10 pressing questions: The Korean-American comedian would most like to be home alone. In lieu of that, she's at the Mahaffey tonight.
By GINA VIVINETTO
Published May 8, 2003
[Publicity photo]
As a child, Margaret Cho listened often to the albums of Richard Pryor and Steve Martin. “They’re geniuses,” she says.
Comedian Margaret Cho may be a live wire onstage, ranting about risque subjects including sex, politics and her own steamy personal life, but the self-described "agoraphobic" is reserved when the conversation is one-on-one.
Cho, 36, speaks in a quiet voice, almost a whisper, and keeps her answers minimal. Except when she's informed she's almost free to go. Then, all heck breaks loose, and she goes into an impromptu routine about why holidays are stupid.
From her hotel room in Maine, while on tour with her show Margaret Cho: Cho Revolution, the Korean-American comedian answers 10 Pressing Questions about the cultural pressure on immigrants, the vices of sleep and sloth and the futility of trying these days to shock her mother.
(1) Name five people funnier than you.
(Immediately) Eugene Levy. (Long pause.) Um, that's it. (Laughs.) No, Eugene Levy, Richard Pryor, Chris Rock, Sandra Bernhard and Flip Wilson.
(2) If you could take anyone to Disney World tomorrow, who would you take?
My fiance. His name is Al Ridenour. He's an artist. We'd act very shameless. We're very crazy a lot. We're getting married in a couple of months.
(3) Are you one of those comedians who's a riot onstage, but very somber at home?
No, not really. I'm a serious person, more than people think, I'm sure. I'm more goofy. Describe how.
I have weird habits and mannerisms because I grew up outside of a lot of culture, without too much of a sense of what was normal. And, I'm totally agoraphobic, yet I travel the world several times a year. It's kind of weird.
(4) I know you started standup very young, packing up as a teenager and going from comedy club to comedy club. Were you one of those kids in elementary school that was just hilariously funny?
Not really, no.
How did you know you wanted to do this?
I just knew. It felt right. I knew it was my work.
In my home as a kid, we had comedy albums by Bill Cosby and Steve Martin and a few others. Did you listen to those when you were young?
Oh, yeah. Richard Pryor's albums, and Steve Martin. I totally loved all that stuff. It's great. They're geniuses.
(5) You're so candid about your personal life in your routines. What's your worst vice?
I don't have any vices. Or, my vices have calmed down, so now I'd say, maybe self-centeredness, sleep and sloth. But I get less time for sleep and sloth than most people.
My vice, maybe, is silence. I like it when it's really, really quiet. I like being sequestered in my house with all my dogs. I never leave my house unless I go on the road.
But vices? I don't know. I've done it all. Now, I'm just tired. It's a good feeling.
(6) Is it true you dated (singer-actor) Chris Isaak?
Can we say you two are close? Good friends?
Who? I don't know him at all. I've never heard of this person.
(7) Your show is called "Cho Revolution" and the ads feature you in a Che Guevara-esque beret. Can the art of comedy be revolutionary?
I don't know. Maybe. It's more about saying what you want. Everybody should. I don't want to be political. That's not what I want. I want freedom to be an artist. To say what I want. I don't have an agenda.
You don't have an agenda?
What I talk about onstage is what I talk about with my friends, you know? It's what interests me.
Is your circle of friends small?
Very small. I have a lot of trouble trusting people.
(8) You've commented in your routines about the immigrant experience, about how Asian-Americans have so much pressure to succeed, joking about how you disappoint because you're not good at math and you don't play the violin.
It's not just Asian-American; it's all immigrants. It's about being in a new country and wanting to be your best and wanting to do your best and having all this pressure on you.
So many subcultures claim you as their own - Asian-Americans, the gay, lesbian and bisexual community, feminists. In what subculture are you most comfortable?
In all of them. I fit in with any subculture. We're all human beings. We all have everything inside. I embrace darkness and light. We all have all of it. I'm not perfect and I don't strive to be perfect and that, in itself, is perfection.
(9) Is there anything taboo for you, anything you won't discuss onstage?
No, I don't think so.
Could you shock your mom with anything these days?
I think she's heard it all. She's heard it, done it. She's over it. (Laughs.)
(10) Last question. Tell me your favorite holiday. (Pause) I really like Groundhog Day. That's kind of a good day. What's the point of that? I'm not sure what it's for. A groundhog comes out, looks at his shadow? Why?
I think all holidays are bulls--. (Cho begins listing them, of her own accord.)
Thanksgiving: It's like, "We stole this land from the people who cultivated it and made it good and now we'll eat turkey and celebrate that we killed everyone who deserved this food and this land in the first place, pass the cranberry sauce."
Christmas: I believe in God. I'm a Christian. But, look at the different dates in Jesus' life. He's actually like, a Cancer, or something. That's not even his birthday! And don't get me started on the Catholic church with the problems with the priests and the little boys.
My birthday is Dec. 5 and every year I got ripped off because of Christmas and it's not fair! It was always, "Oh here, this is for your birthday and Christmas," a combination gift. So, if you want to know the truth, that's the real reason I don't like Christmas. It's because people are always cheap with my birthday. (Adopts "urban" idiom) People full on don't even give it up.
Valentine's Day: (Disgusted.) Who even gives a s--?
Easter: (Back to urban idiom.) Ooh, I do like me some Easter candy. I like 'da Peeps! Give it up for 'da Peeps!
PREVIEW
Margaret Cho performs at 8 tonight at Mahaffey Theater, 400 First St. S, St. Petersburg. Tickets are $29-$50.
