by Kay Curry
Northwest Asia Weekly
Margaret Cho (Photo by Gor Magaera)
She is brass. She is bold. She is Asian American. Her home is a sanctuary for rescued animals and nearby birds (28 bird feeders so far). Her stage is a sanctuary for marginalized groups. She has held many creative activist roles in supporting women, Asians and gays. She’s Margaret Cho, and she’s bringing her latest live comedy tour to Spokane and Tacoma in July.
When Cho debuted in the 1990s (she was only 14 when she opened for Jerry Seinfeld), she was a combination that didn’t exist in comedy: Asian (Korean American), female and queer.
“I have a lot to say, and it’s exciting because it’s a whole different perspective,” Cho said. Her uniqueness garnered bookings but caused consternation among those unfamiliar with various gender identities. Cho identified herself as bi at the time, and she never tried to hide it, but felt she had to explain so much that she chose “queer” because “that’s the only word we have.”
Cho believes that “gender is infinite” and today embraces an asexual identity. “It’s really underrated stuff, but still part of the queer landscape…asexuality is a real sexuality…I just found out it’s out of the fridge – I don’t know if it’s something in the closet ?”
For everyone who was confused or uncomfortable with Cho’s sexuality or her foul language (which she openly discusses – and sometimes mimics – sex, body and race), 10 others ended up in live comedy found refuge. Cho brought a different group of people who felt threatened by male comedians at the time — and still feel that way: Asians, women and gays.
“There are a lot of people who come to my shows and they never feel like they can be in comedy because usually we are the objects of jokes. Especially in the 80s, there were ‘Asian drivers’ jokes… going to a club and feeling like you wouldn’t be The verbal attack was so weird…it gave me a lot of room to grow as an artist.”
Margaret Cho (Photo by Sergio Garcia)
The Weekly spoke with Cho about the comedy trends today for these same types of comedians who feel threatened by what they classify as cancel culture, but as Cho describes it as a real social effort to “level the playing field.” “From a white supremacist, male-centric normative perspective on heterosexuality, this is indeed what society has allowed for a long time — heterosexuality is the norm –[which] Being so tolerant of violence in language, violence in everyday speech, we allow language to be sexist, racist, homophobic, capable, transgender. Cho admits that the point of humor is to be shocking or offensive, but “comedians…the task now is to be more skilled in the way they approach things.” Cho herself has dealt with sexism and racism from her audience, other comedians and the show business world, in which she struggled for a while to gain a foothold.
“It’s not about a blanket statement about what we can and can’t talk about. It’s more about how do we… fix what society is doing wrong with so many different marginalized groups?” Her advice? “Just make better jokes!” and try to understand where other people are coming from. Those who were always present but had no voice.
“It’s not like they never had these [grievances]; they just have nowhere to play them. “
Cho has been busy with different projects from TV to movies, such as the just-released Fire Island. Her comedy journey has been on and off due to COVID-19, but she still loves stand-up comedy. It’s part of her social life and an “inseparable part” of her existence. She used some downtime during the pandemic to focus on caring for animals.
“I’m just a nature lover. I have hundreds of plants. It’s a very important part of my life.” One of Cho’s rescue cats is deaf, and they have developed a special way of communicating. “My cat fascinates me.”
When she visits the Pacific Northwest, her topics will include racism and gun violence, especially targeting the Asian American and gay communities, and “how close it is to home.” When Cho was interviewed by Weekly in June, a group of white supremacist U-Haul had just been arrested on their way to riot at a PRIDE event.
“It’s a real fear. It’s not imaginary and it’s not just ethereal. Combined with … the ongoing gun violence — it’s not ‘escalating’ — we’re terrified all the time.” Even when upset It’s also funny when distracted, with Cho commenting that trucks full of white men “are also really gay…all huddled in U-Haul, all dressed alike! And using…U-Haul, the most holy woman Gay vehicles – how dare you!”
Cho is looking forward to coming to Washington.
“It’s going to be fun.” She loves “good for my hair” weather and appreciates the history of Asian immigration here, especially in Tacoma. She doesn’t feel like she’s changed much over the years. What has changed is the landscape, which has more room for women, Asians and queer than at the beginning of her career — thanks in part to her.
“Me too, I really just want to do a good job and be thoughtful about the kind of comedy I do…I want to be funny, but I also want to challenge myself.” She still likes to talk about her parents, especially her ‘s mother. She finds it funny, “Even though they’ve been here since 1964, they still kind of don’t identify with Americans.”
There will likely always be comedians with alpha male perspectives who may have their own audience. Yet now, thanks to front-runners like Cho, other household names like Ronny Chieng, and up-and-comers like Joel Kim Booster or Bowen Yang, “Times change. Only now, times change is more in line with my view of what we can do What to talk about, a way of thinking about what we can do as artists.”
Cho’s show is full of bold words and actions for which she is known. She’ll help us find humor in the unpleasant because, as she says, that’s what we need in difficult times. “If I don’t laugh, I will cry. If I don’t laugh, I will die. We have to find hope in it, otherwise there is absolutely no hope.”
Cho’s comedy tour will run July 7-9 in Spokane and July 28-30 in Tacoma.To purchase tickets, please visit margaretcho.com/tour.
Kay can reach info@nwasianweekly.com.
