Margaret Cho is a comedic force of nature. She confronts every imaginable subject—from flying to fisting—fearlessly, but also with a palpable vulnerability about her.
Cho’s material is personal yet universal, infused with her heat-seeking humor. Smart like George Carlin, political like Lenny Bruce, character-driven like Lily Tomlin, and fearless like Richard Pryor, she is on her way to the comedic pantheon.
Right now Cho is fresh from a turn on Dancing With The Stars that saw her eliminated in an early round, but not before bringing down the house in rainbow attire and stumping on behalf of LGBT youth.
Cho is bringing her latest show, The Cho Dependent Tour, to Orlando and Clearwater. Watermark spoke with her by telephone from her home in Los Angeles—with an occasional dog bark punctuating the conversation.
WATERMARK: You’ve come through Florida before, but this show is going to be a little different because you’re promoting your new music CD.
MARGARET CHO: Yes, but it’s also still a stand-up comedy show, you know. The album that I made is, I think, still a comedy album. It’s a beautiful record. I wanted it to have something that was jokes, but at the same time could be considered beautiful music, which I think it is.
I know you’ve dabbled in music in the past, but you’re really diving in now, right?
The last couple of shows I’ve done songs, and I’ve putting more of my focus into music. My last show, Beautiful, which was a stand-up show, included some music. My burlesque show, The Sensual Woman, also had music in it.
What inspired you to get more into music?
I wanted to just make a whole record. I thought this was like the most exciting thing I could do and I was really supported by all of my friends who are incredible, incredible musicians. They helped me along, teaching me how to play and sing. I got so much help from all these great, great, great people.
You’ve also had some fun with the videos. I’ve seen three… are there more?
No, there are three so far, and there will be more coming. I’m working with the incredibly talented Liam Sullivan, and also my husband, Al Ridenour, is making some for me. I’m kind of doing a lot of different stuff for the videos because I want to make them like short films that complement the music.
“Eat Shit and Die” is the one that’s cracking me up right now.
Oh, good! That is such a beautiful video, and the shit costumes are pretty amazing. Those were made by my husband.
Are they really? Are we going to get to see you dressed as a giant turd in Clearwater and Orlando?
No, unfortunately. They’re not fragile, but they’re kind of hard to transport. But I love those outfits. I think they belong in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Or at least at Hard Rock Café! Do you have a favorite song on the new CD?
I would say “Hey, Big Dog” is probably my favorite overall. Just because it’s a song I wrote for my dog. I wrote it with Patty Griffin—she and I both love dogs—and I sang it with Fiona Apple, whose dog has the same issue as mine: they’re both afraid of the wind. It’s about time we had a love song for animals.
I just learned that you’ve directed several music videos.
Yeah, I’ve made a bunch. I made one for Jill Sobule, who is a good friend of mine. She and I have band called Pixie Herculon and we do songs about bears, which I love. So I made a video with a lot of beautiful, gorgeous guys…a lot of bears in that. I do love to [direct videos], but it’s very time consuming and I haven’t had much time lately to do anything.
It was a nice surprise to see you in the cast of Drop Dead Diva.
That was something I wanted to do because I loved the script so much. I love the spirit of it. I think it really has a positive, wonderful message for women to feel good about their bodies; it’s definitely something I really believe in and a show I think everybody should watch.
You’ve been honest about the pressure that was put on you to lose weight for your television show All American Girl. When I see you now on TV, I find myself thinking ‘I hope she doesn’t feel that sort of pressure now.’
Oh, no, not at all. The opposite, really. The show is about self-acceptance; about women feeling good in their bodies, and we definitely promote that all the time.
You have beautiful tattoos. What are your thoughts about how tattoos relate to body image?
For me, tattooing is really about claiming ownership of my own body and enjoying that and celebrating that. It’s very much linked with the idea of having a positive body image and a positive feeling of self-worth and satisfaction with oneself. That’s definitely why I get tattoos.
You endorsed Obama when he ran office. What are your thoughts today as he’s midway into his first term as President?
I think he’s doing good. I mean, I think it’s a really tough job, and I feel very satisfied with what he’s accomplished. I want to see more help for the gay community. I think that’s going to be my one issue with the Obama administration. I would love to see them do more for gays. I’d love to see gay marriage. I’d love to see the repeal of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell.’ That’s all that I’m about: wanting to see—more gay activism from this administration.
You recently visited the White House. Were you tempted to bend his ear?
Well, I didn’t get to talk to him much. I just got to meet him briefly.
Did you and Al consider not marrying, like Brad and Angelina, as a gay marriage statement? Not marrying until everybody can?
We’ve been together since 1999 and we got married before a lot of stuff happened. But I think it’s great that Brad and Angelina are doing that. Being in a marriage makes you realize how important gay marriage is. I didn’t really understand marriage before. Now I see it’s just family. This is why we need this in our community—we need family.
When you get down to it, marriage is really just the legal part of it. What do you think that legal part is so important?
To me it’s about having a family unit; to have the same rights as straight couples have in their family units. It’s more about being seen in the eyes of the government as the same as straight people. It’s about equality more than it is about anything else.
When you’re performing you often go from something really funny to something that just gets right inside my heart. How do you come to those moments?
To me it’s all kind of the same—things that are touching, things that are funny, things that are important to say. To me they all have the same value. It’s just about balancing what the show’s going to be. But when you think of something that’s really stirring, whether it’s funny or it’s very true, that to me is always the right direction to go in: deep truth. Sometimes it’s hilarious. Sometimes it’s a very interesting thought. I want to balance it all so that I have a show full of depth and full of meaning.
I think your approach is powerful, because through laughter you’re opening your audience to any message you might have.
I hope so. I hope being a comedian there’s an ability to spread messages of pride or “positivity” or good things to say in general. Hopefully that’s helped along by being a comic and kind of buying that time, buying that message time.
In a past show you devoted some of that time to friends who’ve passed from AIDS. World AIDS Day is again upon us…
I think for me that’s why gay activism is such an important thing, because I grew up in the “Age of AIDS.” I grew up right in the really dark times in San Francisco in the ‘80s. We lost so many people. Growing up in that crisis, you learn how important activism is. So that is always going to be part of my work—this speaking out for the LGBT community—because this is my history and my upbringing.
