Interview: "Notorious" Margaret Cho
Cho-Stopper: AAV Interview with Margaret Cho
By Yayoi Lena Winfrey, AAV Contributing Editor
In
the elevator from the ground floor entrance to backstage at Seattle's Paramount
Theater, the divine Ms. M (for Margaret) makes a face at associate producer
Ran Barker, then turns to face the camera on
my shoulder and jeers "It smells like someone's been smoking weed in here!"
We’re on our way to the dressing room in preparation for two concerts Cho
will film for her newest movie, The Notorious C.H.O. I'm along for the
ride as a second-unit cameraperson capturing the behind-the-scenes excitement on
this rainy November day in 2001.
As I peer through the lens, however, I catch an up-close and personal look at
The Notorious One and note noting that she looks tired more than excited.
Someone reported later that Cho soaked herself in a tub of ice that afternoon in
order to wake up for her show. And it's no wonder the girl is weary. Her
grueling tour would eventually cover 37 cities that year.
Nothing Sacred
The first comedian to hit the road following the 9/11 attacks, Cho came under
intense scrutiny and even overt criticism for not mourning longer. In fact, one
of her routine's jokes alludes to her performing sexual acts on 9/11 rescue
workers.
Is there anything this bawdy, funny lady feels is too sacred to joke about?
"I don't know," Cho replies when recently asked. "I just want to be funny. I
don't really care about taboos necessarily."
In her new film, she describes both sexual organs and exploits in explicit
detail. Publicity for the film has placed a premium on its raunch factor,
encouraging comparisons with Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor, and George Carlin.
However, Cho's significant contribution to the genre is the introduction of a
unflinchingly female perspective, one that she applies to the satire (and
discomfort) of men in such gags as "If Straight Men Had Periods" and "If Gay Men
Had Periods".
"It's not interesting to me to be safe in any way or to not take risks,"
declares Cho. "I haven't encountered anything that I wouldn't necessarily talk
about...unless it was boring."
Recently, a news article in a London paper contemplated whether or not Cho
would be punished for her 9/11 gag the way Politically Incorrect’s Bill
Maher was dismissed for remarking that terrorists were not cowards.
"Bill Maher was penalized pretty heavily," says Cho, "whereas I can sort of
say what I like because my shows are my own. I don't have to answer to a higher
authority."
Her Own Boss, A Different Direction
Being her own boss has worked well for Cho. The past few years have seen the
cherub-faced comic on a comeback trail. Following a string of successful college
campus performances, Cho filmed her stand-up act titled I'm The One That I
Want [see profile below]. An autobiographical book with the same name
followed. Now, with a second film in release, Cho feels vindicated for the
horrifying period following the cancellation of her failed TV series
All-American Girl. Depressed after losing the show, Cho descended into a
drink-drug-sex-bulimia binge for five years--nearly killing herself.
The racism behind the forfeiture of the sitcom and its subsequent effect on
Cho were prime subjects for I'm The One That I Want, but the material she
now covers is different.
"The first film was a story about race and Hollywood...this one is much less
[about that]," says Cho.
Indeed, in Notorious, Cho barely mentions her Korean heritage or the
way Asian Americans are treated in the entertainment industry.
Notorious is "basically a comedy show about...just what's happening in my
life at this point in time," says Cho, observing that, "it can take almost a
year to write a show depending on what I'm doing."
What Notorious gives us is a kinder, gentler, perhaps more
introspective Cho.
"[It's] more like personalized politics," she says. "It's about the
revolution that's inside of us...It's not as political, not as racial as my
previous work..."
Ironically, the title parodies the rap artist Biggie Smalls, The Notorious
B.I.G., whose violent murder several years ago remains unsolved amid rumors of a
racist conspiracy. Nonetheless, the "revolution" inside of the Cho of today is
sexual, and the film is likely to reinforce her fan-base outside the
Asian-American community, especially among her devoted gay and lesbian
audiences.
Still Lonely
Yet, there's no denying that more Asian-Pacific Americans are Cho fans now
than when All-American Girl was considered an embarrassment to the APA
community.
"I think it's my longevity," says Cho seriously. "I've been kind of around a
long time. A lot of people grew up with me."
She says she plans to incorporate more Asian heritage and politics again in
her future work.
"I'm looking forward to a new show which is about race," says Cho, "[It] will
focus more on race because it's more on my mind...from what I'm reading and what
my personal life is more about."
Confessing that she's "felt really alone for so many years," Cho says she'd
also like to see a greater number of other Asians consider show biz careers. The
subject is briefly tackled in "Alan & Jeremy," one of the show's bits in which
she recalls early attempts to dissuade her from a career once thought unsuitable
for Asians.
"I encourage Asian Americans to get into the arts: to really think about how
we're defined in this culture and to work for visibility," she says. "There
needs to be so much more involvement...by [us] in the entertainment industry."
Hailing African-American actors Halle Berry and Denzel Washington for their
Oscar wins, Cho admits, "It's a small beginning, but there's so much still left
to do."
"It's really great that there are actors out there like Halle...and Denzel...who
have done amazing things regardless of race," Cho says. "Their achievements are
above and beyond what they 're doing for race...encouraging us to go forth and
do more."
Cho credits her parents with providing that encouragement in her own career.
"Wonderful, thoughtful, elegant and gracious," Cho gushes, "they're my role
models."
Because of their intellectual interests, Cho's parents helped her to shape
her life through knowledge gained by reading. They once owned a bookstore.
"Now that they're older, they've changed a lot in the way they view me," says
Cho explaining that their expectations are different.
"They started out as very traditional, strict Korean parents," she asserts.
"They've mellowed so much."
Cho's mother, the butt of many of her on-stage jokes, routinely thanks fans
in women's rest rooms of auditoriums for attending her daughter's show. Her
devotion, and Margaret’s years of mimicking her mother in her acts, have so
endeared Mrs. Cho to many fans that she’s become a part of the star attraction
in her right. Theatrical trailers for the film feature Asian-American audience
members proclaiming their love for the Mom "character" and opinion that these
bits are the highlight of the show.
Currently on a promotional tour for the film, Cho returns to performing live
concerts in August. Meanwhile, catch The Notorious C.H.O., directed by
Lorene Machado, opening July 3 in New York, followed by other cities nationwide.
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