I was recently in Seattle, Washington and was offered the chance to not only see Margaret Cho live, but go backstage and meet the Queen of Queer comedy. We chatted with Margaret for a few minutes and then took our seats to laugh until our stomachs hurt with the rest of the crowd at the beautiful Paramount Theatre.
Cho’s current tour, Beautiful came about when Cho was asked during a radio interview “What would you do if you woke up tomorrow and you were beautiful? What if you woke up and you were blonde and had blue eyes and were 5’11 and weighed 100 pounds and you were beautiful?” In typical Cho response, she retorted, “I probably wouldn’t get up because I would be too weak to stand.” So thus, the Beautiful Tour was born, her first solo tour in three years.
“It is really important to talk about beauty and to acknowledge and celebrate it. It is important for people that are outside of the mainstream, to talk about it and really emphasize it,” Cho told GayCalgary and Edmonton Magazine.
“This is my first solo tour, but I did the True Colors Tour, which was very fun. I did an Off-Broadway show called The Sensuous Woman that I toured with for a bit. So I was busy doing other projects and not focusing on stand up. I worked out a lot of it while I was doing the other two shows. It is a mix of different influences that all came together with this show.”
I caught up with Margaret a few days after her Seattle double-shot for this exclusive interview. Off-stage Cho is charming and well-spoken, but don’t expect her to be a non-stop comedy machine. She admitted that people have approached her in public and asked her to be funny right then and there.
“That happens, and I never know what to do. I am never really good at being off the cuff that way so I can never satisfy their needs, I feel bad.”
Cho started her career in stand-up opening for Jerry Seinfeld, and soon had her own TV show, 1994’s All American Girl. Criticized by the network for her face being “too round” Cho starved herself, which resulted in kidney failure. The show was cancelled after 19 episodes.
“It was alarming, the amount of influence the (network) had in issues of race and authenticity and what they wanted from the show compared to what they were getting. They were off the mark and didn’t know what they were doing and it was an awful situation to be in,” she recalled. She will be returning to TV soon with a reality show on VH-1, The Cho Show. “Now I am very excited to be on television again and to really understand it and have a lot of creative control and support from the networks. It is very different now, back then it was very tough.”
Cho battled alcohol and drugs and acted in several films, including 1996’s classic It’s My Party about a terminal AIDS patient throwing a party to say goodbye to friends and family. The tear-jerker is a must-see, and also led to Cho bonding with fellow gay icon Olivia Newton John.
“It was wonderful, I loved being in that movie, and the story and director and the cast were incredible. It is a beautiful film. It is one of those great gems of gay cinema and I hope people rediscover it because it is such a beautiful story and was a wonderful film to work on, I thought it was incredible. I met Olivia Newton John on that show and we have formed a fag hag bond that lasts to this day.”
Cho returned to comedy with a vengeance on her 2000 tour I’m the One That I Want, also publishing a book of the same name. That tour was followed by 2002’s Notorious C.H.O, Revolution in 2003, State of Emergency in 2004 and 2005’s Assassin.
“I just didn’t give up because I really love comedy and didn’t stop or take no for an answer and committed myself to it. I am so focused that I wouldn’t let go of this dream, I wanted it,” she said. A huge part of her success has been based on her incredibly loyal LGBT fanbase.
“The things that I talk about, my subject matter and politics are very queer. I grew up in the Queer community; I always was a fag hag and always had that point of view. It is my natural instinct to write about these issues, and that connects me to the gay community. It is also a community I am very political in; I have done a lot of campaigning for gay marriage and generating support for a lot of gay organizations. That has something to do with it too. I am always involved in the gay community whether it is writing about it or talking about.”
In fact, Cho describes herself as queer, and frankly comments on the appeal of both men and women in her past in her shows. It comes as a surprise to many when in 2003 she married artist Al Ridenour.
“People are confused by it, because I am queer, but I think you can be married and be queer. Just because this relationship is what is in my life doesn’t mean it negates anything else I have felt or had, it is just another part of who I am,” she said, adding that her husband has no issues with her show being so sexual. “He loves it, he really laughs. This show is his favorite to date because he thinks it is so hilarious. We have the same sense of humor which is one of the reasons we are so close and get along so well.”
As an activist and supporter, Cho gave her thoughts on both the pressure to be closeted in Hollywood, as well as her thoughts on gay marriage, which only days after the interview was legalized in her home state of California.
“Hollywood itself and the industry is so dominated by gays and lesbians in every part of the industry, it is odd to me that anyone is closeted at all because it is quite welcoming. It is very open in a sense but at the same time there is the myth of the glass ceiling that you can only get so far as a Queer artist. I don’t think that is true. I have never felt otherwise, I felt it was an incredibly queer industry. As for opponents of marriage, I don’t get it. I feel it is a really insulting thing for Arnold Schwarzenegger to ban gay marriage, it is hypocritical for someone who comes from a queer industry like show business, it is insulting to have one of our own reject us in that way. I don’t understand why we can’t have gay marriage or why anyone would be against it, it feels weird to me.”
Gay topics are a big part of Beautiful. After kicking off the show talking about getting a “G-shot” injection in her vagina (making the many gay men in the audience cringe) and anal bleaching, she went into her fag hag status and admitted to being a bear hag, or Goldilocks, because “You know you’re gonna eat!”
“Bear culture is very new and growing and sort of happening, so not everyone knows the terminology yet but that is a real term. I am not sure why bears woof but I guess it is all animalistic.”
The 80 minute show had the audience in stitches as she spoke about Paris Hilton, Larry Craig, Eliot Spitzer, Religious groups, strap-ons, her vagina, oral sex, and much more. Considering the success of her previous tours, her fans expect a lot from each new tour.
“I put a lot of pressure on myself because it has to be really good. I get worried in the writing process, what is going to be major, be really great and stand out? I am pretty hard on myself to get it to where I want it to be. You want to do your best, and with me people who have come to see me, have seen me time and time again and are aware of my other work.”
The show is opened by Liam Sullivan, the Internet sensation behind Kelly of the videos Shoes, Text Message Breakup, and Let Me Borrow That Top.
“My husband made the robot in the Shoes video. I was one of the first people to see that video and I flipped. I love, love, love Kelly and wanted to work with her. I put her in Sensuous Woman. I really love him and think he is a great performer and a great friend and we have a really great time.”
One thing Cho has not done is a full cross-Canada tour. She admits to really liking Canada but so far has only played Toronto and Vancouver.
“I would love to, I think that would be really fun and it is a good idea. I am looking forward to coming up there someday and hopefully I will be there soon.”
Margaret Cho is beautiful, and her fans love her. She counts herself as blessed to be so supported by the LGBT community
“I do enjoy being on tour and on stage, I really thrive off it and it is something I am very familiar with. It is close to who I am naturally, and I have done it a lot. I am quite busy.
People are wonderful and supportive and really connect with a lot of things and appreciate the humor and honesty. I really love that and feel a close connection with fans, who have come to see me time and time again - it is a wonderful thing.”
www.margaretcho.com
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