Margaret Cho June 18, 2002
Comedy concert movies haven't been huge at the box office since the '80s when Eddie Murphy released Raw and Delirious. Maybe this is because everyone just watches cable? Margaret Cho has been doing her part to bring fans of comedy back to the movie theaters. Last year, she released I'm the One that I Want, a cathartic monologue that detailed her unsavory experiences with Hollywood racism and abuse of various drugs. In the upcoming Notorious C.H.O., she examines her favorite subject matters--her parents and the gay, lesbian, and straight worlds--with equal parts wit and trash talk.
GR: Can you compare The Notorious C.H.O. to I'm The One That I Want? Did you prepare for your latest concert film differently?
MC: The last show was really telling a story about racism in Hollywood. This one is about anything and everything. It's a bunch of jokes I get to tell consecutively.
GR: It was cool seeing your parents in the movie's intro. Did you give them any tips or coaching before they were interviewed?
MC: No, but they were so funny. They came to the premiere last Thursday. My dad stood up and everyone was clapping for him, and then he pulled out of his jacket a big World Cup Korea banner: "South Korea!" It was in San Francisco in a big gay and lesbian film festival.
GR: So are you all full of Korean pride now?
MC: I was like all proud, and if anyone talks to me I'll turn around and hold up a huge South Korean World Cup towel. It was a towel, which is so awesome. My dad's so punk rock.
GR: Most people hate seeing pictures of themselves or hearing their voices on answering machines. What goes through your mind when you watch concert footage of yourself?
MC: I feel like I'm such a whiner and I'm so dissatisfied, but then I have to watch it from a producer's standpoint also. So it's weird. There are a couple of conflicting views, but it's hard for me to watch it because I feel stupid. I want to be critical, then I say, "Oh, I guess it's okay."
GR: Since cutting back on substance abuse, is it harder to find things in your life that are funny or material for jokes?
MC: Things are less funny, but also things are disproportionately more funny. Like something will strike me as so hilarious, but something that's supposed to be funny won't make me laugh at all. When I did drugs, especially hallucinogenics, everything was funny. That's why I liked doing stuff like acid. You just laugh uncontrollably.
GR: So is there more quality control now?
MC: I guess so. I guess I'm just not as sensitive to things.
GR: Do you think friends and family members act differently or are extra-careful around you for fear of becoming joke material?
MC: No, I donšt think so. Nobody really gives a shit. Plus it almost never makes it in the way they think it would.
GR: Do people try to be extra outrageous to get into your material?
MC: I think that might happen. People always say, "Oh, I bet I'm going to end up in your act." Why? Why do they say that?
GR: When was the last time you faced a really tough audience?
MC: When I was writing this show in Edinburgh, Scotland. I was there for the Fringe Festival a year ago. It was really hard. Nobody knew who I was and I was starting over there. People were really shocked and it was really hard.
GR: Do you think they just didn't understand your American accent?
MC: No, I think it was more like they just don't have the same view of women or see the same kind of issues as they relate to minorities. It was hard, but it was good in the end. It made me really look for what was good in the material. It made me really work hard on the show.
GR: After all the jokes, there's an empowering message at the end of The Notorious C.H.O. What is the relationship between being humorous and making a point?
MC: It comes out of a lot of the political speaking I was doing, and wanting to unite the political side of my career with the entertainment side, and feeling like I could do both. After I've spoken and told jokes for an hour and a half, I've earned a few minutes where I can say whatever I like. Sometime my messages really help people. Sometimes, they just go, "Oh, what's that supposed to mean?" Then I tell another joke and it's over so it really doesn't matter. But I feel like it's important for people to hear it--especially young people who are struggling with identity. It really helps.
GR: So you're kind of like the Public Enemy of stand-up or something.
MC: Yeah, I love Public Enemy! And Billy Bragg. He's great.
GR: You perform at a lot of rallies and stuff. Do they just call you up?
MC: It usually happens where I feel close to the organization and it just works out in a good way. I don't do things as often as I'd like to because I get really busy, so I have to be really selective about what I'm doing.
GR: A lot of your older material is about how fucked up things were. Are you happier now?
MC: Yeah, I think I am. I was happy then, too, sometimes, but I'm super-happy now. I'm adult now. I'm all grown up and my life is really different. I live in Glendale and everything's all good. It's just a slow jam.
GR: What's different about being grown up?
MC: I go to bed early, as opposed to not going to bed at all. I have a calmness about things. There's not such an urgency to do things or get there. I just don't care. I'm more patient now. If something's present and I want it, I can wait for it. I have kind of a quietness that I never had. I'm really satisfied. I've done it all and nothing is that interesting.
GR: But there must be something left to do...
MC: Maybe have kids. That's the one thing. I had a kid who had a baby last Monday and she's so beautiful. That seems to be the great adventure. Who knows? We'll see It's kind of a big deal.