Comic bringing songs and stand-up to Verizon Theatre on Saturday

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

By Hunter Hauk, hhauk@quickdfw.com
Whether riffing on sex, politics, her Korean heritage or all three simultaneously, Margaret Cho always approaches stand-up comedy with impressive fearlessness. More often than not, risks have rewarded the 41-year-old during her years in the biz, from getting her own network sitcom in the '90s to releasing a string of successful stand-up films (I'm the One That I Want, Notorious C.H.O.).

But this year looks to be the bravest yet for Cho.

She recently jumped headfirst into the music world by releasing an album of original songs, called Cho Dependent. She collaborated on the tunes with such indie-rock notables as Tegan & Sara, Ben Lee, Fiona Apple and Ani DiFranco. There are silly, overtly sexual ditties ("Asian Adjacent"), bitchy kiss-offs (the single "Eat [expletive] and Die") and even a couple of tunes with darker themes ("Intervention," "I'm Sorry").

Cho will also compete in the new season of ABC's Dancing With the Stars, joining pro-dancing partner Louis van Amstel. She's squeezing dance practices into her already packed schedule, in time for the show's premiere later this month.

All that, plus she's on a large-scale tour that incorporates new stand-up material and some of the music from her album. The tour stops Saturday at Verizon Theatre. We caught up with Cho on Labor Day for a short phone chat about singing and Dancing.

Q: How's your Labor Day so far?

Cho: I'm driving to the airport and doing press at the same time, so it's a little challenging.

Q: OK, before we get to the album and tour, I have to dish with you on 'Dancing With the Stars.' You enjoying the practices?

Cho: It's really grueling, tough, hard. But I'm starting to get it. I'm a pretty good dancer, I know how to dance a little. But this is a whole 'nother kind of dancing. I've never done any proper ballroom dancing, so that's new.

Q: Admit it – were you initially disappointed to not be paired with Maksim Chmerkovskiy?

Cho: No! I have the best partner. I think he's the greatest. Louis is the best dancer and just an awesome person.

Q: I was just thinking in terms of hotness.

Cho: Oh, I think Louis is really hot also.

Q: Have you had much contact with the other stars yet?

Cho: I just saw Jennifer Grey today. But I haven't seen anyone much. Rick Fox and I seem to be on the same practice schedule.

Q: You think Bristol Palin's a little scared of you?

Cho: I don't know. ... No, she seemed very sweet and nice on the day of the announcement. We're all rootin' for her. [Laughs.]

Q: Who is your biggest threat in the competition?

Cho: I think everyone is a threat. I don't know how anyone dances yet. The only person I've seen dance would be Jennifer Grey, and she was awesome then. But I can't really say. Never seen anybody else shake a leg.

Q: Tell me about the new tour that's stopping in Dallas. Will it be a stand-up show or a musical performance?

Cho: The show is still a stand-up show, and I'll do a couple of songs here and there. But in terms of what I do, I wrote a lot of stand-up, and I don't want to not do that.

Q: And what's on your mind these days, as far as the stand-up material goes?

Cho: There's a lot of stuff about immigration and my family history. And my mom is in there a lot. And I'm talking about gay marriage. It's about a lot of things. It's always hard to talk about what stand-up is about. But it's gonna be great, and I'm really proud of it.

Q: How will the musical performances work? What songs will you be doing?

Cho: I'm using backing tracks. I'll be doing ... yeah ... it's sort of a surprise. It's a surprise for me, too – believe that.

Q: How did the album come about?

Cho: I'm a big fan of all the musicians on the record. I wanted to do this project so that I could work with them. Everybody had a different method. I wrote all the lyrics, but we'd get together and hash things out in the studio – which is what I did with [producer] Jon Brion – or it was a matter of getting lyrics to people and they'd give me a demo. It was amazing, though. For a music fan, it was a rewarding and exciting experience to work with people I love so much.

Q: I'd imagine hearing yourself duet with Fiona Apple was a surreal moment.

Cho: Yeah. Incredible. And that song ["Hey Big Dog"] was meaningful, because I love her and I also wrote it with Patty Griffin, who's my favorite in the world.

Q: What's another tune from the record that really sticks out to you as a fave?

Cho: "I'm Sorry" has the biggest story behind it. A really horrible story. I fell in love with somebody while working on [the TV sitcom] All American Girl, and he later turned out to be a murderer. I loved him this whole time, for, like, 17 years. But he ended up killing his wife, and left the body in the house for a month. And now this whole weird thing is that he's heard the song and wants to talk to me from prison. It's really hideous. I didn't write the song for him. It's not a complimentary song. But it has a lot of meaning for me. It's the song that had the most life behind it.

Q: What about collaborators? Who'd you connect to most?

Cho: Ben Lee and I actually had the most musical affinity. He was the most fun writing with, and that's why he collaborated on more songs than anyone else.

Q: The album covers a wide range of styles. Which felt most comfortable?

Cho: I think I was most comfortable with the alt-country sound. That's sort of where my voice falls. But I also love me some good disco-house. That's where the song "Gimme Your Seed" comes in.

Q: Yes, good one. So, back to 'Dancing' – is Louis having to go on tour with you to fit in all the practicing?

Cho: He's gonna be with me in Dallas and on the road. We'll be dancing on top of the bus, Priscilla-style.