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Here in San Francisco, Margaret Cho is a legend spoken of with a reverence that would probably creep her out. With her irreverent brand of comedy and her proud embrace of sexual ambiguity, ambivalence, and debauchery, she's one of SF's most cherished native daughters, even if she did hightail it for the Southland a while back. But Cho isn't the kind of kitten who forgets her old litterbox, and she always loves a chance to return to her hometown.
Now that she's brought her brand of bump-n-grind to Baghdad by the Bay, Margaret Cho took a few moments to shoot the shit with Eros Zine. Eros Zine: How long have you been wanting to do a dance-focused variety show like The Sensuous Woman? Margaret Cho: Oh, I've been wanting to do it for a really long time. I really love being able to work with women, because comedy is such a male business. I've been working with men in comedy for so many years, it's so fun to be able to work with a lot of women. Eros Zine: What's The Sensuous Woman like? Margaret Cho: It's really all about dance, but it incorporates my own work, too; there's a lot of comedy, dance, music, and it's all really sexy and fun and very different. When I do burlesque, I do a lot of gender switching, which is really fun for me. I have a lot of male characters -- my favorite one is a samurai, which I did for years in my comedy show and now I'm doing him more as a dance character. It's really exciting. It's something that is even beyond sexuality, too; it's really sort of about expressing so much of the soul. Dance is a really amazing way to do that.
Margaret Cho: It's actually pretty serious for me. For instance, I did an impression of a samurai in my standup, but this is a way for me to actually embody him with a full costume and sword and everything in dance, so it's less about the burlesque tradition. But then, it's also become this way of kind of expressing the wholeness of the self that we are actually male and female and when we can find a way to accept that, it's really great. Eros Zine: You said that comedy is largely a male business. Why do you think that is? Margaret Cho: Socially, being funny isn't necessarily the most rewarded trait for women, not like it is for men, so we don't develop it. Since our contribution isn't particularly welcomed it's not as sustained and not as nurtured, so it's a little harder. Eros Zine: Whereas in dance, women really are the dominant force. Are there men performing in The Sensuous Woman? Margaret Cho: It's mostly women, but there are a couple of men who perform in the show as women. Once in a while we'll have a male dancer in there; we work with Tigger in New York, who is great. Eros Zine: You're also involved with belly dance. Do you incorporate that into The Sensuous Woman? Margaret Cho: There's generally more burlesque because that's who we attract as performers, but every once in a while there'll be belly dancing. There are some belly dance performers that I really love, but the show is mostly weighted toward burlesque.
Margaret Cho: Yes! We have quite a few dancers from The Velvet Hammer in our show. The burlesque community is pretty small, so you end up working with similar people over and over. I also go to see a lot of burlesque dance, and dancers come in from other dancers. It's a very small community. Eros Zine: How has response been to the show within the burlesque community? Are you getting a lot of buzz about it? Margaret Cho: Yes, it's pretty amazing. There's a lot of interest and excitement about it, because it has a reputation as a show that's run very well and is really fair and good to the dancers. Plus, it's a different audience and it's a sort of audience that hasn't seen this kind of dance before. Eros Zine: In San Francisco, the biggest group of fanatical Margaret Cho fans is, of course, the queer community. What's the audience like at The Sensuous Woman? Do they get rowdy? Margaret Cho: Actually, they're sort of polite. And enthused about it, because it's exciting and different. It's a very sophisticated crowd; they manage to be both rowdy and polite at the same time. Eros Zine: And does the show itself get pretty dirty? Margaret Cho: It's pretty innocent; it's not so highly focused on erotic elements. It's more just good rowdy fun -- entertainment. Eros Zine: You've been doing The Sensuous Woman in Los Angeles since April. What made you want to bring it to San Francisco? Margaret Cho: I wanted to bring it to San Francisco because I'm from there, and I wanted to mix it up a bit and use a couple of acts from San Francisco that I really like. Eros Zine: You do it every month in Los Angeles; is it something that'll be back monthly to San Francisco as well? Margaret Cho: I think so. I hope so! I'd really like that. I really love the show and I think everybody should come down and have a look. Eros Zine: Thanks, Margaret! Fans can find out more about Margaret's show at margaretcho.com and myspace.com/thesensuouswoman.
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