THE WILD WILD WORLD OF MARGARET CHO!
by Jed Ryan

In "I'm The One That I Want"(2000), the filmed version of Margaret Cho's critically- acclaimed, one-woman show, Miss Cho proudly proclaims, "I am a fag hag. Fag hags are the backbone of the gay community. Without us, you're nothing!" Later she states, "If it were not for gay men, I would not talk to men at all!" Indeed, the fabulous Ms. C. has always had a fondness for the GLBT community, most likely an offshoot of her identification with people who didn't quite fit into the mainstream. After all, this funny lady was a free spirit and rebel being raised in a conservative, traditional Korean-American family. And the gay community returns the love: at the beginning of the flick, a trio of gay leather men with "Ass Master" T-shirts declare, "We only love three things... that would be ass, Judy Garland, and Margaret Cho!" Cho's keen observations and raunchy reflections on gay men and lesbians really hit their targets. ("At last call at a gay bar, the only people left are women!") In "I'm the One That I Want," she gives her hilarious takes on gay porn, the Chippendales dancers, her experiences when she did a show on a lesbian cruise ship, "Jo" from "The Facts of Life," and the REAL secret about how gay men get those great abdominal muscles(!). Yet despite her ultra-raunchy humor (and she does get raunchy!), the story of Margaret Cho is one of courage. Her stories about her ill-fated experiences with the failed sitcom "All-American Girl" are now legendary. Here's a tough chick who had it all, then lost it, and then got it back completely on her own terms. As she recounts her bittersweet experiences, her stories speak volumes about the status of women as well as Asian-Americans in the entertainment industry today. Yet, Ms. Cho manages to incorporate humor into even her most painful recollections.

Margaret Cho has a new movie out, another filmed version of her delightfully queer-flavored, standup comedy act. Cho's "Notorious C.H.O." tour (The title is an homage to the sexually aggressive image of the stars of rap music. "I'm a big hip-hop fan!" Cho declares) was incredibly successful, playing at 37 cities throughout North America and ending with a sold-out, encore performance at New York's Carnegie Hall in January 2002. In "Notorious C.H.O." the movie, we get to see Cho's use of facial expressions and body language which heighten the hilarity of her taboo-busting dialogue. She touches upon September 11th, anthrax, colonic irrigation... and (get ready!) fisting! In the spirit of Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor, and George Carlin, you may need a note from your mother to see a Margaret Cho show... but the twist is that Ms. C. puts a delightfully female-oriented, unapologetic spin on it all. And of course, she gives her take on the gay male perspective: "And if If gay men had a period... there would be huge 'period circuit parties' happening!... 'Come on down to the Red Party at Club Menses!'" In her standup comedy, Cho talks about her sexual adventures (with Cho, they're never just 'experiences'... they're adventures!) with both men and women, but don't try to label this lady! In a July 1st interview, Cho declared how much she hates labels for the gay community: "I don't want to be labeled. Labels are not for the gay community. They're for the straight community. Labels serve us politically but not enough to always have to use them... when we can stop using them, then we're truly free"

Our heroine was busy in New York City for Gay Pride weekend, promoting "Notorious C.H.O." and showing support for our community. Although she lives in L.A., New York is her adopted second home. "I 'd love to come out and live in New York at some point. I love the West Coast. People are smarter and cooler, and there's better food and fashion! I feel inspired and cool in New York." Recently I got to hang out with this Renaissance woman three days in a row-- what a thrill! On Saturday, June 29th, Cho appeared at Manhattan's fabulous gay Asian bar The Web (40 E. 58th St.). She performed a short comedy number, and in between the jokes, she didn't hesitate to remind everyone at the Web of the importance of celebrating diversity and fighting for your rights. The night before, the Web had a Margaret Cho look-a-like contest to warm people up for the real star that night. Cho pulled up the guy who had won the contest from the audience, and had him perform his favorite Margaret Cho one-liner. It turned out to be the Cho's famous retelling of her mother's reaction after learning of Margaret's sexual escapade with another woman: "Are you GAAAAY?!" in a thick, exaggerated Korean accent. The audience went wild, and Cho rewarded her fan by pulling off the long fall that she was wearing and giving it to him! She affectionately calls gay Asian-Americans "Gay-sians" and reminded us that anti-Asian prejudice and racism is still out there: she brought up as an example the Abercrombie & Fitch line of T-shirts that depicted demeaning and/or racist images of Asians on them (One depicted 'The Wong Brothers Laundry Service' and declared "Two Wongs Make It Right." After a boycott, Abercrombie & Fitch later pulled the shirts off the market and issued a public apology.) Later, she posed for photos with fans and signed autographed posters for her new movie. And yes, Margaret Cho is just as charming and funny in real life as she is on the stage and screen. She announced that the next day, she'd be at the Manhattan Pride Parade on The Web's float. After the Parade, anyone who was at Pridefest in the Village knew that the hottest table was the one where Margaret Cho was greeting fans and signing more autographed posters.

She must have been tired, but the next day Ms. C. gave an intimate "round table" interview session in Manhattan for nine members of the media-- and I was lucky enough to be asked to be one of them. One of the participants called Cho "the most visible Korean-American celebrity," a title that nobody could dispute. Ms. Cho spoke about her parents' reactions to her often overtly sexual humor. "My parents love my work. They get into it. They don't fully understand. They're laughing, then stone-faced, then laughing again." Does Cho explain such things as "fisting" to them? "They don't go there, thank God! They don't mind if they don't know!" When asked about her career, Cho offers words of advice for any potential star: "We all kind of know what we want to do. People that say that they 'don't know,' I don't think that's actually true. I always knew what I wanted to do: standup and performing. Be truthful. Do something that takes a lot of guts and ambition" Along those lines, Cho would like to see more Asian-Americans as performers and in the arts, particularly music ("We [Asian-Americans] can be musicians, but only, like cellists!" she observes) and comedy. She blames the lack of an Asian-American presence in the media at least in part to being raised in traditional households, where there's little encouragement to pursue that kind of career as opposed to "safe" careers like medicine or law. Cho spoke about her role in the Asian-American community ("I'd like to continue working on their behalf, in entertainment and politics") as well as the GLBT community. When asked about her visibility in the gay community, she responds,"I think it's great. I'm proud to be where I am. I do a lot of work to keep that position, advancing us politically. I'm very protective of that." Indeed, this funny lady can turn serious when confronted with homophobia or racism aimed at Asian-Americans. Among other accomplishments, she has been honored by such organizations as GLAAD and the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund for her hard work fighting for equal rights.

Margaret Cho's next project, in her own words, will be more political, and will deal more with race and politics. She was inspired in part by Frank H. Wu's book "Yellow: Race in America Beyond Black and White." Does the notorious Ms. Cho's new direction mean that she's shedding her sassy, sarcastic, sexed-up image? No way! At the end of "I'm The One That I Want," she leaves us with, "I'm gonna stay here and rock the mic until the next Korean-American, fag hag, shit-starter, trash-talker, girl comic comes up and takes my place!"

As if anyone could!

"Notorious C.H.O." is must-see cinema! It's in theaters now. Call 777-FILM or log onto Moviephone.com for show times. "Notorious C.H.O." the CD is available in stores now. Check out www.MargaretCho.com.