True story: one day on the set, a veteran movie director was chatting with a young heretofore unknown actor who’d been cast in a major motion picture.

They got to talking about the indignities of show business – the paparazzi, the intrusive fans, the mean critics, the kind of stuff the young actor was sure to suffer in the wake of his big break, the kind of stuff that overpaid movie stars like to grouse about. “But what’s the point of complaining?” said the director. “The studio gates aren’t there to keep you in.”

I recently remembered this exchange while watching performances by Margaret Cho, the one-of-a-kind Korean-American comedian, and Cher, the one-of-a-kind whatever. Different as these women are, both have been shown the showbiz exit signs time and again – Cho failed at her own TV series, and, until her hit single “Believe” made her hip again, Cher was seen as an irrelevant industry joke. And you don’t hear either of them complaining. In fact, in their respective venues, each has gotten her act together – once again and against all odds – and is taking it on the road. It’s inspiring, really, since both women are succeeding brilliantly. 

– snip review of Cher – 

There are no bungee jumpers in Cho’s one-woman riot, I’m The One That I Want, which runs Off Broadway until Aug. 14, then embarks on a national tour. It’s just Cho, doing her trademark stand-up material, which stands up surprisingly well, especially the imitation of her Korean mother looking through a gay porno rag at the family-owned bookstore. But to call this a mere stand-up act would do it a disservice.

The meat of I’m the One That I Want is a well-crafted, sometimes very serious turn in which she recounts her experiences on All-American Girl, her misguided 1994-95 ABC series. Told she looked fat by an exec, she dropped 30 pounds in two weeks and ended up in the hospital with kidney failure. When the show was canceled (“and replaced by Drew Carey, because he’s so skinny”), she spiraled into drugs and alcohol and promiscuous sex, until she woke up and thought, “What kind of f---ed up, Motley Crue, Behind the Music bulls--- is this?” Now sober and vying “to stay here and do this until the next Korean-American fag-hag, s---starting girl comic comes up and takes my place,” Cho manages rather miraculously to tell her tale without even a hint of bitterness. And like Cher, she’s learned the secret of showbiz survival. Stars who remain true to their instincts for better or worse – these are the ones that we want. Cher: B+ Margaret Cho: A
 

Cho appears at Manhattan’s Westbeth Theatre Center through Aug. 14 (call Ticket master at 212-307-4100) before going on tour (see www.jte.com/jte/margaret.htm). Unless another Korean American fag-hag comic takes her place.