MOVIE REVIEW

Cho's anger is good humor.

By Kevin Thomas, Times Staff Writer

"Margaret Cho: The Assassin Tour," a deft filming of the corrosive comedian's latest concert performance, finds Cho angrier and funnier than ever. She may be a blowtorch to the extreme Christian right, but for many she's a breath of fresh air. That she's standing in front of a mike, speaking her mind to packed houses, is in itself a ray of hope in dark times.

Outside Washington's venerable Warner Theatre, where her performance was about to be filmed, fans comment: "She stands up for all the people.... There's nothing she won't say.... She's funny and unpredictable."

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Cho is all that and more, and it's crucial that she is as hilarious as she is scorching because it allows her to get away with everything she attempts — even a particularly breathtaking jab at the Bush first ladies, Laura and Barbara, that few stand-ups would dare, let alone carry off — that is if they could even think of it in the first place.

A terrific mime with amazing expressiveness, Cho has a fertile, untrammeled imagination that shapes vignettes and one-liners that unfailingly hit their intended targets. She understands the potency of crude language when used in inspired fashion, and above all she appreciates the value of unvarnished honesty. Directed in an apt, no-frills fashion by Kerry Asmussen, "Margaret Cho: The Assassin Tour," will, in addition to its theatrical release, also air on the cable network Here!

As a feminist, a friend of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgendered people and someone dead set against the Iraq war, Cho has plenty to get her riled up, and her favorite target is President Bush, who she says "is not Hitler — he could be if he applied himself."

She excoriates him for invading Iraq without an exit strategy, declares him to be "the most embarrassing president in history" and accuses him of indifference to tsunami victims since they don't produce oil — only batik. Along with her opposition to the war, Cho's recurring themes are America's lack of respect for women and its homophobia, and she comes up with myriad ways to demolish those who would take away abortion rights or deny civil rights to the gay community.

She protests the selection of John R. Bolton to represent the U.S. in the U.N. and deplores invasion of privacy by government and the right-to-lifers in the Terry Schiavo controversy.

She wonders how abortion opponents can support the war in Iraq, where so many are losing their lives. She says Christians have no right to call themselves that when they show no compassion or charity.

Cho is too savvy an entertainer not to temper her indignation at times for fun's sake. She gives spot-on impressions of, among others, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger — while skewering his policies — the singer Björk and even of Chinese star Zhang Ziyi. No Margaret Cho performance would be complete without a takeoff on her own mother, who she informs us, having recovered from a heart attack, now experiences astral projection.

The fan who remarked that Cho stands up for all the people is on the mark, for she understands the power of humor to provoke thought and to liberate. She has something to say to everyone, and one can only hope that she is preaching to more than her choir of devoted fans.

'Margaret Cho: The Assassin Tour'

MPAA rating: Unrated

Times guidelines: Much blunt, sexually explicit language

A Regent Entertainment/Here! presentation. Director Kerry Asmussen. Technical director J.W. Griffith. Executive producers Paul Colichman, Stephen P. Jarchow, Margaret Cho, Karen Taussig, Rick Scott, Joel Lipman. Executive producer for Here! Eric Feldman. Technical producer John Hartmann. Cameras Bill Barber, David Insley, Mike Moser. Lighting designer Jeffery Ravitz. Editor Nancy Rosenblum. Music Paula Gallitano. Running time: 1 hour, 25 minutes. Exclusively at the Regent Showcase, 614 No. La Brea Ave., (323) 934-2944.