Margaret Cho
7:30 p.m. Oct. 11
Whiting Auditorium, Flint
http://www.margaretcho.com
Yep: Margaret Cho's bringing Mommy, whom she mimics with her rubber face and thick Korean accent, to Michigan. Just don't expect any belly dancing.
The comedian, who's stopping in Flint en route to New York to continue her off-Broadway variety show "The Sensuous Woman," will dive into the Cho vault for some classic comedic material. But she'll also throw in some fresh jokes that she'll eventually roll into a new one-woman show, which she hopes to launch at the end of this year. From Chicago, Cho – much more low-key on the phone than during her peppy stand-up – chats about gettin' liquored-up with the True Colors Tour gang, Britney's bod and why she's covered in ink. Oh, and of course, being sensuous.
Between The Lines: What do you think makes a sensuous woman?
Margaret Cho: I think it's just a woman who is just in love with her body and in love with herself. And shares that.
BTL: Would you say that your mother is?
M.C.: Yes, absolutely.
BTL: There's belly dancing and burlesque performing in "The Sensuous Woman." When did you get interested in burlesque?
M.C.: I started doing it a couple of years ago and I really love it. I started belly dancing many years ago, but I started doing burlesque just about a year ago – and I really love it. It's so fun.
BTL: You've been very vocal about your own body issues in the past. Why do you think you've had these issues?
M.C.: Well, I think they're a part of being in Hollywood and being really impressionable by Hollywood. It's also just the way the atmosphere is. I mean, you don't see real images of real women's bodies anywhere. We're really invisible. That's what the show does; it illuminates the body.
BTL: How much of an impact do you think celebrities have on this now?
M.C.: I think they have a really big impact on society.
BTL: How do you feel about the press talking about Britney Spears' weight after the MTV Video Music Awards?
M.C.: She didn't look heavy at all to me. That's how distorted our vision is. That's how distorted we are about women's bodies. She looked totally normal.
BTL: I was looking at your video blog the other day, and I love the tattoos on your back. What inspired all of them?
M.C.: Well, I've always wanted to get one, and I've always wanted to get a body suit. Like, I wanted to get them all over. So I'm slowly making it happen. Ed Hardy, who did my first tattoo, he's a very popular tattooer, and he tattoos my role model – (a) guy who worked for my dad. I really was so inspired by him to do a lot of stuff; he was an artist. He had a Japanese body suit done by Ed Hardy, so finally I got around to doing it when I was 35.
BTL: What were some of the highlights of being part of the True Colors Tour?
M.C.: Just hanging out with Cyndi Lauper and Rosie O'Donnell and just being able to perform on the same stage with them and getting to watch the show every night. That's what I loved.
BTL: There were so many terrific people on the tour; what did you guys do behind the scenes?
M.C.: Drank. It was like partying – like we were on the Warped Tour or something. It was crazy.
BTL: Even Cyndi Lauper?
M.C. Everyone!
