Maybe that's why I love Margaret Cho. I have ever since she exploded onto the radar in 1994 with her short-lived and admittedly lackluster sitcom "All-American Girl." Maybe that's why whenever a rerun of one of her stand-up appearances plays on Comedy Central I have to drop everything to laugh hysterically at Cho's antics; especially her priceless impression of her own mother, the Korean immigrant owner of a San Francisco bookstore and supervisor of the gay porn section.
Thankfully, Cho is back on the big screen with her latest film release, "Notorious C.H.O.," the follow up performance to 1999's "I'm the One That I Want." If anything, her latest effort raises the bar, not only in its raunchiness, but also in its overarching message of equality and the healing power of laughter.
A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to listen to portions of her routine on the CD release "Notorious C.H.O.: Live At Carnegie Hall." It was undeniably funny. Few things can make me laugh so hard that I hurt and, after 15 minutes, I was hurting. But I was slightly disappointed; simply listening to Cho failed to capture the magic of what I'd seen so many times on television.
Sitting 12 rows back in the larger theatre at Pleasant Street Theatre in Northampton, I realized what I'd been missing. While I associate standup comedy with listening, I forget just how funny physical comedy is. Seeing Cho contorting her face and body and living her routine, not just speaking it, made her antics all the more powerful.
"Notorious C.H.O." opens with a brief animated commentary on race relations, namely, the racism that exists between the African-American and Korean-American communities. Crude as the animation may be, the short is absolutely hilarious.
Clad in jeans and a plaid shirt and armed with a microphone and some serious attitude, Cho runs on-stage and for 90 minutes both ridicules and celebrates everyone: gay men, straight men, lesbians, her mother, her father, but, most of all, herself. Openly bisexual and "of size," Cho loses no time delving into issues of sexuality, weight, race and ethnicity, depression and self-hatred.
Some may view her sense of comedy as the sort of crude "bathroom" humor that might come from the mouth of any 15-year-old boy. And, in some ways, Cho's presence transcends her age and gender.
She says she has sex like a gay man; and, similarly, she delivers her comedy in an unabashedly different way than most comediennes and most comedians as well. Her comedy refuses to be defined by gender, sexual orientation or ethnic heritage; and calling it bathroom humor fails to see the depth beyond the façade of lewd hilarity.
Like its predecessor "I'm the One That I Want," based on Cho's best-selling autobiography, "Notorious C.H.O." jokingly explores Cho's sexuality; her experiences in a S&M club, her boyfriends, her girlfriends, her longing for both a good man and a "bulldyke that looks like John Goodman." She also ruminates on her battles with weight, brought on, she says, by her mother's attitude toward food and the way her father acted in her youth. "He used to turn on Miss America and make me watch it. That was the way women were supposed to look," Cho recounts with more than a hint of sadness. "When I lost weight, he loved me. When I gained weight, I became invisible to him."
What makes "Notorious C.H.O" different from Cho's past performances is the maturity that accompanies her routine. She jokes about serious issues, mocks anything and everything; but Cho emerges as a mature and empowered woman, wielding her comic genius as a means of battling prejudice and bigotry. Her criticism is more powerful now, more pointed and lethal.
There were moments when I was laughing so hard that tears streamed down my face and the woman sitting across from me literally fell out of her seat onto the floor of the theatre. But, five minutes later Cho would silence the theatre with her wholly honest explanation of her battles with racism and sexism, only to break that moment of silence with another off the cuff gut-busting joke. That is her genius, she wants you to laugh; but even more, she seems to want you to think.
Cho's irreverence and pointed critique of popular culture has garnered comparisons to Richard Pryor and George Carlin, but hers is a unique and groundbreaking comedy. She tackles major issues but delivers them in a way to appeal to everyone. Her colorful sense of humor is mirrored in the audience that comes out to see her: gay couples, straight couples, old and young people of every ethnicity and background.
Some critics may dismiss "Notorious C.H.O." as lowbrow and crude-and I will admit her jokes are anything but cerebral. But, I would rather spend a couple hours laughing uncontrollably with Cho than any other supposedly "high-brow" comedian. She is uproarious, infectious and sincere. We could all use a lot more of that these days.