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Brick Wall Comedy

Drunk With Power

Margaret Cho

Uproar Entertainment · Album · 1996 · 46 min

A comedian reclaims the microphone after a canceled network sitcom.

Margaret Cho’s first comedy album captures a performer shedding the constraints of a recently canceled network sitcom. Released shortly after ABC pulled the plug on All-American Girl, Drunk With Power acts as a course correction. She talks about being raised by drag queens, the physical agony of passing a kidney stone, and the realities of being an Asian American actor in Hollywood. The set leans into the precise material television executives had previously asked her to tone down.

The audio was recorded at a comedy club in her hometown of San Francisco in 1996. The tracklist covers dating misadventures, anxieties about body image, and her own sexual hang-ups. Cho also works through early versions of the parental impressions that would become a staple of her later stage work.

The set list

4 bits

  1. Stereotypes of Asians

    Cho draws on her Korean-American background to poke fun at racial stereotypes.

  2. Battles with weight and body image

    Approaches her weight struggles and dieting with self-deprecating humor.

  3. Abusive panhandlers in New York

    Recounts encounters with aggressive homeless individuals on the street.

  4. Vaginal examinations at the doctor's office

    Uses frank, twisted, off-color humor to recount clinical gynecological visits.

How it plays

Tone
Blue, off-color, profane, and self-deprecating.
On stage
Sounds like a Valley Girl whose sentences often sound like questions rather than statements; open to blue, off-color humor and unreserved about self-deprecation.
About
Asian stereotypes and racism, Body image and weight struggles, Drinking and substance use, Dating and sexuality, Medical examinations and bodily health

What the critics said

Alex Henderson described it as not perfect but possessing hysterically funny moments, noting that fans of blue comedy will find that the album has a lot going for it.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: allmusic.com, qobuz.com, uproarcomedycd.com, gigsty.com, en.wikipedia.org, latimes.com.

Backstory

After the cancellation of All-American Girl—during which network executives criticized her appearance, leading to severe dieting, kidney failure, and later substance abuse—Cho returned to stand-up comedy and channeled her experiences and anger into live stage material.

Details

Released
Taped
The Punchline Cafe, San Francisco
Runtime
46 min
Where
Uproar Entertainment (album)
Topics
Before
HBO Comedy Half-Hour (1994)
After
I'm the One That I Want (2000)

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