Still quite notorious
‘Out there’ comic promises an ear-opening program
By Landon Christensen
Enterprise staff writer

Innovative comedian Margaret Cho is bringing her one-woman show, “Beautiful,” to the UC Davis Mondavi Center at 8 p.m. Friday. It’s about sex, gender, homosexuality, homophobia, race and politics, all told with Cho’s wry wit and keen observations. But leave the kids at home: Cho warns that “it’s raunchy, pretty hardcore and out there.” Tickets, at $45, are available at the Mondavi Center Ticket Office, (530) 754-2787.

The concept for “Beautiful” came about awhile ago, when a radio DJ asked Cho, “If you woke up tomorrow and you were beautiful, what would you do? If you were blond, blue-eyed, 5-foot-11 and weighed 100 pounds, what would you do?”

“Well, I probably wouldn’t get up in that case” Cho quipped, “because I’d be too weak to stand.”

The DJ’s ridiculous question prompted her to challenge society’s unrealistic and rigid expectations of beauty.

“ ‘Beautiful’ is about many different topics,” Cho told me, during a recent phone call from Minneapolis. “Feeling beautiful is an important political thing. If you say you’re beautiful, it helps you in life. It helps to have confidence as well as political confidence: to want to talk about politics and improve lives.”

She doesn’t shy from politics. She’s a Barack Obama supporter, and has campaigned for him by speaking in Philadelphia. “I think he’s great,” she said. “I like Hillary too, but you can only pick one.”

Cho is excited by the prospect of either as president. “It’s hard, because they’re both great.”
Cho is outspoken in her criticism of the current government; on a Canadian talk show, she said she was “embarrassed by America.” And yet she hasn’t experienced a Dixie Chicks-style backlash.

“I get off easier because I’m a comedian, and because of the audience I have,” she admitted. “A lot of people who like me are more progressive, so I haven’t had much of a problem. I’ve always been very honest.”

Cho spends three to four days a week on tour, and the rest of her time in Los Angeles, working on her new VH1 reality show. “The Cho Show” is her first foray into television
since the 1994 sitcom, “All American Girl,” which lasted but one season. It was canceled after Cho’s notorious struggles with the network. Was she apprehensive about returning to TV?

“No, because the whole process is different. This is so much my own production. I’m working with executive producer Rico Martinez, who I’ve worked with for many years.”

Her new program is a “hybrid reality show.” “We get into different situations, and we improv,” Cho explained. “It’s a nonscripted comedy; it’s improv, but it’s also heightened reality. It’s very authentic. You could compare it to ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ ”

The show follows Cho’s “anything goes” lifestyle, and the awkward moments with her traditional Korean parents. “My family’s very into it. They are very supportive, and love what I do.”

Cho has worked on a variety of projects over the years: stand-up, books, CDs, TV, film and a variety show. She recently hosted the True Colors rock concert, which benefited the Human Rights Campaign and featured Cindi Lauper, Debbie Harry and Erasure.
“I loved the show,” Cho said, adding, “but it’s a hard to be host. You have to fill the time while people are setting up for the next band. You’re on stage performing, and you don’t know how long it’s going to take to change over the stage. It’s tough.”

When she was 16, Cho sneaked into and performed at a comedy club above her parent’s San Francisco bookstore. Not long after that debut, she won a comedy contest; the prize was opening for Jerry Seinfeld.

“That was a great experience; he was wonderful. I was in a comedy competition for college students, but I wasn’t in college.”

Cho regrets not having had that experience. “I feel like I missed out on a huge portion of what life’s about. Education is really important. I’ve taught a couple of classes on Asian American studies in media, one at UCLA and one at the University of Pennsylvania.”

Cho wants to go to college at some point, but for now she’s enjoying her career.

“I really love what I do. A lot of people I work with also are my friends. “My work is my social life.”