Did you miss Margaret Cho’s show in Calgary last year? Were you devastated when her Edmonton show was canceled due to scheduling conflicts? Did you attend but are trying to remember your favorite jokes? Well rest easy, because Beautiful is now out on DVD.
Filmed at the Terrace Theatre in Long Beach, California the concert film is Cho captured at her comedic best. In fact, as Cho explained, a big part of releasing her show on DVD is exactly for those who can’t catch her live…and at times to refresh her memory.
“It’s very important for me to get all the shows I do on DVDs, not only so that people who can’t come to the shows can see it, but also so that I can remember it! I write so much and then forget it all almost right away. People always request jokes and I cannot do them because I don’t know them anymore! So the DVDs are a way to help me remember…and also for people who want to see it that didn’t get to before,” she told GayCalgary and Edmonton Magazine.
Having seen Cho live twice in 2008, both in Seattle and Calgary, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the jokes hadn’t gotten old even though they were familiar to me.
“That’s nice! Yeah, I think of my jokes a lot like songs, in that people want to hear them again and again and they still laugh. I don’t know why that is. I am lucky I guess. But there is certainly a kind of musicality to it that people want to hear repetitions.”
Filming a show is a lot different than doing a show strictly for a live audience. Cho had to be aware of the cameras and adapt to subtle differences while keeping the essence of the show the same.
“It changes my approach slightly, just because the lighting is very different, the vibe is different - it all seems a lot more formal when we film, so it is less casual and less intimate. So there’s some differences, but I try to make it as much like any other performance.”
Taping at the Terrace Theatre has special meaning to Cho as it was the site of Richard Pryor’s groundbreaking 1979 concert release.
“The reason I do comedy is Richard Pryor. The reason I make comedy films is Richard Pryor. He was and is still a tremendous influence. I have always wanted to make a film at the Terrace because of Pryor, and I am so proud that it was this one.”
While the Beautiful DVD will tide over fans, Margaret Cho is someone that must be experienced live. Expect that opportunity to occur once again in the near future.
“I am working now on an album of comedy songs, which probably qualifies for a Juno because there are so many Canadian artists on it: Tegan and Sara, Broken Social Scene, A.C. Newman, and The Cliks. I will be all over Canada when I tour that. The album and tour are likely due in fall 2010.”
