Ummm...Thanks, Ace....I really wanted to read the words "Margaret Cho" and "clap" right before lunch......

By the way:

I am aware that a lot of my stuff is in the "clapper" camp.

It's tough to avoid, and I don't know there's any reason to avoid it. They can't all be gems, as someone said.

But I have this weird idea that a supposed professional comedian ought to actually have some laughers in the mix with the clappers.

Call me crazy.

Bless you, Ace. Your vivisection of Cho's non-talent is a service to the comedy craft.

I'm still laughing about Anger Management Puppets. Now that's funny!

All of which brings up an interesting thought:

At what point does someone go from being a "comedian" to a "humorist"?

For example, Al Franken and Margaret Cho are both funny, if by funny you mean incapable of making people laugh. They are called "comedians".

Yet, Garrison Keiller who is funny, if by funny you mean a dreadfully boring and self righteous individual who hasnt made anyone laugh in 20 years yet maintains a radio show on NPR anyway, is a "humorist".

Humorists seem to have a higher social status than comedians. Will Rogers, for example, was a beloved "humorist" who actually did say funny things or make funny observations. But few describe him as a comedian.

At what point is the distinction between the two drawn?

Blame me for the above post. Dammit Ace, fix this site! :)

Best part is in paragraph 7: "Ah. So"

That about sums up Cho's entire oevre. The snackhording plump unfunny.

Really, though...if a comedian is truly funny, do you need to write an opinion piece trying to convince other people how funny they are?

Keillor can be funny. My favorite quote from him is "To spend July and August in Houston is to believe in an angry God."

"If I had her act, I'd extend my periods of absolute silence as well."

Knocking them out of the park today Ace. I just love it.

I don't know Ace, I personally think Cho is hilarious...I can just look at her and burst out laughing. But that's just me.

Ace,

how could you miss this line?

"the sweaty, outsized immediacy of live performance"

The author at least got the adjectives describing Cho right...

Great catch. I added it as yet another update.

The entire article, masquerading as praise for Cho, is one of the most ruthlessly-cunning savagings I've ever read.

~Margaret Cho is the first comic telling her largely twenty-something, gay and/or single-and-without-children audience that she just doesn't like children and doesn't intend to have them.~

Which explains a big problem with lefties who abhor the thought of procreating: soon there will be very few people who agree with them. Children are very influenced by their parents and upbringing. So, if lefties are not having children, who can they pass their values to? Why are more and more college kids espousing conservative ideals? Most lefty kids were aborted.

Jeff writes, "The snackhording plump unfunny."

Even the cast-offs of blogdom commenting are funnier than anything Cho has ever spouted.

"Why are more and more college kids espousing conservative ideals? Most lefty kids were aborted."

Like the wheels of justice, Darwinism is not swift, but it is sure.

"Too dumb to live" is more than just a cliche, it is a truth for the ages.

"Why are more and more college kids espousing conservative ideals? Most lefty kids were aborted."

It's called the Roe Effect by some.

"Even the cast-offs of blogdom commenting are funnier than anything Cho has ever spouted. "

Thanks for noticing. :-)

You're missing the subtle art of the Mandarin Manatee, Ace.

She throws out situations and premises...and let's you, the viewer, supply the joke or witty observation.

But she should give props to Funnyman Lorne Michaels, because that has been that douchebags SNL M.O. for the past 17 years.

Regarding the difference between humorists (real ones, not Garrison Keillor) and comedians (real ones, not Margaret Chum):

A humorist is a higher life-form, because he or she writes it out, for delivery later. The humorist cannot rely on making people laugh by blowing milk through an eyelid, or making a Kenny-like face. The material must stand on its own.

Examples of humorists could easily include Ace, Jeff G, Allah, Will Rogers, Mark Twain, P.J. O'Rourke, and others. Yeah, it seems gratuitous, but shut up - it's true.

Margaret Cho is neither comedian nor humorist; she's not fish, but she sure is foul.

I forget. Did I ever mention that Margaret Cho has a Web site?

Cho mama

What is all this talk I hear about Chono funny? I don't think he's funny. Why, right here on this web page http://www.njpw.com/fighters/chono.shtml ...

Emily! Emily! Nobody is talking about Masahiro Chono! It's three words: Cho. No. Funny. Got it?

Oh! Well, that's very different then.

Nevermind.

Bitch.

Wanna read a really funny blog?

Of all the illustrious public personae of her time, Brigitte Bardot made the worst choices after her introduction to the world. She decided to devote her life to animals, which is admirable. I love my dogs. They can do what they want to all the time, as long as they are not biting people or robbing banks (a reference to "The Doberman Gang," an impossibly funny movie I saw on Mexican TV about Dobermans who live a life of crime).

The viewing of this film sparked a long discussion with my dogs. My younger girl, Bronwyn, said that she thought that it was 'cool,' and my older reasonable boy, Ralph, said that he thought it would be alright if the dogs were robbing a dog bank, but he didn't believe in dogs stealing money from an institution. Bronwyn said, "What are they going to have in a dog bank?" Ralph answered, "Treats, in the safety deposit boxes," to which Bronwyn replied by turning up her nose and leaving the room.

If anything, I am more accepting of dogs (and making up dog conversations) than I am of human beings, but then again, I am never going to lose sight that I am not one of them. I am not a dog, so I can only do so much for dog rights. I wish there were more dog activists, because then they would be marching for dog rights, but they don't have hands to hold up picket signs like "Down With Cats!!!" which I don't agree with either. If the dogs all got together, they would spend most of their time sniffing each other's butts than dealing with issues.

I think animal activists are amazing and certainly needed, but if you are one, you shouldn't be antigay or racist. Of course this is my own opinion, but it just doesn't make sense.

In your face, Ace of Spades!

Be seeing you at Margaret's House of Funny.

She's good.

I actually linked her blog a long time ago, when I was beating her up on the blogspot site. I don't know if it was you who tipped me to it; I actually think it might have been Son of Nixon. Or maybe I just read it.

There can be no doubt that Margaret Cho is to comedy what I am to polio vaccines.

Indespensible.

And yet, I would still tap Jeneane Garafalo in a heartbeat if given the chance.

(Hands head in shame)

I don't get the Jeneane Garofalo sex appeal thing myself, although I could name a blogger who does.

To the extent she's attractive at all, it's largely due to the Illusion of Obtainability. She's not hot; she's sort of passably cute, which really gets guys' engines revving.

Plus, the blonde hair and the tattoos? She looks bizarre lately.

The Illusion of Obtainability is a phenomenon that, within certain limits, is inversely proportionate to actual attractiveness.

For me, she's so utterly unattractive that she breaches the lower limit, so her IoO quotient is not even a number.

But that's just me.

You know what really irks me about Cho? It's certainly not the B grade, sloppy political and social kvetching disguised as irreverent humor. I expect that from talentless hacks. No what really gets in my craw is how I find myself looking at pictures of her and thinking... actively wishing... "Man, if only she'd drop like 50 lbs and do some toning routines she'd be so freakin' HOT! I mean full-bore Asian-American cuteness in the vein of a Michelle Malkin steaming... and then, by God, her arguments might carry some weight." (punny, ne?)
I hate myself for wanting to be attracted to my enemies.
I think I'll go write some fan-fiction about being forced to perform sex on a slimmed down Cho while being held captive by the Indigo Girls and their band of low slung acoustic guitar wearing, edgy, sorta-cute, lesbian folk artists.

Ace,

You did it! You made Margaret Cho funny.

Umm, this is the second time someone has called Cho "the Mandarin Manatee". But she's not. She's Korean, not Chinese. That may not be a big deal to some of you, but go tell a Scot he's Irish, or tell an Italian Catholic he's a German Lutheran, and see what kind of reaction you get.
Accuracy is important, especially in disparaging nicknames.

I suggested Manchurian Manatee, on the (possibly erroneous) grounds that the Manchurian empire once included Korea (maybe).

I forget. It's been a while since I read the detailed history of Korea provided in the Age of Kings II: The Conquerors rulebook.

'Bout time. I can never get enough of Ace's Margaret Cho Abuse.

I cannot believe some of the comments I've read here about Margaret Cho. SHE IS THE MOST HILARIOUS COMEDIAN IN THE WORLD!!!!! Granted, much of her humor relies on knowledge of her own personal history (her struggles with weight problems, her experience dropping out of an ultra-competitive predominantly Chinese highschool like Lowell in SF, etc.), and many others jokes are debatably esoteric(at least to right-wingers), but she is still more funny than every other comedian I have seen or heard. And whether or not you agree, you have to at least respect her for what she does: she represents a handfull of under- and misrepresented groups, and she's not afraid to tell her story.

I hate reading these posts written by malicious, nasty, high-school level writers that simply offer ill-intent for no apparent reason. Margaret Cho is awesome and- in my opinion- an excellent role model. All you haters need to grow up!

That was a joke, right? Irony? Sarcasm? Help me out, here.

> To the extent she's attractive at all, it's largely due to the Illusion of Obtainability. She's not hot; she's sort of passably cute, which really gets guys' engines revving.

Hmm, looks like it's time for me to comment on this six-month-old thread. Back in the day (the early 90's, to be precise), Janeane had big brown eyes, nicely shaped black eyebrows, the cutest little nose you ever saw, and a visage untroubled by the erosive effects of postmodern cant. Ah, it was something to see.

Margaret Cho, like Ellen DeGeneres before her, failed to learn that you must resist the urge to lecture like a bitch mommy to your audience, because it is quite aware that it is not only just as smart or smarter than you, but also free to leave at any time.

Ellen DeGeneres' stage act was funny. Her show had some funny moments, but when the lecturing began, "zap" went the channel-changers.

Wow. I didn't think anybody could make anything involving Margaret Cho funny. But I'm dying reading this.

It takes a special kind of genius to make one of the 5 least funny people on Earth (Al Gore is funnier, for God's sake) involved in something insanely hilarious.
-=Mike

"I didn't think anybody could make anything involving Margaret Cho funny.."
_well said Mike...

Cho rose in public attention, during the 90s, by making tiresome, ethnic jokes about her Asian background?

A real treasure of liberal contradictions, and Democrat hypocrisy.

When she reveals her true insight, we become sadly aware, she has none to offer.

She leaves me wondering, if she actually has a 7th grade education.

Nice take down. Instead of 'Cho fan', may I suggest 'Cho ho'?
Seems compatible with your style.

Mikey wrote: "malicious, nasty, high-school level writers that simply offer ill-intent". That sounds a lot like Cho herself as well as most of the "humor" of the left.

I liked her in her very first appearances years ago on "Comedy Tonight" on PBS. But soon I was turned off at her annoyed mocking of her mother's Korean-accented speech, for example, because I detected more than a normal deprecation of "old country" ways. I saw real hate there. I think her anger towards supposed injustices are just projections of her own hate of Koreans and, in fact, a lot of self-hatred, just for being Korean. And I think her admirers like her for this reason. Because she is Asian, she can ridicule other Asians with impunity. This helps to discredit Asians who provide undisputable evidence that racism is not as great a barrier to success as the left would have it. If acknowledged, that would pretty much destroy the basis for the policies of the left.

It's ironic she decries the non-acceptance of different people when she is so intolerant herself. But this is just par for the course for the left.