The line between comedy and pure incendiary rage is rarely as thin as it is in the humor of Margaret Cho. The comedian, captured here in director Kerry Asmussen’s concert film of her recent national tour, gleefully announces herself as a “fat dyke,” noting “why do people think ‘fat dyke’ is an insult? To me, it means I get to eat fried chicken and pussy!”

But the general thrust of her standup routine is political. In her sprightly, if foul-mouthed, commentary about Our Mediocre Rulers, Cho comfortably plays to her left-wing chorus, providing an ironic and impertinent counterpoint to the ideological excesses of the present political climate. She’s also scabrously funny, with a precisely honed comic sensibility that’s the right wing’s nightmare. Cho on George Bush: “He’s not Hitler … but he could be if he applied himself.” Cho On Laura Bush: “You know her pussy tastes like Lysol!” Cho on conservatives against gay marriage: “If you are against same-sex marriage, but you laugh your ass off at Will and Grace … well, fuck you!” Sometimes shrill, consistently outspoken and offensive, and very occasionally brilliant, Cho energetically channels her frustration and wrath into adroit humor – but take out the punch lines, and you’re left with pure fury.