Margaret Cho's mother has been immortalized in numerous standup shows across America and around the world, but the sometimes too real—oftentimes slightly exaggerated antics by Mama Cho have only played a small part in the popular comedic dance—until now.
Windy City Times: It's been two years since we last spoke via interview. Are there a few things that stand out career-wise or personally within that timeframe for you?
Margaret Cho: I loved making my record Cho-dependent, and being able to play and sing with such amazing talents like Fiona Apple, Jon Brion and Grant Lee Phillips as well as Ani Difranco and Tegan and Sara made me a better artist. I learned so much and I had an amazing tour. I also got to play Kim Jong Il and Kim Jong Un on 30 Rock, and working with Tina Fey was a dream come true. I think that these last two years have been, for me, much about collaborations, and I have been so lucky.
WCT: You were a competitor on Dancing with the Stars. Knowing what you know now, would you ever consider doing it again?
Margaret Cho: I would love to! They're doing an all-stars season, and I really want to dance on it. It was so scary to do it the first time and then get voted off so quickly so I would love another chance. It's great fun and super-hard, but I would love the challenge.
WCT: Who could forget the olive oil and fart jokes in your last comedy show (while rehearsing for Dancing with the Stars)? Did you receive any feedback from the other contestants when you returned to stage?
Margaret Cho: Yes, they loved it! I became close with Brandy, as well as the amazing Jennifer Grey. They were my friends on set. I also loved watching Cheryl Burke. She is a great inspiration and the best dancer in the world.
WCT: Your MOTHER tour stars fall 2012 and is an edgy look at strong women in queer history. Who are some of the strong women you look up to in your life and career?
Margaret Cho: Well, my mother—and that has been an enduring part of my stand-up and [is] usually everyone's favorite character. So I am doing an entire show based on her as well as motherhood, queerness and motherhood, and parenting in the gay community—how we have a responsibility to be the mothers of the entire queer world. We are all mothers!
WCT: Is it safe to assume there will be a lot of jokes regarding your mom on this new tour? We'd love to hear about how the concept came about, and how much your "real" mother played a part in the "stage" mother you create within your act.
Margaret Cho: It's all very much her, and then there's a heightened sense of her reality—and all the things that I have said have been inspired by a real event or her real take on things. She is also the voice of my Asian-ness—whatever is still an immigrant in me—and so there's a lot that goes into her portrayal! But I wanted to do a show that was really just her, and here it is!
WCT: What has your mother's reaction been to seeing and hearing her likeness in your act for all these years?
Margaret Cho: She thinks it is really funny, although she always tries to suggest things to put in which often doesn't make the cut! She's really the funniest when she isn't trying to be.
WCT: Race, drugs and sexuality will be on display during your MOTHER tour. Can you give us a little sneak peek at what the audience may anticipate?
Margaret Cho: I think it's all about the fact that my immigrant upbringing didn't prepare me for the kid-glove celebrity society I live in now. I mean, I was raised to be part of my family—not anything outside of that—and I have no social graces. So I can clean a fish, but I have never written a thank-you letter.
WCT: Your last comedy-music album featured quite a few name-brand artists spanning different genres. Will there be another album at some point?
Margaret Cho: Yes. I have written and recorded a number of songs with artists like Neil Hamburger and Bitch as well as more with Garrison Starr and Katastrophe. I am going through a serious standup comedy phase now, so when this show is over, then I will finish the record. I wanted more time to do standup and so I am really excited about it!
WCT: Recently, you were featured on the show Finding Your Roots. Can you tell us what your life was like in the Castro District in the '70s?
Margaret Cho: It was great to witness queer politics first-hand like that—actually happening in front of me—and then the incredibly tragic times that followed: the assassination of Harvey Milk and the dreadful catastrophic wave of death from AIDS. These [events] really strengthened my connection to my community and the way to be political in my community. I am lucky to have lived through what I did—even though I lost a lot.
WCT: June was Pride Month and you have a legion of LGBT fans around the world. Why do you think this sector of the population gravitates toward you and your work?
Margaret Cho: I am an LGBT artist, and I talk about LGBT issues and life. This is my community and my world, and this is the best month, June. It's our Christmas/New Year's holiday. We celebrate ourselves and look back at what we have done and it's marvelous.
WCT: If you could hang your hat in three different U.S. cities while on tour, which would they be and why do they stand out in your mind?
Margaret Cho: I love performing in Seattle and then going to Portland right after. I can go to Powells Books and drink really good coffee and it rains and it's beautiful. The audiences are awesome and I filmed my favorite show, Notorious, in Seattle. I always love returning. Nashville is always great, although I don't play there enough, but I do love country music and it's a true honor to play the Ryman. Atlanta is my heart, my spiritual home—as is San Francisco!
WCT: Craziest time at Gay Pride ever—go!
Margaret Cho: San Francisco—actually it was the Folsom Street Fair, so more of a leather/gay pride memory. ... I lost my friend in the crowd and he went and had sex in an alley with some hot bear; when I found him, he had forgotten his underwear in the alley. We returned to the alley and his boxers were in a puddle of antifreeze. He just wrung them out and put them back on and we went off from there!
See www.margaretcho.com .
