8 minute read
CHO IS SO SERIOUS; SHE MAKES YOU LAUGH
2021 SPRING-SUMMER
Margaret talked about her new podcast, her sexuality and the violence Asian Americans face today.
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BY WILLIAM B. TORRES
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Stand-up comedian and human rights activist Margaret Cho makes people laugh, at least that’s what the Grammy Academy voting members say. Cho has been nominated five times for a Grammy for Best Comedy Album. She has earned more than 250 television credits according to IMDB.com and is in the spotlight once more for her voiceover role in the Oscar-nominated movie “Over the Moon.”
Cho spoke to culture reporter Will B. Torres about her podcast, her sexuality and the issues AsianAmericans face today.
Technology allows for a virtual video chat with anyone from anywhere in the world. Zoom video conference application enabled Cho to chat with Torres while he was visiting Antigua, Guatemala, while Cho was at home in Los Angeles, CA.
During the Zoom chat, Cho’s Korean heritage is reflected in the background by a prominent Buddha situated behind her along with a blanket depicting an Asian woman placed on her couch.
The 52-year-old comedic actor earned a Primetime Emmy nomination in 2012 and has a dozen executive producer credits to her name.
But Cho’s talents and interests extend beyond performing stand-up and acting. Besides being a fashion designer and an author, Cho uses her celebrity to speak out against anti-Asian hate and violence. The second season of her podcast, “Margaret Cho: Mortal Minority,” focuses on the crimes committed against Asian Americans in the last two centuries.
“From the gold rush until today, we discuss Asian history and then reflect on what is happening pretty much on a daily basis,” Cho said. “It’s really shocking to see all the violence directed at Asian Americans, especially in the last year.”
With “Mortal Minority,” Cho moves away from her comedy comfort zone and tackles issues that plague the Asian community. She sits down to discuss the 2007 Virginia Tech shootings and stories like it with Asian comedians, journalists, authors and other voices committed to stop the hate directed at Asians.
“It’s [the podcast] very well-researched, and it is going to be more of a true-crime podcast,” Cho said. “Because it’s really delving into these crimes that a lot of people don’t know about.”
Cho says the podcast series increases awareness of the injustices that confront the Asian community today.
“Some are very important toward AsianAmerican history,” she said. “Whether the Chinatown massacre in 1871 or the Vincent Chin murder in Detroit in the 1980s. I also want to look at the present-day hate crimes.”
According to VOAnews.com (Voice of America international news organization), 15 of America’s largest cities reported a 169% increase in violence aimed at Asian Americans during the first quarter of 2021, compared to the same period last year.
“You see almost 4,000 hate crimes reported in the last year, which is just really crazy,” Cho said. “I’m sure that a lot of things have gone unreported as well.”
Police arrested and charged Jarrod Powell with attempted murder after he assaulted the 61-year-old Yao Pan Ma, an Asian immigrant in East Harlem. The attack left Ma in a coma and on a ventilator, according to an April 26 report in the New York Times. Additionally, Powell, 49, was charged with two counts of assault as a hate crime.
The roots of this anti-Asian violence found a voice in former President Donald Trump. The 45th POTUS appeared to relish repeated descriptions of the coronavirus, calling it “the Chinese Virus” or “Kung Flu.”
“I can’t imagine that people are really misinformed that Asian Americans are the cause of the coronavirus,” Cho said. “A lot of the casual nature of racism has a lot to do with Donald Trump’s opinion toward immigrants in general. Asian-Americans are not immigrants. I’m born in America. The majority of us are not immigrants. This is a very strange ideation of what American is and what American means, and this really insane view that we’re somehow to blame.”
While she continues to stand up to racism, she injects humor into the discrimination in proper Margaret Cho form.
source: http:// www.jokes4us. com/peoplejokes/ comedianjokes/ margaretchojokes. html
“Would you engage in an argument with somebody if you were afraid of catching the disease from them?” Cho laughs. “The disease is spread by talking to people and yelling really close up. So, it doesn’t make any sense to argue with someone if you are afraid of catching the virus.” 2021 has been a busy year for Margaret Cho. While working on her podcast and advocating for an end to Asian hate crimes, she also stars in the Oscar-nominated computer-animated film “Over the Moon.” The Netflix movie employs a Pan-Asian cast, including Sandra Oh, John Cho and Ken Jeong. Margaret Cho is the voice of Auntie Ling, the zany aunt of Fei-Fei, the movie protagonist.
“I was part of the introduction of the project,” Cho says. “I was in Shanghai in 2018. They were showing us the drawings from Pearl Animation Studio, and I listened to the songs. It was kind of the first emergence of all these things from the movie. It was so incredible to see and hear. I was just really excited to be part of the project.”
With the success of “Crazy Rich Asians” in 2019, and “Parasite” winning the Oscar for best feature film of 2020, Asian films are recognized worldwide. Cho is grateful to be part of this movement.
“We are starting to see more diversity in film and television,” she said. “I think there needs to be more diversity, but I’m really grateful for the changes that are happening.”
Cho says she is also proud to be part of the LGBTQ community. On Jun 19, 2018, Cho came out and identified as a “True Bisexual” to the Huffington Post. Two years after the interview, Margaret has a new opinion on her sexuality.
“I think bisexual isn’t exactly the right term because it says there’s only two genders,” Cho said. “Which, I don’t think that it’s actually the right term, it’s the one that makes sense to me, and so that’s what I like to represent.”
Despite her successful career as a stand-up comedian, there was a time the girl from the Bay Area of South Korean descent had doubts about her place in the entertainment world.
“As an Asian American performer, my career, which is stand-up comedy and television comedy, is a very male-dominated, very heterosexual white world,” Cho said. “It’s really restrictive and does not welcome outsider voices, yet at the same time, stand-up comedy is essentially an outsider art form.”
An Ace Cable Award for stand-up and an American Comedy Awards prize for best female stand-up in 1994 prove Cho’s chops. With nine successful stand-up comedy shows, including ‘Margaret Cho: Psycho’ (2015) and ‘Cho Dependent (2011), Cho has broken the barriers of stand-up that an Asian woman encounters in a white, heterosexual world.
“I love stand-up comedy, I love what I do, and I love the action of it,” Cho said. “I’m not concerned about what I can’t do because in stand-up comedy, you can do whatever you want as long as you’re funny and prolific. I think stand-up nourishes me anyways.”
One of her biggest fans and supporters is her mother who has always been at the center of the comedian’s jokes. How does Margaret’s mother feel about this?
“She thinks it’s funny and very welcoming of it,” Cho said. “I mean because I think that women in our Korean family who get older often become very invisible. She feels seen, and she feels validated, and I think that’s really important. I’m delighted to give her that.”
Artist, Asian American, bisexual, comedian, and human activist: Cho fits into every sub-group important to liberal Americans. As much support and praise as she garners from the left, she receives equal criticism and hate from conservatives and trolls. It must recall the days when she was the target of schoolyard bullies. Cho knows how to deal with the negativity.
“I don’t really look at negativity as being anything to be discouraged by,” she said. “I think when people are negative toward people of color, toward people who are gay, or women, are sad because their biases are not allowing them to enjoy the art from different views. I’m grateful to represent the different communities that I do, and to me, it’s all really positive.”
Throughout her career of more than three decades, Margaret Cho has made people laugh while she advocated for minorities, women, and members of the LGBTQ community.
“It’s imperative to have your voice heard and to be seen,” Cho said. “It’s time to welcome diversity and different points of view because we all gain from that. So, yeah, I think it’s a perfect time to see a shift in entertainment where we welcome views of women, women of color, and Asian Americans.” ∫
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2021 SPRING-SUMMER
