Terry Morrow: Margaret Cho befriends Bristol Palin, pokes fun at her
By Terry Morrow
Knoxville.com
Posted November 17, 2010 at 2:57 p.m., updated November 17, 2010 at 2:57 p.m.

Get ready to do a spit take over this piece of news: Liberal comic Margaret Cho and right-winger Bristol Palin are buddies.

I know, right?

Now clean yourself off and keep reading.

Cho, who’ll perform at Saturday night at Bijou Theatre, has gotten to know and befriend Palin while the two were cast mates on this season’s “Dancing with the Stars.” Yes, they are friends, but it’s not like they go out for a night of beers and get tattoos together.

Also, don’t think Cho’s changed her stripes from blue to red. She’s still a dyed-in-the-wool liberal and proud of it. However, she’s also become more enlightened to the human condition because of her extra exposure to conservatives.

She may not agree with Palin’s political views, but she’s not as quick to lump all conservatives in a group and demonize them. “We often segregate ourselves through politics and class,” Cho says.

“So we don’t meet people who are that different than us ... and I think (by getting to know them) that’s cool.”

As for Palin, she calls her a friend. “I think she’s a really nice person, and I am not surprised to have become friends with her,” Cho says by phone. “Politically, her family is not (to) my way of thinking. We are nothing alike in that sense.

“(The Palins) are a different tribe of people. That’s the beauty of ‘Dancing with the Stars.’ It allows you to hang out with people you never, ever would.”

Cho didn’t have an opinion of Palin before doing “Dancing.” “All I knew about her was through (media reports on) her mom (Sarah Palin),” Cho says. “I didn’t know what to think about Bristol.

“People can be very different from their parents.”

However, Cho can’t resist poking fun at Bristol. She notes Bristol’s agenda is teen sexual abstinence, though the 20-year-old’s sexy moves on “Dancing” might be sending mixed messages to her audience.

“I think it’s so rad she’s becoming a stripper,” deadpans Cho, “and a lap dancer.”

Cho can’t explain Bristol’s popularity on the show. Reports lately attributed her final four status to possible Tea Party support. “There’s a strong popular movement behind Sarah Palin at the moment and she’s receiving a lot of support from the Tea Party,” “Dancing” executive producer Conrad Green is quoted as telling the Bloomberg news recently. “It’s entirely possible some of those people are behind Bristol for political reasons.”

(For the record, Cho says Jennifer Grey is the season’s best talent.)

Cho says it’s “disappointing” she has yet to meet Bristol’s mom. Most of the time, “She’s been (in the ‘Dancing’ audience) when I am not there,” she says.

Sarah Palin was around once when Cho was still in the competition. “She kept waving to Louis (van Amstel, her dance partner) and me from the audience,” Cho says. “It was so surreal.

“It’s one thing to see them (on TV). It’s another to see them live and in person.”

Cho mentions the Palins in her act in regard to the show. “I am super-excited they are on (‘Dancing’) because that means they are not in the White House,” she says, “and that makes me happy.”

Cho’s Knoxville show begins at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $25, according to AC Entertainment.