Lighten up!? Humour as anti-racism in the work of Asian American comic Margaret Ch

This work is an anti-racist feminist deconstruction of Asian American comic Margaret Cho. In it I use critical race, gender, and cultural theories to examine Cho's humour for its anti-racist possibilities. The primary texts used are Cho's film I'm the One That I Want and her autobiography of the same name.;In chapter I, I outline the theoretical frameworks I use throughout the work. In Chapter II, I do a discursive reading of Cho's work outlining moments in which humour subverts and reinscribes racism. Finally in Chapter III, I touch on the politics of reception. I deconstruct Cho's assertion of a 'fag hag' identity and look at what her work may mean to Asian American fans. I touch briefly on the theatre as a racially transgressive space.;I conclude with musings on Cho's humour as a new post-modern brand of anti-racist feminist discourse.