Margaret Cho

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In 1994, at age twenty-five, Cho starred in prime time's first Asian American sitcom, ABC's All-American Girl. The show was a debacle, canceled after one season and best summed up by Cho's routine about it. "Ms. Cho," she says, perfectly imitating female TV interviewers' stock shocked voice, "isn't it true that the network asked you to lose weight to play the part of yourself?" Her riffs about being the child of Korean immigrants are still highlights of her act, especially her imitations of her mother's choppy accent, terrifying earnestness, and unpredictably strange ideas.

So what should her Michigan Theater audience expect on Saturday, October 9? Tasteless, unfair, hilarious put-downs of the president. Uncomfortable moments when Cho coaxes laughs out of her most private bodily functions. And, in the audience, plenty of empowered women and gay guys, who'll cheer as she rallies them to fight not only Bush but also Michigan's proposed constitutional amendment against gay marriage. After all, she's fond of saying, "a government that denies a gay man the right to bridal registry is a fascist regime!"   

[Originally published in October, 2004.]