Devotchka @ Showbox at the Market
Saturday, May 10: The theatre was packed with eager fans waiting for the 7 p.m. show to start. Some were quietly sitting while others talked about what they thought and hoped to hear Margaret Cho mention in her dialogue. Not only is she talented, funny and intelligent, Cho’s an award winner as well. Most recently she’s received the first ever Best Comedy Performance award at the 2007 AZN Asian Excellence Awards, the First Amendment Award from the ACLU of Southern California in 2004, and the Intrepid Award from the National Organization for Women (NOW) in 2003.
“Beautiful” is the name of the tour and Cho describes what “beautiful” means to her in the bio section of her website, even mentioning comments from a sterile (no pun intended!) DJ that she encountered:
“I want to explore the nature of beauty. What is funny and scary about it, why we often don’t feel beautiful because our society’s standards are so rigid and unattainable. A DJ once asked me, ‘If you woke up tomorrow and you were beautiful, what would you do? If you were, blonde, blue-eyed, 5 foot 11, and weighed 100 pounds, what would you do?!?’ Well, I probably wouldn’t get up in that case, because I’d be too weak to stand. If that is his only idea of beauty then I feel really sorry for him. I want everyone to feel beautiful and I want to do it with laughter. Why not feel good about ourselves?”
I’ve been an admirer of Cho ever since I was 10 years old and first saw her on her TV show All-American Girl back in ‘94. But it was actually my first time seeing her live so I knew I was in for a treat, because if I can laugh nonstop while watching her DVDs (I’m the One That I Want, Notorious C.H.O., Revolution, Assassin, and Bam Bam and Celeste), it was going to be one hell of a show. Also, I actually got to meet her as well!! It was absolutely surreal to be able to meet her and she was the complete opposite of how she is on stage. She’s very quiet and reserved but perhaps it’s because I’m a complete stranger to her? In any case, it was exciting to be able to meet and photograph her all before the show started.
Comedian Liam Sullivan opened up the night as one of his characters “Aunt Susan.” Armed with a guitar, Aunt Susan played a folk/country type of song before showing two videos. The first one was about a couple seeking advice to spice up their sex life from Dr. Ulee, a weird and awkward sex therapist. The next was a look at Sullivan’s well-known character, Kelly, and her family which led on to her music video titled “Let Me Borrow That Top.” After the videos, Kelly came out to entertain the crowd. She ended her routine with her debut single for her new album, an electro-clash and bass-filled song called “Shoes,” which has gone viral and won a 2008 People’s Choice Award in the “User Generated Video” category.
Margaret Cho took the stage and talked about various topics ranging from celebrities (Paris Hilton, Lindsey Lohan, etc.), sex, politics, religion, sexuality and gender. She had the crowd and herself cracking up with her jokes and hilarious facial expressions, but if you’ve never seen or heard any of her shows, it can get pretty raunchy. At one point, she apologized to the sign language interpreter, because she felt sorry for him having to sign a bunch of things like “f**k” and “s**t” and “blowj*b,” which led her to do couple minutes worth of hand gestures that cracked the audience up to tears. Although I had a general idea of what her jokes were going to be about, I was surprised to hear was that Cho was a former Sunday schoolteacher!
She ended the night with her song, “Eat Me Out.” It was so hilarious and she was right, it was stuck in my head for days: “Just eat me oooout.” She even had the audience sing along. It was a great show and it felt great being able to laugh so much. I can’t wait for the next time Margaret Cho comes to town. If you can’t wait that long, I highly recommend checking out her books, DVDs, and her new show, The Cho Show airing on VH1 this summer!
*photos by christine unten*
Click HERE for more photos.
Margaret Cho backstage before the show!
Rows filling up as audience members take their seats.
Liam Sullivan as “Aunt Susan” playing a little folk song.
Kelly singing her infamous “Shoes” song.
The beautiful and funny Margaret Cho!
Margaret Cho talks about life, love, politics, sex and beyond.
Double dose of Margaret Cho as she entertains the crowd.