The Comedy Couch - Margaret Cho Interview

GUY MACPHERSON: Is this the Assassin tour?
MARGARET CHO: Yes, it is. It was the 'State of
Emergency' tour. And then it changed because it was
about making it more current. I think Americans went
from being in a state of emergency to a state of shock
or anger.

GM: And now that it's Assassin, is that more current
because you're looking for someone to assassinate?
MC: Yeah.

GM: Or you're verbally assassinating Bush, is that it?
MC: Yeah. It's all about verbally assassinating
everybody, including myself.

GM: The show's more political than personal compared
to your last shows?
MC: Yes.

GM: But there are still personal elements.
MC: Yes. But then I think politics overwhelmingly is
personal. It's become personal for everyone lately.
Because it's such a difficult time. It's so crazy
because people are so much more emotionally involved
in politics than they've ever been.

GM: It's way more polarized, isn't it?
MC: Mm-hmm. And that's amazing. It's shocking because
you would expect that the government would feel
obligated to do good things for us but it's kind of
not the case. It's so much more corrupt than I've ever
seen it. It's quite depressing.

GM: Do you think that's a factor of us getting older
and realizing more, while when we're younger it was
just as corrupt but we didn't even care to notice?
MC: I dunno. I think that it's just that maybe it
really is just corrupt. And it's allowed to get worse
and worse and worse over time. Now, how do we deal
with something we've kind of let go on for years and
years. Maybe we know more now about things because of
the way that information is passed around. I think
that has a lot to do with it, too. I don't know, but
it is a strange situation and it's very hard to deal
with.

GM: I read that you take some shots at the Pope, too.
Are those going to come out?
MC: Yeah, yeah. Actually, I like the Pope. I think
he's kind of funny and cute. He was progressive for
what he is. All of the news coverage about his death,
it's been very much about how we're hanging between
life and death here in America with the whole Terry
Schiavo thing and with the Pope. Everybody's very
concerned with mortality now.

GM: Mitch Hedberg picked a bad week to die.
MC: Yeah. I know. I'm actually very upset about that.
He's a great guy and an old friend. I actually know
his wife very well. It's very tragic. Comics don't
live very long, I've noticed.

GM: Well, depends.
MC: Well, the really good ones don't.

GM: They either live forever or they die young.
MC: Very young. But the really good ones seem to have
quite a high mortality rate. People like Bill Hicks,
Lenny Bruce...

GM: It's their lifestyle, right? You gotta be careful.
MC: I suppose.

GM: Don't do drugs. That should be your message.
That's your next tour.
MC: I guess that's the main thing not to do. It's very
sad. I would not want to die this week because there's
just so many people dying that get bigger coverage.
It's impossible to get noticed.

GM: They say people get more conservative as they get
older. You don't seem to be.
MC: Well, I think I've gotten more informed. If
anything, that seems to be what's happened. Because
I've always had a rebellious streak, or this idea that
I had to find some kind of rebellion somewhere. Now I
see and I want to be involved because I have an
opportunity to say something about it.

GM: You're writing now, performing, acting in
movies... You've got it all covered.
MC: Yeah, it's good.

GM: You're Queen of all media.
MC: I'm making a quilt, too.

GM: As we speak?
MC: As we speak right now. I'm trying to decide what
to put on next. So I do a lot of things. I also belly
dance on weekdays.

GM: You're multi-talented.
MC: Yes.

GM: They also say comedians need a bit of distance to
keep things funny. As soon as you get truly angry, it
loses some of the comedic value. You need kind of an
ironic detachment otherwise you're too close. It would
be like Dennis Miller getting mad at liberals.
MC: Yeah, people would want to get mad at Dennis
Miller because he used to be so liberal. It's a
shocking thing to me that he's totally conservative
now. I think it's a joke.

GM: You think so? It's a big put-on?
MC: Yeah. I'm hoping that it is. Because I'm a big
fan. Or was. I don't think he's very funny anymore.

GM: Do you feel that you're making a difference?
Obviously Bush won the second term. That was a shock
to everyone up here, anyway.
MC: Yeah. It's really depressing. I hope that I am. I
would like to be making some sort of an impact. I
imagine I am, and I would find it hard to believe if I
wasn't. But in any case, it's fun. So it doesn't
matter.

GM: I just wonder if you're changing any minds, or
would Bush supporters or conservatives not even bother
coming to your show?
MC: I don't know. I mean, I think my reach is pretty
wide. There's other people that come to my shows who
just don't really necessarily feel what I feel
politically but they really enjoy what I'm doing as an
artist, so it doesn't really matter. It's not really
about the message so much as the medium. It's more
than just a political night out. It's not a
fundraiser; it's a show. I can enjoy things that I
don't agree with politically. Like, I love hip-hop and
I love rap, but it's incredibly homophobic and
incredibly sexist but I have to get past that. Which
is okay. I like it enough to almost condone those
things. So it's okay. Because I don't agree with it
doesn't mean that I don't like it.

GM: Although I guess the Christian right would be less
prone to enjoy something that they disagree with.
MC: But that's just insane. The whole Christian right
thing to me is very upsetting because I'm a Christian
and I'm very involved in learning about God and
learning about other religions and other forms of
spirituality and being very accepting of every aspect
of it. And the incredible hypocrisy that goes on right
now in these kind of church-fueled political debates,
it's really a disaster. Christians are not as
Christian as they used to be.

GM: At least a certain sect of them aren't.
MC: It's quite disturbing. They give a bad name to
other Christians and other people who want to be
spiritual and want their spirituality to inform their
politics but in a way that's compassionate and not in
a way that condemns or negates others' rights in
things like gay marriage or abortion. When there are
issues that they're trying to abolish it or ban them
altogether, then it's a big problem.

GM: Were you shocked or depressed at the results of
the election?
MC: I wasn't shocked. I was pretty much really ready
for that because I kind of seen it coming in a lot of
ways. You don't really want to give up hope at the
last minute, but it seemed inevitable in a lot of
ways. But what I was working towards more was the fact
that we were having the opportunity to have a
discussion about politics about who would be better
and who would do a better job. I think it was very
close, which is a great thing.

GM: If Kerry had won, you couldn't be doing this show,
so it worked out for you either way.
MC: Yeah, it's fine.

GM: Would you have attacked a Democratic president?
MC: I don't know. I don't think it would be
necessarily about attacking the president. You can
still be critical, though. There are things that I
definitely disagree with as far as Democrats go. I
wish that we didn't have a two-party system, but we
do. I think it's always all right to be critical, but
as to what degree you are... Because I still want to
be invited to the White House.

GM: Oh, do you?
MC: Yeah. Like, I enjoy their state dinners.

GM: Have you been before?
MC: Yes.

GM: Under Clinton?
MC: Yes. But I'd like to go again. I mean, I can't go
now. Even though I've been invited, which is odd.

GM: Really? The Bush people invited you?
MC: Yeah. And they continue to.

GM: You should go!
MC: Yeah, well I don't think so. (laughs)

GM: Not as a form of support. And you would make that
clear. But you'd also be respectful. I think that
would be interesting. Think of the stories you could
tell.
MC: I know. Well, I don't know if I'd want to sit
through Brooks & Dunne.