Outspoken Cho leads Pride parade Friday
By Veronica M. Cruz
FOR THE ARIZONA DAILY STAR


Comedian Margaret Cho has taken her act on the road yet again and it's stopping in Tucson this time.

The San Francisco native will take the stage at the Rialto Theatre on Friday night, but not before taking to the streets as the celebrity grand marshal in this year's gay pride parade on North Fourth Avenue.

If the outspoken 40-year-old seems unusually quiet during the parade, it's because a series of events strained her voice, and doctors told her not to talk except when she's on stage.
The normally boisterous and often explicit Cho finds humor in just about everything, including her bisexuality, her battles with substance abuse, her Korean heritage, overzealous Christians and homosexuals. Her stand-up routines are famous for her withering, heavily accented impersonations of "Mommy."

For some recent shows, however, Cho relied on other comedians to speak for her while she made faces and acted out her jokes on stage. She played music, did a burlesque number or two and enlisted the help of the text-to-speech function on her Mac.

By most accounts, she pulled it off.

Don't worry, though, Cho will tell her own jokes at the Rialto. But off stage, she's still giving her vocal chords a rest.

Her career is plenty busy, however. After a disastrous experience in the 1990s as the star of ABC's quickly canceled "All American Girl," she's back on the small screen, playing Terri on Lifetime's "Drop Dead Diva," now in its second season. And she's also compiling material for her upcoming comedy album.

Caliente caught up with Cho via e-mail (no talking required), where she typed about what it's like not to talk, her affection for Appalachian instruments and what it was like doing vodka shots alongside Kermit the Frog.

How long have you been voiceless?
"I lost my voice mid-August, while I was still filming 'Drop Dead Diva' in Atlanta. I have gotten it back to some degree and am able to perform shows. I have to be silent the rest of the time though."

What happened?
"Overwork, stress, allergies. Any number of things can affect your voice. I had a cold and then kept pushing through and working and also being stressed out since my dog just died and I had lived away from home for six months, so it was a lot of factors."

Most people would have thrown in the towel and canceled their shows if they couldn't speak, but you chose to continue the tour. Why?
"This was first suggested to me by Jon Brion, who I am working with on my upcoming album, which is still untitled. He told me that he would read my material and I could act it out.
"We did it at the new Largo at the Coronet in Los Angeles right before my official tour started. It was so successful that I decided to go on tour with the silent shows rather than canceling."

Has there been a time when you really wanted to use your voice and couldn't?
"I spent a week hanging out with Neil Finn from my favorite bands, Crowded House and Split Enz, and I couldn't talk to him at all. I could pass notes, but it was annoying to me to do that.

"Other than that, not being able to speak has been very peaceful and a nice vacation from life. I really think it has made me a better person, as well as a better singer."

You'll be the grand marshal of Pride on Parade. Have you been practicing your wave?
"Yes. I am excited about this. But I won't be screaming when I am grand marshal, which is what I usually do all over the world, at gay pride celebrations. But I will be screaming with my eyes."

You've been working on your debut comedy/music album, due out next year. When did you decide to start playing music?
"I have been playing around with music in my shows for a few years now, and I am just putting it all together.

"It's country, indie, hip-hop and electronic. I think one side is the country/alternative side, that's 'Guitarded,' and then the other side is dance/electronic/ beats and that's 'Leotarded.'
"I am so old I still think of records as having a 'side.' "

You said on Twitter that you were looking for someone to teach you how to play the dulcimer. What's that about?
"Yes, I love Appalachian instruments. I play the banjo, and so I think the dulcimer is a good instrument to learn after banjo.

"I am obsessed with instruments that can be played by two people at one time. This is so cute and sort of vaudeville and also romantic. So I am looking for a courting dulcimer partner."

You mentioned doing vodka shots with Gorbachev in your song "25 Random Things." Is that true?
"Of course. This was like 1995, and I was attending an environmental awards ceremony thrown by Jane Fonda and Ted Turner, and Mikhail Gorbachev and Raisa Gorbachev were in attendance. We all were encouraged to do shots, and so it was very surreal because it was me, the Gorbachevs, the Fonda/Turners and, for some reason, Tippi Hedren and Kermit the Frog (his puppeteer did the shots). We all got super drunk."