Margaret Cho: ‘Beautiful’ from all directions
By SKY BARNHART, Contributing Writer
POSTED: March 6, 2008

Margaret Cho promises Maui residents that her latest offering will be “very raunchy, very political, very wild.”

Chatting by phone from Los Angeles, the controversial comedian is relaxed, articulate and surprisingly un-shocking. Hard to believe this is the same woman who routinely throws out explicit sexual references and blush-inducing language in her onstage banter.

Judging from the turnout for her “Assassin” tour in 2005, Cho’s “Beautiful” show on Saturday night at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center’s Castle Theater will be a major event. And as much as Hawaii likes Cho, Cho loves coming here.

“Whenever I go to Hawaii, I feel so excited and happy because it really is Asian-America,” she says. “It’s like the one place where I don’t feel like a minority … I think all Asian-Americans have to travel to Hawaii and experience it because it’s so overwhelmingly different. I think it’s life-changing.

“There are very different issues that Asian-Americans in Hawaii face than they do on the Mainland, dealing with race, but for me, Hawaii is a great haven and a really exciting place to be.”

Much of Cho’s material is race-related, dealing with her heritage and the prejudice she faces as a female, bisexual Asian-American.

“I’ve always felt out of place, but when I go to Hawaii, I feel immediately in place.”

Although not all of Hawaii welcomes her edgy style (it’s not uncommon to see people walking out of her shows), disapproval is never something that’s held Cho back from pursuing her vision. In fact, she describes her new show as pushing the boundaries even further than her last.

“‘Assassin’ was very critical of the Bush administration, very critical of conservatives; it was a pretty angry show,” she says. “This show is more about sexuality, about women’s issues, about body issues, how women view ourselves; the ideals of beauty and how unrealistic it is. So it’s a little bit more personal and less political.”

That’s not to say Cho won’t throw down at least a bit of political commentary. She has expressed her support for Barack Obama, but actually, she says, she likes both Obama and Hillary Clinton.

“I think a lot of people are in the same position that I’m in … We don’t know everything; we like them both. It’s a very difficult position.”

Long an advocate for not only women’s issues, but also issues of racism and gay rights, she knows she can’t change the world with the subject matter she tackles. But she says she’d like to make a difference.

“I’d like to at least challenge what the status quo is about,” she says. “To challenge it with humor, I think, is really fun and successful. It’s a great way to challenge these kinds of beauty ideals and iconic images and to just really shake them up.”

Since her first days in comedy, Cho has been shaking things up. Following the success of her off-Broadway one-woman show, “I’m The One That I Want,” Cho launched “Notorious C.H.O.” in 2001, a hugely popular national tour culminating in a sold-out show at Carnegie Hall. Audiences responded to her frank talk about topics from bisexuality to substance abuse, eating disorders to bodily functions, stereotypes to her fondness for gay men.

She has broadened her reach from TV and stage into the online world with a regular blog on her Web site, Mar garetcho.com. She says she tries to read the reader responses when she can. “People are really supportive and that’s really nice,” she says.

Cho has also been getting great feedback on “Beautiful” as she’s workshopped it in the last couple months. “It’s a really revolutionary show, and I think it makes people feel good,” she says. “I feel like it’s my best show.”

Opening the night will be comedian Liam Sullivan, whom Cho calls “an amazing artist.” Sullivan, who worked with Cho in her off-Broadway variety show, “The Sensuous Woman,” has gained fame in his persona as “Kelly,” an angst-ridden teen with a bad home life and an obsession with shoes. His hit video “Shoes” has made him the second most watched comedian on YouTube.