I left, but people certainly did seem to find her amusing, in addition to inspiring and rally-the-troops-ish. > > Of course, we do have a demographic there, which is “people who bought tickets to go see Margaret Cho.” **Happy** , life is far too short, and tickets too expensive, to see comics you don’t find funny. Feel free to avoid Ms. Cho in the future if you dislike her so much. It’ll make the line-ups easier to deal with, and maybe I’ll be able to get her damn CDs before they sell out next time. For someone who was grousing in the “When women say they really mean [y]” pit thread about not liking humor based on stereotypes, don’ you find that’s what a lot of Cho’s jokes are based on? I’m not picking on you; if you find her funny more power to you. I’m not offended by her humor, just don’t find her funny for the most part. For my own curiosity- were the comments about Martha Stewart and Jim McGreevy jokes or was she just ranting about stuff that pissed her off? [sub]I’m more forgiving of jokes that fall flat…[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margaret-cho-is-spectacularly-unfunny-and-not-for-the-reasons-youd-think-id-have/303046/43 "2005-05-09T20:52:11Z")
> [@](#): > > Is this the use of “wrong” in question, UrbanChic? Because I’m reading that to say that Margaret Cho is wrong to pander to her audience by repeating the Stewart fallacy the same way other “demagogues” or what have you would be “wrong” to pander to theirs by repeating the Jew or OJ fallacies. Yes, it is. I read it the same way, and that’s why I called him on it. If you read Weirddave’s reply to me, however, he claims he wasn’t “responding to Margaret Cho”. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margaret-cho-is-spectacularly-unfunny-and-not-for-the-reasons-youd-think-id-have/303046/44 "2005-05-09T20:54:56Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Doesn’t make it good comedy, though. Well, no… not necessarily. I would have to suggest that there is a place for “Here’s something that people don’t tend to talk about – but I’ve noticed it, and I think you have too, and isn’t it funny?” And I don’t think there’s anything homophobic about **Happy** not connecting to material that’s directed to a (particular) queer and queer-community audience. We do have culture(s) of our own, and cultural references that are directed to us may well fall flat with people who aren’t a part of it. And some of us like political humour. YMMV. _shrug_ As a side note, and pursuant to **Happy** ’s latest post I note that her _State of Emergency/Assassin_ tour contains a much bigger proportion of political material than her earlier tours, perhaps because it was organized in direct response to the 2004 election race and result. > [@](#): > > once people become dedicated fans of a comedian, they’re pretty much immune to the comedian’s inevitable lack of funny later in their careers. I don’t know about that. My fanatic devotion to Ms. Cho is a matter of public record\*, and I still didn’t think her _Revolution_ CD was up to her standards. (I didn’t really like the whole “I - am gonna shit - _right now!_” thing in the middle, for example.) There were also one or two jokes in her latest tour that fell flat for me. All in all, it pleases me to suppose that I like her because I find her funny, not the other way around. I think I retain the ability to discern funny from not funny by my own criteria. [sub]\*Literally – I once used a quotation from her as the epigraph to a brief on same-sex marriage I submitted to a House of Commons standing committee.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margaret-cho-is-spectacularly-unfunny-and-not-for-the-reasons-youd-think-id-have/303046/45 "2005-05-09T20:56:18Z")
> [@Mojo](#): > > For someone who was grousing in the “When women say they really mean [y]” pit thread about not liking humor based on stereotypes, don’ you find that’s what a lot of Cho’s jokes are based on? No, because I didn’t think those threads were _satirizing_ those stereotypes. But we had this argument already, didn’t we. ---
**Author:** ![Mojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Mojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mojo)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margaret-cho-is-spectacularly-unfunny-and-not-for-the-reasons-youd-think-id-have/303046/46 "2005-05-09T21:14:12Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > No, because I didn’t think those threads were _satirizing_ those stereotypes. But we had this argument already, didn’t we. Actually, you didn’t respond to my comments in that thread. If I knew you liked Margaret Cho at the time I probably would have brought it up- I don’t see how a line like “straight men don’t like to go shopping, and if they do, they’re gay” is satirical. Whenever I’ve seen her do standup on TV there’s usually several jokes that are basically “gay men do this, straight men do that”. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margaret-cho-is-spectacularly-unfunny-and-not-for-the-reasons-youd-think-id-have/303046/47 "2005-05-09T21:24:46Z")
I haven’t seen Margaret Cho since she was straight but if she’s getting lots of laughs now there has been a major change in her material and delivery because ten or fifteen years ago Margaret Cho was SPECTACULARLY unfunny. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margaret-cho-is-spectacularly-unfunny-and-not-for-the-reasons-youd-think-id-have/303046/48 "2005-05-09T21:34:50Z")
> [@Mojo](#): > > Actually, you didn’t respond to my comments in that thread. If I knew you liked Margaret Cho at the time I probably would have brought it up- I don’t see how a line like “straight men don’t like to go shopping, and if they do, they’re gay” is satirical. Whenever I’ve seen her do standup on TV there’s usually several jokes that are basically “gay men do this, straight men do that”. _sigh_ I can see we _are_, in fact, going to have this hijack. By saying a stereotype of straight men, she’s satirizing the equivalent stereotypes of gay men. It’s funny because stereotypes of straight people are usually not so blatantly expressed as those of gay people. You are not supposed to laugh at those silly straight men and their non-shopping ways. You’re supposed to laugh at those silly stereotypes of gay people to which she is indirectly referring. In the other thread, by contrast, it was my opinion that the point _was,_ indeed, to laugh at the silly wimmin/menfolk (depending). ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margaret-cho-is-spectacularly-unfunny-and-not-for-the-reasons-youd-think-id-have/303046/49 "2005-05-09T21:41:16Z")
Too many ethnic comedians get their "laffs’ by being blatantly racist. It’s somehow funny if a black dude says racist things about white guys, but it’s just racist if a white guy says racist thinggs about minorities. :dubious: :rolleyes: Cho gets many of her “laffs” now by being racist & sexist. She _can_ be funny without being racist & sexist, but it’s a _lot_ harder- so…why bother? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margaret-cho-is-spectacularly-unfunny-and-not-for-the-reasons-youd-think-id-have/303046/50 "2005-05-09T21:47:49Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > …wimmin/menfolk… For the sake of consistency, shouldn’t that be “minfolk”? ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margaret-cho-is-spectacularly-unfunny-and-not-for-the-reasons-youd-think-id-have/303046/51 "2005-05-09T21:49:21Z")
Maybe “meyunfolk”? ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margaret-cho-is-spectacularly-unfunny-and-not-for-the-reasons-youd-think-id-have/303046/52 "2005-05-09T21:50:33Z")
For the most part I think stand up comics have a limited lifespan. I used to like Cho but after watching Notorious C.H.O. I just didn’t think she was as funny as she used to be. She still had a few jokes I laughed at but for the most part it just fell flat. I’m glad she’s been able to find her particular niche and I wish her well. Elvira Kurt uses some of the same type of jokes in her routine. For example she uses a funny accent in imitation of her immigrant mother. She manages to be pretty funny though. I imagine my assessment would change if she just recycled the same material over and over again. Marc ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margaret-cho-is-spectacularly-unfunny-and-not-for-the-reasons-youd-think-id-have/303046/53 "2005-05-09T21:50:40Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Cho gets many of her “laffs” now by being racist & sexist. She _can_ be funny without being racist & sexist, but it’s a _lot_ harder- so…why bother? Really? Can you give me an example of a way in which Margaret Cho insults white people? ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margaret-cho-is-spectacularly-unfunny-and-not-for-the-reasons-youd-think-id-have/303046/54 "2005-05-09T22:09:46Z")
> [@MGibson](#): > > Elvira Kurt uses some of the same type of jokes in her routine. For example she uses a funny accent in imitation of her immigrant mother. She manages to be pretty funny though. Her standup act’s funny. Have you seen her new show though? Gaah. She still gets the occasional laugh from me, which is more than I can say about the rest of the lot, but at least they didn’t used to be funny. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margaret-cho-is-spectacularly-unfunny-and-not-for-the-reasons-youd-think-id-have/303046/55 "2005-05-10T00:18:38Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > Really? Can you give me an example of a way in which Margaret Cho insults white people? Didn’t say she did. _Read the post_. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margaret-cho-is-spectacularly-unfunny-and-not-for-the-reasons-youd-think-id-have/303046/56 "2005-05-10T01:09:24Z")
[QUOTE=JohnBckWLD] Fill in the Blank: It’s a \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ thing, you wouldn’t understand.[list=A][li]Jeep[_]Female[_]Male[_]Black[_]White[_]Jewish[_]Christian[_]Muslim[_]Buddhist[_]Latin[_]Asian[_]European[_]Australian[_]African[_]Straight[_]Gay[_]Young[_]Old[_]None of the Above - Keep your labels[/list][/li][/QUOTE] You missed one of my favorites. It’s an Italian thing. Fahgeddaboutit 😃 ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margaret-cho-is-spectacularly-unfunny-and-not-for-the-reasons-youd-think-id-have/303046/57 "2005-05-10T01:21:48Z")
I’ve seen some of Margaret Cho on television, and some of her stuff was funny as hell - the first few times. But, just like anyone else, how long can you stick with the same basic material, the same schtick? When I first heard the Kermit routine, I spewed soda out my nose. The “assmaster” routine was pretty funny too. But, she tends to get too preachy towards the end of her routines. Many comics do that. George Carlin did that a few times too, but still could be funny. To say she is too topical(?) may be true, but it works for the audience she plays too. It pays the bills. I can’t fault her for that at all. If she is using stereotypes, then maybe it works for her “demographic target”. Jeff Foxworthy pokes fun at rednecks, Tim Allen built a religious cult around Sears power tools ar ar ar. Who cares, so long as it makes you laugh? It’s all in how it’s done, and who you’re playing to. Some people hate Monty Python, the Three Stooges, Marx Brothers. I love them, my roomies and S.O can’t stand them. You don’t have to “get it” or anything. Someone else will. Or won’t. No biggy. ---
**Author:** ![Monstre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@Monstre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstre)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margaret-cho-is-spectacularly-unfunny-and-not-for-the-reasons-youd-think-id-have/303046/58 "2005-05-10T03:09:05Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Which is a pity, as she used to be pretty funny, but now her routing seems to be “Bush sucks! I like gays! Funny Korean accent!” **Meh. I don’t need to pay money to hear people agree with me.** You re-subscribed to the SDMB, didn’t you? _ba-dum CHING!_ ::: chirping crickets ::: [Jimmy] Wow, what a terrific audience… [/J] ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margaret-cho-is-spectacularly-unfunny-and-not-for-the-reasons-youd-think-id-have/303046/59 "2005-05-10T03:13:33Z")
> [@Happy Scrappy Hero Pup](#): > > But **Guin** , if you tell me you can sit through two episodes of “Remote Control,” and not laugh your ass off at “Sing Along With Colin,” then you’re crazy. Well, I’ll grant you “Remote Control” was damned funny-that was my favorite show when I was 11 and I even had a tiny crush on Colin then. But damn, that was how many years ago? ---
**Author:** ![Ooner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/c67d28/32.png) [@Ooner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ooner)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margaret-cho-is-spectacularly-unfunny-and-not-for-the-reasons-youd-think-id-have/303046/60 "2005-05-10T06:23:56Z")
Margaret Cho’s act has about 2 jokes: _Raunchy sex reference_ _exaggerated shocked expression for 15 minutes_ _Impression of mother_ _mother face for 15 minutes_ end of act. I got to admit though, if I could make as much money as Margaret Cho just by making faces for half an hour at a time in reponse to my own mediocre jokes, I’d be doing it too. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margaret-cho-is-spectacularly-unfunny-and-not-for-the-reasons-youd-think-id-have/303046.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margaret-cho-is-spectacularly-unfunny-and-not-for-the-reasons-youd-think-id-have/303046.md?page=4)