Bisexual, Asian and full-figured comedian Margaret Cho experienced discrimination throughout her life, and in her new film, "Notorious C.H.O.," she performs a raunchy, poignant, one-woman show exploring her personal discriminations and other topics ranging from S & M to gay marriages. ("We need to recognize that a government that would deny a gay man the right to bridal registry is a fascist state," she says, strutting around in awesome platform shoes, tight jeans and a workshirt that proudly displays her soft belly.)
But Cho does more than spew bada-bing one-liners, rather she tells compelling stories that are funny yet sad and tragic yet empowering. She talks about rarely seeing Asians on television as a child, and consequently, dreamed of being an extra on M*A*S*H or Al's girlfriend on "Happy Days."
Cho is also, at times, simultaneously disgusting and hilarious. "I guarantee if straight men had a period, you would never hear the end of it. They would be using old socks, coffee filters ... 'Oh let me get that sports section when you're done.' Every bachelor apartment would look like a murder scene," she says.
Her facial expressions and eye movements take the proverbial cake, both of which are funnier than most comedian's jokes, and her ability to impersonate her Korean mother is a hilarious highpoint in "Notorious" and her earlier film, "I'm The One That I Want."
{INSERT_RELATED}Although she is the butt of many jokes, Mrs. Cho undoubtedly gave her daughter the courage and spunk that allowed her to become a superstar. In the 1960s, after bravely leaving an arranged marriage in Korea, she wed Margaret's father and moved to San Francisco. Cho fans will appreciate the interview with Mr. and Mrs. Cho during the first few minutes of "Notorious," confirming that Margaret's impressions are spot on.
Filmed live in Seattle, "Notorious C.H.O." was inspired by female rappers like Li'l Kim and Eve. "To go from the ghetto to the runway is not an easy transition and these women have done it so beautifully and effortlessly," says Cho.
Cho started performing stand-up at age sixteen in San Francisco, where she grew up in the '70s and '80s. In her early twenties, she hit the college circuit, opened for Jerry Springfield and won the American Comedy Award for Female Comedian in 1994. She also starred in the controversial ABC sitcom, "All-American Girl" and appeared in "Face/Off" with Nicholas Cage.
Cho is currently working on another show, a new book, a screenplay in which she stars as two of the main characters and recently wrote and produced six visual essays for the PBS show, "Life 360."
No matter what she's doing, Margaret Cho is sometimes shocking, sometimes healing, and never apologetic.
"Notorious C.H.O." opens Fri., Sept. 13, at Landmark's Oriental Theatre.
Molly Snyder started writing and publishing her work at the age 10, when her community newspaper printed her poem, "The Unicorn.” Since then, she's expanded beyond the subject of mythical creatures and written in many different mediums but, nearest and dearest to her heart, thousands of articles for OnMilwaukee.
Molly is a regular contributor to FOX6 News and numerous radio stations as well as the co-host of "Dandelions: A Podcast For Women.” She's received five Milwaukee Press Club Awards, served as the Pfister Narrator and is the Wisconsin State Fair’s Celebrity Cream Puff Eating Champion of 2019.
