Cho unmasked for comedy stop at JFL Northewest
Credit to Author: Dana Gee| Date: Wed, 12 Feb 2020 19:00:25 +0000
When: Feb. 13-24
Tickets and info:jflnorthwest.com
One of the most popular shows on TV is Fox’s The Masked Singer.
The show is kind of a fever dream mixed with a singing competition. Each week celebrities hide their identities under elaborate costumes (this upcoming season will include among the 18 contestants a llama, banana and astronaut) while they sing (apparently) their hearts out in a bid to woo the judges and of course America.
Comedian Margaret Cho who will be In Vancouver for a JFL Northwest comedy festival show (Feb. 15, 7 p.m. at the Vogue, tickets $39 at eventbrite.ca), was the Poodle in season one of the show. The current popularity of the show that started in Korea is no surprise to Cho. She agrees the wacky talent show is a kind of antidote to the emotional and politically polarizing heaviness that many are feeling these days.
“There’s something innocent about it, which I think is something that is needed,” said Cho over the phone from her home in Los Angeles recently.
“I think we do need something we can kinda come together on that’s very playful. It’s unique, and at the same time it’s something very important because we need a childlike wonder about things. I think it’s really sweet.”
It’s also free of labels and unconscious biases as a singing egg and pineapple are as equally nutty.
“Identity is put aside and right now there is so much caustic friction that people have about identity in particular, and so when you remove that sort of aspect of it and just look at the purity of somebody’s voice, I think there is a tenderness there, and a humanity,” said Cho.
Margaret Cho.
And for the record: It is hard to sing in a mask.
“When you’re singing you’re never enclosed in something so it is really hard to tell how you are doing. Sonically it is very different,” said Cho.
While Cho can throw down as a glamorous singing poodle, do successful sitcoms, host a podcast, design clothes, and act as an BDSM expert on the Netflix show Explained, the Grammy and Emmy-nominated comic always manages to find her way back to the stand up stage — a place she has called home since she was 16.
Cho is part of a JFL Feb. 13-25 line-up that includes comedy headliners Hannah Gadsby, Bill Burr and Patton Oswalt as well as up-and-coming stand-ups, improv and sketch performances, hit podcasts and even short films.
Red-hot comedian Hannah Gadsby will be bringing her new show Douglas to the JFL Northwest comedy festival Feb. 24 and 25. Photo: Jill Greenberg
JFL is just one of about 100 stand-up gigs Cho does each year. While shows like this one make up the base of her three decade-long career, she says she also needs variety for complete happiness.
“I think they all kind of work together to make for a balanced life. I love acting. I love music,” said Cho.
“To me it is really special to do all these different things, but comedy is a constant. It’s something that is always happening so that is the most important part of my life.”
Cho grew up in San Francisco where her parents ran a gay bookstore. A self-identifying bisexual, Cho has always been a vocal supporter of LBGTQ communities and, in turn, those communities have supported her work.
“I love that. To me that’s still a big part of my identity and kind of my purpose. So, yeah, I love that,” said Cho about her fan base. “I love being queer. I love the queerness of my existence. It’s the essence of who I am.”
It’s also a big part of what she wants to talk about, but it by no means is her only topic when she takes to the stand-up stage. Like many comedians that call America home, the current state of their union is loaded with potential material. And really, isn’t it better to laugh than cry?
“What’s good is there is a lot to say and there is a lot to deal with in all of these issues,” said Cho.
“There are things that I have talked about for a long time whether it is racism, sexism, homophobia. All of these things have a big effect on our lives now, so there is a lot to say and that is what’s great about comedy — that I can go out and do that.”
Obviously at the eye of the liberal comedy storm is US president Donald Trump.
Cho doesn’t hesitate when asked about him.
“Him getting elected, the whole thing has been upsetting from the minute it happened. I really didn’t think it was possible,” said Cho.
“It is such a sickening situation. He is acting like this office is kind of a plaything for him. It’s a game. He’s not even taking it seriously. It is really terrifying.”
Cho says she still finds MAGA hat wearers unnerving and disappointing.
“The blind faith people put in him (Trump) — they don’t know he has no experience as a politician. They seem to look at this office as an extension of reality TV,” said Cho.
“It’s kind of like high school, but it is way worse and it is real. They indulge him and his ego, but at the same time they put this faith in him that is really undeserved and it is really misplaced. That is really what’s sad to me is that they have no idea what is going on.
“It has to do with their own biases.”
While Cho has a lot to say about the current U.S. political landscape, she refuses to let the reality of partisan politics remove all hope from her world.
“I think we got so far ahead … only to take several steps back,” said Cho.
“I think it is a process, and we have also made a lot of gains in the way we talk about the planet and the way we talk about climate change; the way we talk about trying to close the gap of sexism; the way we now talk about gay rights in a more nuanced and productive way. I feel like there is definitely progress. I feel like social media has enhanced our idea about equality and ways to get it. There’s hope there among all this other stuff.”
After all a show like Masked Singer starring big, singing toys is a hit, so anything can happen, right?
Work is fun for this showbiz veteran.
“I just really enjoy what I do,” said Cho, who has worked in Vancouver lots including recording with pop duo Tegan and Sara.
“There’s lot of fun in it. I have a lot of pleasure doing it. It’s a really treasured part of my life and I think that’s part of it. I think it’s a big part of it, the enthusiasm.
“It’s never about getting jaded or over it. I love it.”
• As well as the 7 p.m. show on Feb. 15 Cho will be at the Vancity Theatre at 5 p.m. for an In Conversation with Margaret Cho event.
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