November 10, 2006

"She mimicked McGreevey in the act of trying to govern amid a miasma of male genitals."

That's a description of the funniest part of Margaret Cho's act here in Madison last night.
The gag combined the two most prominent motifs of Cho's act: Hilarious, gleefully smutty riffing on gay themes, and political riffing that was pointed but, at moments, altogether less funny. Indeed, the show's least comedically satisfying moments came as Cho served up shrill, humor-free barbs that, in drastically tempered form, could have been delivered by a pandering liberal politician. On President Bush: "I don't know why he hasn't been impeached yet." On Benedict XVI: "The new pope fucking sucks." On right-to-lifers: "Anti-abortion people are fucking idiots, and they're wrong."
Thought you'd like to know. (Note my distinct history of defending Margaret Cho.)

IN THE COMMENTS: In the spirit of "An Exaltation of Larks," readers offer alternative "nouns of multitude" for "a miasma of male genitals."

10 comments:

X said...

Margret Cho is absolutely hilarious at her best, but she's been going steadily downhill as she's begun taking herself way more seriously. Case in point from the last video of hers I saw-- a hilarious story about dieting-caused diarrhea in traffic followed by (what seemed like) 15 minutes of self-righteous conciousness raising. Of course, she's managed to find herself an audience that'll cheer equally for both parts. One of the hazards of the long tail. Maybe she'll wind up on Air America in a few years, if there is still one.

Ron said...

A miasma of male genitals? I thought the proper term was a gaggle of schlongs... ahem.

Brent said...

Perhaps our more liberal-leaning friends can point me in the direction of a comic with more conservative views who uses lines like... "Abortion-rights people are f---ing idiots, and they're wrong".

And please, if anyone says Ann Coulter - then that person IS an idiot!

Who have I missed?


I have to admit that I laughed at the actor (comic?) James Woods at this:

Mr. Woods is that Hollywood rarity, a plain-spoken political conservative. He's charming and funny, and even when he's idling, his engine races, ready for some open road. An hourlong tour d'horizon found him holding forth against ''the feminist jihad,'' calling Bill Clinton ''a virtual nonstop liar,'' describing the ''overwhelming, unmitigated, almost psychopathological narcissism'' behind Hillary Rodham Clinton's approach to reforming the health care system a decade ago and recalling with great satisfaction the day he responded to Senator Barbara Boxer's question about whether he favored abortion by saying, ''I do if people like you have it.''

Randy said...

''I do if people like you have it.''

ROFL! Did he really?

A genuine MasterCard moment: The expression on Barbara Boxer's face

(And I voted for her. Once.)

X said...

Perhaps our more liberal-leaning friends can point me in the direction of a comic with more conservative views who uses lines like... "Abortion-rights people are f---ing idiots, and they're wrong".

...the day he responded to Senator Barbara Boxer's question about whether he favored abortion by saying, ''I do if people like you have it.''


Not a comedian, but an entertainer.

Ruth Anne Adams said...

Ron: A passel of penises?

Joe Giles said...

Why have our comedians become unfunny?

Most have been completely corrupted by politics -- it's obviously way too hot for them to handle.

Last time I saw Garofalo on C-SPAN I was ready to call an intervention.

KCFleming said...

Man, I rememeber back -now, we're talking years ago, sure- but I remember when comics were all funny and shit.

What's the correct term for comedy acts that aren't funny?

American Liberal Elite said...

A pride of loins?

Mitch H. said...

Might I suggest "a picket of petards"?