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AsianConnections' Lia Chang caught up with Margaret Cho in New York July 1 on the premiere of her new concert film "Notorious C.H.O." - a follow-up to her hit concert film "I'm the One that I Want." "Notorious C.H.O." filmed live in Seattle, is a hilarious, bawdy one-woman show inspired by the raw comedy of Richard Pryor, George Carlin and the female machismo of rap music divas L'il Kim and Eve. At the press roundtable Margaret shares her thoughts about growing up as a "dorky" kid, her role models, racism in Hollywood, and how she has finally achieved both personal and career success. The film debuted in Los Angeles and New York and will follow with a national release through Wellspring. "Notorious C.H.O." is also released as a CD, "The Notorious C.H.O. at Carnegie Hall" is available through Nettwerk America. For more information on the film, visit www.margaretcho.com
At 33, Margaret Cho fills each precious moment of her life as a highly successful woman at the top of her game in the male dominated landscape of comedy. With her rebellious streak as the fuel for her creative juices, the fearless risktaker has made her own path doing standup since the tender age of 16. No topic is taboo and although the provocative artist is raucous, raunchy and raw on stage, in person, she is candid, articulate, well spoken, and insightful. Cho recalled, "I wasn't an outgoing kid at all; I was very shy, very studious, as a lot of Asian Americans are at that age. I knew that there was something inside me that would sort of break free from that." Inspired by the brilliance of Richard Pryor and Flip Wilson, the young Cho broke free. "I just knew that this was what I was going to do," said Cho, " I knew very young. I knew this would be my career. When I started I felt so uncomfortable being in my own skin, very uncomfortable being my own self. As a performer, that was the only place, on stage, that I felt safe. I did comedy clubs. I went to a high school for the performing arts in SF. I did performances at my school and I loved it." Her audience is a diverse one, and included among her many fans is her Face Off director John Woo, whom Cho met through Chow Yun-Fat, who insisted the actress should be in a John Woo Film. She has appeared on Sesame Street with Big Bird and as Lynn, a fashionista with attitude, a part written especially for her by close friend Sex and the City writer Michael Patrick King. In 1994, she broke new ground as the star of her own sitcom, All American Girl, only to have it cancelled. She rebounded in 1999 with her Off-Broadway show, I'm The One That I Want, and followed it up with a concert film and a best selling book based on the show. The show and the tour garnered incredible reviews and was awarded New York Magazine's Performance of the Year Award, a MAC Award, and was named one of Entertainment Weekly's Great Performances of the Year.
Creating new work and writing new things gives her a thrill. Confident in her staying power as a major force in the industry, she calls her own shots at the helm of her own production company. In lieu of having to rely on a studio or a network, she produces her own films, writes books and generates her own work. Comfortable with her life on the West Coast, Cho resides in a beautiful old mansion built in 1924 in Glendale that she is painstakingly restoring and shares with her two dogs Ralph and Browyn. The San Francisco native is interested in living in New York, perhaps with a Broadway run for her next show focusing on race identity and Asian American identity which she is in the midst of creating. Revved by the energy of the Big Apple, she enthused, "I love the city, I love the people, I love the way that people are smarter and cool, with better fashion and food, and so beautiful in many ways. I get so inspired here by so many things and I feel good here." In 2001, after a record setting thirty-seven city North American Tour with her new show, Notorious C.H.O., the avid hip hop fan triumphed in a sold-out performance at Carnegie Hall in January 2002. Notorious C.H.O. Live at Carnegie Hall, was released on CD in June. Her travel schedule has been exhaustive at best. She rocked the houses in Australia where the Asian Australian community has been long ignored by the media. But at the Fringe Festival in Scotland, she traumatized the audiences. "In Scotland, it is rare to have women monologists," said Cho, " My shows are very shocking in Britain. Women aren't speaking about sex in the same way." Flying coast to coast to promote her new film, the staunch Gay and equal rights activist joined thousands who marched down Fifth Avenue in the 33rd annual Gay Pride Parade and has dedicated herself to advancing the Gay community politically. She received the 2001 Lambda Liberty Award from the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund because Cho, through her work has "pressed us to see how false constructions of race, sexuality, and gender operate similarly to obscure and demean identity." It is a sweltering 90 degrees outside, but the savvy comedienne, dressed from head to toe in black, is cool as a cucumber in the midtown Manhattan offices of Wellspring Media, the distributor of her new concert film Notorious C.H.O. AC's Lia Chang got up close and personal with the "Notorious" Miss Cho who expounded on her early days, releasing her demons, identity, racism, Asian Americans in the media, gender politics and life after 9/11. |
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 AsianConnections
Art & Entertainment Editor Lia Chang is an accomplished stage,
screen and TV actress, fashion and art photographer and writer based
in New York City. AsianConnections would like to thank Lia and Margaret
Cho for contributing their valuable time and energy, for which this
article would not have been possible. |
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