In ‘Notorious C.H.O.,’ the Joke Is on Us

Margaret Cho has become a one-woman comic army in the war against puritanical shame about sex, the body and its functions. Her weapons are a wildly imaginative sense of humor and the courage to be absolutely uninhibited.

Like the great Moms Mabley before her, Cho has discovered that she can get away with saying just about anything if it is said with honesty and a perfect sense of timing, along with hilarious, dead-on facial expressions. As with Cho’s first concert film, “I’m the One That I Want,” producer-director-editor Lorene Machado has again kept everything simple and direct, focused on Cho but embracing the audience the way Cho does herself.

Cho has always had a larger purpose in mind than getting laughs for raunchy stories. Before the curtain goes up on “Notorious C.H.O.” at Seattle’s Paramount Theater, where her latest one-woman show was filmed, she tells us in her dressing room that she wants to provide her audiences with “a way of belonging, of feeling validated.” She succeeds so resoundingly because her humor is so liberating and so inclusive, inviting us to see the absurd humor in our hang-ups and about who we are. Cho is a pretty, smart and courageous American woman of Korean descent who developed the gift of a liberating self-empowerment. The rich diversity of her audiences attest to her wide-ranging appeal.

Cho, who grew up in San Francisco, tells us how she always wanted to be a performer, but as an Asian American initially felt the best she could hope for was a chance to be “an extra in ‘MASH.’ ” As she grew older and set her sights higher, she was told by an agent that “an Asian can never be successful in entertainment.” It was at this point, she tells us, that she drew inspiration from her high school pals--a pair of fearless drag-queen lovers who set an example for her in the courage to be oneself. No wonder Cho embraces and has been embraced by the gay, lesbian and transgendered community; gay life and gay humor provide her with a rich and provocative perspective in dealing with the comic vicissitudes of being a very open-minded straight woman.

The outrageous vagaries of sex and the workings of the human body and psyche, male and female, straight and gay, make up a great deal of the show. Cho understands that sex is politics, that sexual freedom presupposes the notion of a free society, and she therefore doesn’t have to preach but merely attack prudery with all the seemingly limitless wit at her command. She also has some hard-won observations on negative body images, and no Cho show would be complete without her loving spoofs of her mother. (Cho’s elegant parents, seen briefly, clearly have learned to appreciate their daughter’s outlaw humor.)

“Notorious C.H.O.” matches its engaging prologue with an equally winning epilogue in which Cho mingles with audience members after the show as they leave the theater. Since the warm feelings her gay and lesbian fans express toward her are not surprising, it is touching to see a tall, handsome young man gently embrace her and say, “Straight guys love you too.”

Unrated: Times guidelines. Exceedingly blunt language and sexual humor.

‘Notorious C.H.O.’

A Wellspring release of a Cho Taussig production. Producer-director-editor Lorene Machado. Executive producers Margaret Cho, Karen Taussig. Writer Cho. Cinematographer Kirk Miller. Music Greg Burns, Jeff Burns, Andrea Bensmiller, Eve Buigues; performed by Jariya. Production designer Kristen Zavorska. Running time: 1 hour, 35 minutes.

Exclusively at the Nuart for three weeks, 11272 Santa Monica Blvd., West Los Angeles, (310) 478-6379.