Margaret Cho wrapped up 3 days of comedy in the lovely Mall of Suburban Columbus, Easton Towne Center, where she showcased her act at the Funny Bone Comedy Club. We were lucky enough to even know about this quiet event. It received very little coverage in Columbus, probably in part to the fact that she's recently split from her over-zealous manager of 16-years, Karen Taussig. I could be wrong.
Live and on TV, Margaret Cho has always made me laugh. The "Rice Rights" routines she rattles off so well--including the glorious tributes she does to "Mommy", the sex jokes she rolls out from her lady parts like a flapjack on Sunday morning--all gems that make me glad to be alive. We were sure to get more of those last night, in addition to her motivational and fierce musings on war, Bush, poverty and homophobia. But we got them...in a "Best of Margaret Cho" kind of way. Margaret Cho fans had already heard most of them, right down to the persimmons diet=poop in the car joke she wrapped up with. We left feeling a little in flux. Someone so brilliant and courageous and well versed in sharp language--recycling her comedy from 5 years ago. Why? What has happened to Margaret Cho?
Should I be offended? Should I just not worry and chalk it up to the fact that she has to make a living and is going through a difficult time in her life? Is it me? People did indeed laugh, out loud, hard...including myself. But what went wrong? Why is she reusing old material in 80% of her show? Does she assume that most of the audience hasn't heard it, because I think that we have (on Friday nights at home with a bowl of popcorn and her DVD's oh yes). And her hardcore fans follow her every move religiously. They know the routines almost by heart (you know that "daddy had a friend who was a gay" story!). And I love them, don't get me wrong. I just hope that she's not losing her stride.
If you look at other projects in her life, this might all be explainable. She's a supreme bellydancer, has been attempting a sitcom, hosting gobs of events, working for all kinds of things for awareness of social justice/injustice. And she's touring like a madwoman. Girl busy. I just hope she that doesn't lose her cerebral mojo and continue to revert to poop and cha-cha jokes for the sake of posterity. She's a genius alright, but still evolving. This queen of comedy can't keep it at the Vaudville bus station though. Maybe she's just staying there right now til this whole Taussig tornado blows over.
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I just came across your blog. I've been sort of fascinated with the whole evolution of Margaret Cho. I don't know why. Maybe because at some point I totally identified with her (too many reasons to count). She was funny, but more importantly, she was smart. I also got that she was different and willing to take a stand and be who she was, and I loved that. A couple of months ago, I went to see one of her "new" shows in Silverlake. (FYI - For under $30, you can see her take her clothes off.) It was bizarre and completely devoid of the Margaret Cho that I thought was Margaret Cho. I would even go so far as to say I was disgusted. I read her blog (which you linked) about her manager, and I think that explains a lot. It's not the first time I read the entry, and I've found the manager's blog and other theories about what happened to her, but after reading what you had to say I had another thought. I went back and read her blog again. She talks a lot about her manager trying to make her into something that she's wasn't. She had a sort of cryptic ramble about having her love taken away (or not approved of?) - was she talking about her manager not liking or supporting Margaret's "husband"? The last interview I read with Margaret was around the gay games time, and she referred to herself as being "wifey." WHAT???! Margaret Cho now can see herself as wifey? She's taking her clothes off at a gross dive in Silverlae and calling it burlesque? Or being a goddess, or whatever it is? She's showing us her tattoo? I never cared about Margaret Cho's body and how she looked; I cared about her words. She's participating in her "husband's" totally crazy videos which are violent, anti-woman, and completely in line with all the things she claimed to hate in the beginnign of her career: women looking like hookers, porn stars or dead with blood coming out of their various body parts. It's more than disgusting. I'm an outsider, a former fan, an interested bystander. Apparently the person that Margaret wanted to be all along, the person that her over-zealous manager stopped her from being has finally been allowed to come out. My opinion is that the shows she is dragging around the country (interesting enough - your review/comments are not the first I've seen, but the first I've responded to) are obviously paying her bills and she's sleep walking through the sets. The real Margaret Cho, released from the torture of her controlling manager, has been set free. And it's a person I'm not that interested in getting to know.
Hello Karen!
Err, I mean, "Anonymous," lol
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