By Ken
Margaret Cho has become the Banshee of Bawdiness, the Brad Paisley of blue jokes and a Big Bitch of Bathroom Humor.
Since the beginning of her career, Cho has managed to reincarnate herself as many times as Madonna (to whom Cho often refers and credits for picking up the guitar: “If that bitch can do it then so can I”). But her mutations have been less noticed than the Material Girl’s—probably because most still can’t get past “that Asian girl who’s funny.”
To be honest, I didn’t care much for Margaret up to and during her All American Girl transfigurement. I thought that she relied on the “Let’s laugh at Asians with heavy accents” thing. The edginess that I did like from her pre-sitcom days was eliminated in her ill-fated TV series. She then seemed to capitalize on her recognition more than her talent with forgettable cameos in TV shows and small films. She seemed to be spiraling down the Bobcat Goldthwait and Paul Hogan route to obscurity—or “When They Were Someone.” She tried serious dramatic roles (It’s My Party), short films and cameos that never showcased her outspoken humor.
And then came I’m the One that I Want, which was a revelation in frankness and in blending storytelling with stand-up, mining emotional pain for the benefit of making people laugh. And think.
Read the rest of Ken’s review of Cho Independent after the jump.
That’s when I started to love Margaret Cho, because that was Margaret Cho, not any other amalgamated or appropriated vision of someone else’s that was forced upon her. And with that, I’ve been willing to accompany Margaret on her various incarnations, from political activist-cum-performer (don’t go there, readers) to reality show star (The Cho Show). (And now, Margaret is set to appear on another reality show, Dancing with the Stars this fall.)
Her current manifestation as Banshee of Bawdiness is on her new musical comedy CD, Cho Dependent, a delightfully ribald romp. Cho implements some of her trademark storytelling in some songs especially in her “I’m Sorry,” a devilish send-up of country songs with the blackest of black humor, and “Eat Shit and Die” that provides a cathartic anthem to all those who’ve been fucked over in love and otherwise. I had to stop driving when “Your Dick” came on or else my Prius would’ve been permanently damaged—I was laughing hysterically.
Upon listening to “Asian Adjacent,” I thought Cho was making a sharp commentary on those who define all those of mixed-ancestry ‘kinda Asian.’ (Uh, what are you? You look ‘kinda Asian.’) It seemed to be a mockery of those who only have myopic notions of ethnic identity—an ‘either-or’ sensibility. But then recently on Chelsea Lately, Cho herself used “Asian Adjacent” as a label for Jon Gosselin. So now I’m unsure who she’s actually lampooning.
Cho is never one to slouch on her activist bent, and in her stand-up, she definitely spoofs people’s simplistic perceptions of Asians and Asian culture. With Gosselin, was she was confronting those APIs who are one Char Sui Bao short of being Asian, those who effort to make themselves amalgamated and offer themselves and their culture up to be appropriated?
I could hear however my Swedish-African American friend wryly and dryly respond to the obligatory “What are you?” question with “I’m Asian Adjacent,” then muttering “Asshole.”
Cho’s new CD is not for the faint of heart—or those driving their car home while listening to it. There are only 2 tracks that she can perform without getting bleeped. Censors would lean on the beeper for the duration on tracks like “Gimme Your Seed” and “My Puss.” I doubt she could mention most of the song titles on Leno. But the CD is a shot of epinephrinic naughtiness, and that makes me want to ride Margaret—uhh, ride with Margaret all the more.
ABOUT KEN: Ken Choy is an actor, writer, community organizer, and producer of Breaking the Bow. He is gay, green, and gluten-free.
