Product Details

• Actors: Margaret Cho
• Directors: Lorene Machado
• Writers: Margaret Cho
• Producers: Margaret Cho, Lorene Machado, Andrea Cunningham, Karen Taussig, Ran Barker
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Rated: Unrated
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Winstar
• VHS Release Date: November 19, 2002
• Run Time: 95 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (66 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00005JLL0
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #377,503 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Perfect Follow-up, January 5, 2003

By 

John Bliss (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Margaret Cho - Notorious C.H.O. (DVD)

I had my doubts about "Notorious C.H.O." After all, "I'm the One That I Want" is the pinnacle of stand-up: revelatory while screamingly funny, a trip through dark times to self awareness, angry without being self pitying. All served up with salty language and the kind of insight only experience can bring. And topped off with the hilarious routine about her mother looking at gay porn in their bookstore in San Francisco.

After all that, what was left for "Notorious?"

As it turns out, plenty. Margaret Cho wisely avoids the inner demons that fueled "I'm the One," and instead just piles on the laughs. There are sad moments, as when she remembers her friends who have died of AIDS, but since she recalls them with tales of their drag queen performance pieces at Baskin Robbins (you'll never look at sprinkles the same way again) and then decides they've become her guardian angels ("Girl, you're going out dressed in that?!"), there's no time for tears.

As she says in one of the features, if "I'm the One" was about coming of age, "Notorious" is about being of age. It's mostly about sex, and is quite often nasty without being offensive. Cho takes such a cheerful view of offbeat sexuality (getting fisted by a lesbian dwarf?) that there's no way to be put off by it. Yes, she focuses a lot on her gay friends and fans, but to say she shouldn't is no different from saying she shouldn't talk about being Korean. These are the people in her life, and she turns them all into memorable characters.

Finally, the commentary track by her "mother" (Cho in character) is wonderfully bizarre. It wanders a bit, especially as other people join her, but it demonstrates Cho's remarkable grasp of character. It's not always funny, but it's a brilliant acting job, and provides insight into how Cho thinks and develops her work. It's worth the price of admission.

Before "I'm the One That I Want," I wasn't much of a Margaret Cho fan. After that film and now this, I'm a convert.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely hilarious, June 30, 2005

By 

Erica Anderson (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Margaret Cho - Notorious C.H.O. (DVD)

I am not a big fan of stand up comedy. I find most comedians annoying and/or simply not funny. One of the few comedians I do like is Margaret Cho. I have been a fan of her since her short lived sitcom "American Girl" which was way ahead of its time for tv (and still is). At the time I didn't realize she was a stand up comedian until I saw a comedy special in the late '90s on comedy central. I never laughed as hard before as I did then. I love her irreverance sense of humor. Her humor is definitely blue but it is honest coming from her POV.

"Notorious C.H.O" is easily one of my favorite dvds of her stand up work. My favorite moments during the film was when she talked about her drag queen friends from high school at the local Baskin Robbins. I was literally laughing so hard, tears were rolling down my eyes. I also had a good laugh when Margaret discussed about her experience in an S&M club. I thought Margaret did an excellent job at weaving poignancy of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 with humor as well as with the topic of gay marriage (which was not a big issue then as it has been in the past year).

Margaret's sense of humor is not for everyone. Her humor certainly crosses over on to the raunchy side. A lot of her content on "Notorious C.H.O" is sex-related but it is coming from her own personal experiences. I thoroughly enjoyed "Notorious C.H.O". It is one of the funniest pieces of work Margaret has done in years.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious, November 23, 2002

By 

Michael T. Rognlien (Palo Alto, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Margaret Cho - Notorious C.H.O. (DVD)

Margaret Cho has been, for many years, like a great but unknown restaurant.. a movie like "My Big Fat Greek Wedding." Those who are in-the-know are in for great entertainment.. and the rest, well..

This new show, a perfect sequel to "I'm The One That I Want," is a hilarious ride through such important topics as terrorism, sexual pecadillos, weight control, colonic irrigation and other timely points of interest.

What separates Margaret Cho from your average teller-of-jokes is her sometimes shocking honesty. She is not afraid to put herself out there and let us all laugh about things that we probably all experience but are afraid to talk about. She doesn't pander to the crowd for laughs - she can practically talk about anything and find the lighter side of it to get an audience to laugh.

I suppose after being laughed AT for the better part of her childhood, she did what most people are afraid to do - she challenged people to laugh WITH her instead. The result is an hilarious comedic journey and one that, especially for the price, is well worth the investment.

YOU GO CHO!