Cho's new material wins Wichita over

BY JILLIAN COHAN
The Wichita Eagle

After a three-year absence, comic Margaret Cho made a raunchy return to Wichita on Friday night.

About 1,500 people filled the Cotillion ballroom to hear Cho's take on politics, race, sex and, of course, her inimitable impression of her Korean mother.

"It's important to feel beautiful," she said midway through the performance, leading into a bit about the crash diets she tried as a young woman.

"My father told me when I was 8, 'You will never be a beautiful girl, so you need to have a good personality so people will like you,' " she recalled. "I told my mother what he said. She goes, 'Nobody hate Daddy like I hate Daddy.' "

The sketch was one of many that blended Cho's effervescent stage personality with cutting observations on pop culture. Although she's not officially on tour, the 37-year-old comedian is using her few winter performances to test new material. In Wichita, it was a hit.

The crowd cheered her on when she announced how happy she was that the Democrats won this week's midterm elections. "It's not all great, though, because Bush is still in office," she said.

After poking fun at Republicans' preoccupation with immigration -- it's simple, she said, "If you are not a Native American, you're an illegal alien" -- Cho entered into a long riff on gay marriage.

If you're against gay marriage, but you're on pins and needles watching the finale of Bravo's hit TV show "Project Runway," she considers you a hypocrite. And she has a solution.

"Let's hit 'em where they live and have all the wedding planners go on strike," she suggested.

"Go ahead, try to do your own makeup. Boo hoo, who needs a floral arrangement now?"

After 20 years on the comedy circuit, Cho's blue -- and blue-state -- humor comes as no surprise. Only about a third of her material was fit for publication, and even the G-rated jokes contained sharp social criticism.

"I always end up in these weird racial situations," she said toward the end of the show. "I'm on an airplane and the steward is coming down the aisle going, 'Asian Chicken salad? Asian chicken salad?' When he gets to me he goes... 'Chicken salad?'

"What does he think I'm going to do?" she asked, switching into a demonic, raspy voice to answer the steward's question: "This is not the salad of my people. In my homeland they use mandarin orange slices and crispy wonton pieces. That, my friend, is an Asian chicken salad."

When Cho finished her set, the crowd gave her an enthusiastic ovation. In return, she delivered a parody of a rap song for an encore.

It was raunchy, political and devoted to Cho's favorite part of the female anatomy.