Carrie Fisher does an one-woman show in front of an adoring crowd. She starts with a story of finding a friend dead in her bed five years ago. Somehow, she makes it funny. Then she brings out a big board trying to decipher the relationship of her parents Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds with their connection to Elizabeth Taylor and their various marriages. This is probably the highlight for me. She also brings in her own failed marriage, her family, her addiction, and her mental struggles. Her father Eddie Fisher would die 3 months after the taping. Her raspy dry wit works for the most part especially when she's interacting with the audience. Her monotone voice does grate as the show keeps going. Overall, Carrie is very sassy, charismatic, and scary honest about her life.
15 Reviews
So much more than just a space princess...
paul_haakonsen8 May 2017
For some odd reason I never was aware of Carrie's "Wishful Drinking" show before after her untimely passing. So when I did happen to find it, I jumped at the chance to watch this. And I was sort of thrilled, because I have never seen her perform in something like this, much less did I actually know that she also did this kind of work.
It turned out that "Wishful Drinking" was a nice show on a couple of different levels. First and foremost, it was nice and open view into Carrie's life, past and struggles, and she didn't really wrap much in bubble wrap. And it was also a fun show, with a good amount of laughs and enjoyment.
I was genuinely surprised to see Carrie do this, and must admit that she excelled at it, and she felt very much at home on the stage. Watching "Wishful Drinking" does offer a good look into the real Carrie Fisher, especially if you haven't read her autobiographies beforehand. There are some very personal issues being aired, and they are delivered with honesty and often an approach that is spiced up with a pinch of comedy.
Now, this is not a stand-up comedy routine, so you should not expect that kind of show if you sit down to watch this without knowing what it is about.
"Wishful Drinking" is a very honest show, and one that all fans of Carrie Fisher should take the time to watch.
It turned out that "Wishful Drinking" was a nice show on a couple of different levels. First and foremost, it was nice and open view into Carrie's life, past and struggles, and she didn't really wrap much in bubble wrap. And it was also a fun show, with a good amount of laughs and enjoyment.
I was genuinely surprised to see Carrie do this, and must admit that she excelled at it, and she felt very much at home on the stage. Watching "Wishful Drinking" does offer a good look into the real Carrie Fisher, especially if you haven't read her autobiographies beforehand. There are some very personal issues being aired, and they are delivered with honesty and often an approach that is spiced up with a pinch of comedy.
Now, this is not a stand-up comedy routine, so you should not expect that kind of show if you sit down to watch this without knowing what it is about.
"Wishful Drinking" is a very honest show, and one that all fans of Carrie Fisher should take the time to watch.
Carrie doesn't hold back
brackenhe15 December 2010
Warning: Spoilers
I wanted to say something positive about this special one woman show after the scathing review I just read.
Most of the stuff she talked about it common knowledge, at least to me, except I didn't know that Eddie Fisher didn't marry Connie Stevens until after they had a couple of kids.
Anyway, Fisher does not hold back about anything--she talks about her entire life & the lives of her famous parents. However, nothing she says really seems malicious. Both Debbie Reynolds & Eddie Fisher were still around when she first started this show--she even mentioned that her father saw it. She never talks about anything that isn't well known, if you know anything about her at all. She seems cordial with her ex-husbands and loves her kid. She's not bitter; in fact, I found the show quite upbeat considering the mess her life had been.
She's frank, but if you're a fan you'll enjoy this little peek into her life.
Most of the stuff she talked about it common knowledge, at least to me, except I didn't know that Eddie Fisher didn't marry Connie Stevens until after they had a couple of kids.
Anyway, Fisher does not hold back about anything--she talks about her entire life & the lives of her famous parents. However, nothing she says really seems malicious. Both Debbie Reynolds & Eddie Fisher were still around when she first started this show--she even mentioned that her father saw it. She never talks about anything that isn't well known, if you know anything about her at all. She seems cordial with her ex-husbands and loves her kid. She's not bitter; in fact, I found the show quite upbeat considering the mess her life had been.
She's frank, but if you're a fan you'll enjoy this little peek into her life.
Hysterical and inspiring!
HorrorCreepshow30 December 2011
I've never been the biggest Carrie Fisher fan! I've loved her books and screenplays like the wonderful "Postcards From The Edge", but I've never really gone for Star Wars movies.
Still, I adore her personality and strengths. This act is hysterically funny and moving! I simply love her charm and wit. She never wallows in self-pity like so many other movie stars. She can look back on her problems and make something funny out of them, which is something I always encourage. Why take life so seriously?
Also, who knew she had such a lovely singing voice? Why hasn't she ever done a movie musical or done something on Broadway. The Great White Way is ready for you, my dear!
Why sit down and explain it? Just go out there and rent or buy it! It's a terrific hour and a half of fun!
Still, I adore her personality and strengths. This act is hysterically funny and moving! I simply love her charm and wit. She never wallows in self-pity like so many other movie stars. She can look back on her problems and make something funny out of them, which is something I always encourage. Why take life so seriously?
Also, who knew she had such a lovely singing voice? Why hasn't she ever done a movie musical or done something on Broadway. The Great White Way is ready for you, my dear!
Why sit down and explain it? Just go out there and rent or buy it! It's a terrific hour and a half of fun!
"Eddie rushed to Liz's side....eventually he made it around to her front."
blanche-24 December 2011
Carrie Fisher's one woman show is, in a word, hilarious.
Fisher tells it all, growing up in Hollywood, having Eddie Fisher for a father, the Liz-Debbie-Eddie triangle, Princess Leia, her drug addiction, and her "invitation to a mental hospital." She gives us a look via a big board of Hollywood Genealogy 101 ("but don't worry, Eddie wasn't alone for long...") filled with pictures and arrows of her parents, their spouses, their children, and her own two marriages and daughter, trying to find out if her daughter and another young man on the board could date, or were they, in fact, related?
Due to his retention of the Star Wars licensing, Fisher advises us that George Lucas owns her image and likeness so that "every time I look in the mirror, I have to pay him a few bucks." And she tells the audience, "If you have a chance to be a Pez dispenser, DO IT." All in all, a fun evening, obviously from the mind that brought us the entertaining "Postcards from the Edge." Fisher sees the irony in life and mines it up and down roller coaster ride for all the humor there is. She is, after all, the daughter of Debbie Reynolds, who was nominated for an Oscar for "The Unsinkable Molly Brown"..."but lost to Julie Andrews for her multilayered, emotional, deep performance of Mary Poppins."
Fisher tells it all, growing up in Hollywood, having Eddie Fisher for a father, the Liz-Debbie-Eddie triangle, Princess Leia, her drug addiction, and her "invitation to a mental hospital." She gives us a look via a big board of Hollywood Genealogy 101 ("but don't worry, Eddie wasn't alone for long...") filled with pictures and arrows of her parents, their spouses, their children, and her own two marriages and daughter, trying to find out if her daughter and another young man on the board could date, or were they, in fact, related?
Due to his retention of the Star Wars licensing, Fisher advises us that George Lucas owns her image and likeness so that "every time I look in the mirror, I have to pay him a few bucks." And she tells the audience, "If you have a chance to be a Pez dispenser, DO IT." All in all, a fun evening, obviously from the mind that brought us the entertaining "Postcards from the Edge." Fisher sees the irony in life and mines it up and down roller coaster ride for all the humor there is. She is, after all, the daughter of Debbie Reynolds, who was nominated for an Oscar for "The Unsinkable Molly Brown"..."but lost to Julie Andrews for her multilayered, emotional, deep performance of Mary Poppins."
Real Reality TV
StymieJ7 January 2011
I'm surprised with such negative reviews here. In a time where we are bombarded with so-called reality TV I find this one woman show has put the "real" in reality TV. Carrie Fisher covers her life from the beginning through current times leaving nothing to the imagination. This is certainly not a perfect world and she shows us her faults as well as those who have been a part of life. Given how far her family tree reaches into the world of celebrity it's amazing she has any scope of the real world. The show is at times sad as well as unbelievable. I didn't find it to be cruel, rude or obnoxious in any way. What is here is her life story filled with good times and bad, as all of us have, though hers has been in the public eye. Ms Fisher purposefully gives us plenty of under and overtones of comedy, be it tragic or all out slapstick. An enjoyable show to say the least.
A funny and poignant exemplification of "Comedy = Tragedy + Time"
brchthethird17 January 2017
The 1-2 punch of Carrie Fisher's and Debbie Reynolds' deaths was a fitting, but tragic, end to a year unprecedented in the number of famous/recognizable people who passed on. And for nerds, Carrie's death cut especially deep. As is the case when a celebrity dies, interest in their work surges for a time as people re-explore (or discover for the first time) why we fell in love with these people in the first place. Like most people, I'm familiar with Carrie Fisher through her work as Princess Leia in the Star Wars franchise, but only recently did I realize that she was a prolific writer. WISHFUL DRINKING was her first directly autobiographical work, based on a life which many people might envy if it weren't for all of the mental illness, drug addiction, etc. And based on this stand-up special, she was also a brilliant comedienne. Essentially a chronological overview of her life, it was filled with hilarious anecdotes and delivered with her trademark self-deprecation. Rarely have laughter and sadness coexisted so closely. And now that she's gone, the ending takes on a new poignancy. If you're a Carrie Fisher fan, I highly recommend checking this out if you haven't already (and her books, too).
Carrie Fisher raw and unfiltered. No holds barred!
kz917-126 June 2017
The HBO taped production based on Carrie Fisher's memoir of the same name. Wow, what a life. Makes me want to read the book to see what didn't make the documentary. Eddie Fisher passed shortly after the taping and is dedicated to him. On the DVD version there is an hour long interview with her mother, Debbie Reynolds that was fascinating! Now Carrie is a star in the galaxy, interesting documentary for certain!
Wishing Upon A Star
NJMoon18 October 2011
Carrie Fisher's one-woman Broadway show is a laid back treatise on life as a celebrity and a celebrity spawn. Fisher dishes on her famous parents but doesn't dig too deeply into her own battles with drugs, alcohol and celebrity. The highlight is a giant chalkboard of her famous family tree with which she tries to discern whether her daughter should date a man that may or may not be a relative. And yes, she dons the famous braids to remind us of the opportunity that allowed her to step out of her famous parents' shadow and into cultural iconography. All in all, Fisher is honest, blunt, and a bit too relaxed at times to add anything but kick-back giggles, but to ask more may be just wishful thinking.
As Grandpa Simpson would say: "Bitch, bitch, bitch!"
ldavis-222 December 2010
Warning: Spoilers
And that's all Carrie Fisher does: bitch! Bitch about her father leaving her mother. Bitch about her mother's ex-husbands. Bitch about her father's ex-wives. Bitch about her own ex-husband. Bitch about being a cog in the most lucrative franchise in movie history. Bitch about the father of her daughter leaving her for a man. After 90 minutes of listening to this self-absorbed child of Hollywood royalty bitch, who could blame him?
I do not understand what Fisher has to bitch about. She has a charmed life, and millions in the bank. So her father left her mother. Earth to Carrie: men walk out on their families all the time -- what makes you so damn special?! It is only too-obvious that her "problems" have been of her own making.
Her pathetic bid for approval (which she got from the, no doubt, bought-off audience of sycophants) may make for an interesting doctoral thesis on celebrity narcissism, but it makes for lousy television.
I do not understand what Fisher has to bitch about. She has a charmed life, and millions in the bank. So her father left her mother. Earth to Carrie: men walk out on their families all the time -- what makes you so damn special?! It is only too-obvious that her "problems" have been of her own making.
Her pathetic bid for approval (which she got from the, no doubt, bought-off audience of sycophants) may make for an interesting doctoral thesis on celebrity narcissism, but it makes for lousy television.
Entertaining dishiness
mwillhoite-684-95316927 March 2014
I just watched this hugely entertaining tell-all, a rental from Netflix. If I weren't in the habit of sending the discs back immediately, I'd have watched it again. Carrie Fisher is clearly a highly intelligent -- if deeply neurotic --woman, but her frankness and wit even out the score. She skewers everyone in her path, but with such humor and self-deprecation that she has the audience with her all the way. She strikes me as someone who would be fun to know. But.... Perhaps at a slight distance. As others have written, the best part of the show is the Hollywood Genealogy Chart, and boy, does she have fun with it! So do we. Eddie Fisher, her father, receives most of the poisoned darts, but he clearly deserved them. But she must have forgiven him long ago; the show is dedicated to him.
Magnificent soul
mls418220 April 2022
Princess Leia tells it all
jotix10016 March 2011
Warning: Spoilers
Carrie Fisher's one woman show "Wishful Drinking" is one of the most devastatingly frank pieces of theater in recent memory. At heart, this monologue was a sort of catharsis for a woman that has lived most of her life in show business. Coming from that rarefied environment, Ms. Fisher does not mince words in telling her audiences aspects of a life she has lived, most of it in the public eye. She bares her soul in an account that is hilarious, as well as sad. One can feel her pain as she goes on to tell the story of her life.
Ms. Fisher, an intelligent woman, has put together a fun show in which she interacts with her audiences in ways that endears her to the people that come to see her. She recalls her golden childhood lived in that make believe world where her famous parents, Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds created, only to see it come to a complete stop when her father left home to pursue a glamorous star that happened to be a close friend. Her illustration of the people in her life on a big board, and how everyone is related, is one of the best segments in the show.
Her own experience with the man she loved, Paul Simon, is also examined for the pain it caused her. Her claim to fame, as Princess Leia is another hysterical chapter of her life. The relationship with George Lucas is examined by bringing aspects one never knew. We get to know funny details about that chapter of her life with her disarming delivery of the way it really was.
The show was directed by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato as Ms. Fisher performed in front of a live audience in South Orange, New Jersey.
Ms. Fisher, an intelligent woman, has put together a fun show in which she interacts with her audiences in ways that endears her to the people that come to see her. She recalls her golden childhood lived in that make believe world where her famous parents, Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds created, only to see it come to a complete stop when her father left home to pursue a glamorous star that happened to be a close friend. Her illustration of the people in her life on a big board, and how everyone is related, is one of the best segments in the show.
Her own experience with the man she loved, Paul Simon, is also examined for the pain it caused her. Her claim to fame, as Princess Leia is another hysterical chapter of her life. The relationship with George Lucas is examined by bringing aspects one never knew. We get to know funny details about that chapter of her life with her disarming delivery of the way it really was.
The show was directed by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato as Ms. Fisher performed in front of a live audience in South Orange, New Jersey.
Beyond the Realm of Human Understanding **1/2
edwagreen13 December 2010
Warning: Spoilers
I know that I'll be in the minority here, but I did not like this Carrie Fisher one-woman show.
Besides her rather obnoxious voice, she prances around the stage and discusses items that really shouldn't have been brought up again. We didn't need to hear about her relationship with her parents and how her father went from one woman to another after his divorce from Liz Taylor. Equally in poor taste, we didn't have to hear about Debbie's love life after Eddie. She didn't miss any details.
Some of the funny lines included Debbie losing the 1964 best actress Oscar for "Unsinkable Molly Brown" to Julie Andrews's "Mary Poppins." The way she describe it, making Andrews a dramatic performer there was funny.
Even George Lucas, Carrie Fisher's director in 1977's "Star Wars" comes under unnecessary scrutiny.
Both at the beginning and end, Ms. Fisher sings "Happy Days are Here Again." To me, that was achieved when the show ended.
The show was in poor taste and that board showing the Fisher-Reynolds lineage was a joke, and a bad one at that.
Besides her rather obnoxious voice, she prances around the stage and discusses items that really shouldn't have been brought up again. We didn't need to hear about her relationship with her parents and how her father went from one woman to another after his divorce from Liz Taylor. Equally in poor taste, we didn't have to hear about Debbie's love life after Eddie. She didn't miss any details.
Some of the funny lines included Debbie losing the 1964 best actress Oscar for "Unsinkable Molly Brown" to Julie Andrews's "Mary Poppins." The way she describe it, making Andrews a dramatic performer there was funny.
Even George Lucas, Carrie Fisher's director in 1977's "Star Wars" comes under unnecessary scrutiny.
Both at the beginning and end, Ms. Fisher sings "Happy Days are Here Again." To me, that was achieved when the show ended.
The show was in poor taste and that board showing the Fisher-Reynolds lineage was a joke, and a bad one at that.
So much for Carrie doing "Stand Up"
FilmMonkeyMan6 May 2011
Warning: Spoilers
The show plods along with a few interesting and witty bits, but mostly is very negative, unfunny and nasty. I've seen Debbie's show, and though self deprecating and sometimes "bad taste" Debbie is also VERY FUNNY! I compare the two because Carrie because she has a similar humor, but much more bitter and hits "punch lines" over the head like a sledge hammer and actually waits for the audience to laugh, and when they don't, she insults them! Mostly the show was just uninteresting, a thing I wouldn't have thought possible considering her life story.
In the interview with her mom, Debbie said Carrie didn't ask her for advice or notes, and only asked Debbie's opinion AFTER the show had closed. There's no telling how much better it might have been had Carrie groveled to ask for her mother's advice...
In the interview with her mom, Debbie said Carrie didn't ask her for advice or notes, and only asked Debbie's opinion AFTER the show had closed. There's no telling how much better it might have been had Carrie groveled to ask for her mother's advice...
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