The Sensuous Woman: On the Couch with Margaret Cho

Cho takes her seat off-Broadway.

“It’s Margaret, b*tch!”

When comedian Margaret Cho took the stage on Wednesday to open her new off-Broadway show, The Sensuous Woman, her reference to martyred pop queen Britney Spears signaled the Vegas-sized bone her new work intended to pick with the world. Namely, this award-winning conscience of the LGBT community dared to ask, "Why can’t people of all shapes and sizes love themselves and others just the way they are?"

Starting from the point of body image, The Sensuous Woman heaves, moans, and, finally, yes, comes into a sidesplitting orgy of self-acceptance aimed directly at today’s larger threats to queer wellbeing. Multilingual, pansexual and above all therapeutic, the burlesque-style variety show was inspired by Cho’s passion for the saucy performance genre that has lately helped her grow more comfortable in her own skin.

Created by and starring Cho, The Sensuous Woman features a cast of her mostly L.A.-based comedic and dance associates. Fresh from a stint in Chicago, the lineup now in New York through October 20 includes Kurt Hall and Diana Yanez of the Gay Mafia Comedy Troupe; actor Liam Sullivan as Internet rock star, Kelly; emerging transgender comedian, Ian Harvie; and choreographer, Sir Ryan Heffington, whose super-freaky rendition of “Dirty Diana,” complete with animal-print leotard, is destined to claw its way into this season’s list of must-sees.

Jazzed for her arrival in the Big Apple, but sad for the death of a cast member’s cat earlier that day, the Notorious C.H.O. chatted with New Now Next shortly before the first performance of The Sensuous Woman on September 26 at the Zipper Factory on Manhattan’s West Side. Surrounded by vintage Times Square signage and car seats that had transformed the venue into a peeped-out drive-in, she riffed on subjects ranging from breasts, to those guitar heartthrobs, The Cliks, to Hillary Clinton.

And why not mash them all up? Like Cho later told the audience, “It’s political to be beautiful!”

Go with the flow of Cho after the jump!

In Plume: The Cast of 'The Sensuous Woman'

NNN: Have you learned anything about female anatomy while performing The Sensuous Woman?

MC: It gets very sweaty. I’ve learned that I get very sweaty. I’ve also learned that I can really do a lot of amazing things with my breasts that I didn’t know I could do, like twirl tassels on my pasties, which is quite amazing. So that is really fun. And I’ve just, like, really come to a place of forgiveness and joy in my body. I’ve been able to forgive my body for not being ‘perfect,’ and enjoy what I have, which, that lesson, even though it sounds simple and small, is a huge, big deal for me. It’s a life saver because I am so at ease with myself now that I can be naked and not feel fear or shame, or like I’m being judged, like, ‘Oh my god, I’m fat!’ or, ‘What am I doing?’ or, ‘I shouldn’t be doing this.’ You know, it’s really amazing.

NNN: What health benefits do you find in belly dancing?

MC: Well, I’ve become very healthy just doing it. I’ve literally come and dropped actually into my body. I’m usually so out of my body. In stand-up comedy, it’s like a world of the mind where you’re thinking about words, and you’re thinking about language, and you’re thinking about ideas, but you’re not thinking about what things feel like or what your body’s saying. And so this, belly dancing, is learning a whole new language, a language of the body, which is really freeing and different.

NNN: What is the future of this production?

MC: I don’t know. I’d like to take it on the road. I’d like to take it all over the world, because this is a show that can actually travel internationally. Because even though there is music in it, and there’s comedy in it, there is stuff that is translatable, that we can take everywhere. So, that’s exciting.

NNN: What’s happening with plans for your next show?

MC: I’m writing a show. It’s my next stand-up comedy show. I’m just trying to figure it out, but I’m writing it right now. This show also gives me time to write my material and gives me an opportunity to work out a new stand-up comedy show.

'I've learned that I get very sweaty,' says Cho.

NNN: What themes are floating in your head right now?

MC: We’re talking a lot about current events, which is so funny to me right now, like the president of Iran coming, and um, how, you know, it’s just so weird. There’s so much homophobia out there from people like him, or people in the media, or people like Larry Craig. Those kinds of things are very compelling to me. So right now I’m just kind of obsessed with that kind of stuff.

And this show also I think is important. The Sensuous Woman is important because of what happened with Britney Spears a few weeks ago with the Video Music Awards, how people were saying that she looked fat. And if people think that is fat, there’s something really wrong with the way that we view the body, or the way that we view women’s bodies. It’s really distorted because she’s not fat. She’s absolutely gorgeous. But for some reason, we have a warped vision of what women look like. And so this show is an attempt to remedy that.

NNN: Speaking of the VMAs, how would you as a comic describe Sarah Silverman’s treatment of Britney?

MC: Well, Sarah Silverman is very funny, and, to me that was exactly right, that’s exactly how Sarah Silverman would address that. You know, to me it was exactly in keeping with her persona. I’m a fan of hers, so I think what she did was very funny, although probably it’s mean, but it’s funny. I mean, if she had done that, say if I was Britney, I would not be angry, but I’m sure that it was upsetting to her. I think it was upsetting to her. I think it’s kind of ... I don’t know. I think Sarah’s funny, so …

NNN: Do you believe there are gays in Iran?

MC: Well, there would be if he (President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad) didn’t kill them all. There’s estimated, what, like four thousand lesbians and gay men that have been executed in Iran because of their homosexuality, and it’s really appalling to think. And in the Middle East, I’ve been to the Middle East, and I know there men hold hands. So I guess romance is okay. It’s just that when they start to call it something, that it’s bad.

NNN: Is Senator Larry Craig really a ‘gay’ man?

MC: Yes, and I feel sorry for him. I think it’s really sad. What a tragic character. He’s tragic. People like Ted Haggard – that’s tragic. Or Mark Foley. These are living tragedies. They’re people who want to be part of a society that does not want them, and so they’re willing to be secretive about their sexuality and hide who they are, and really who they are is not bad, it’s not criminal at all. But it drives them to sort of criminalizing acts. It’s really sad.

Check out that ink!

NNN: Do you have a favorite all-grrrl band?
MC: Well, right now it’s The Cliks, but they’re not really all grrrl! (Vocalist/guitarist Lucas Silveira identifies as a transman.) But they are awesome. They’re really so exciting, I was on tour with them all summer, for the True Colors Tour, and I really fell in love with them and I did their video for “Eyes in the Back of My Head.” I really just love them so much. They’re almost like a boy band because when you go see them, it’s just girls and boys screaming, just non-stop screaming.

NNN: What is your gayest memory of the True Colors Tour?
MC: The gayest city, oddly enough, was probably Denver, which I didn’t expect. You looked out in the audience, and everybody’s feathers were gold, or crazy makeup, or huge, like, multi-colored, like, macaw mohawks. They were just all like so gilded and beautiful, and it was the middle of the day. A lot of people went all out. There more than anywhere else, I found.

NNN: How many tattoos do you have?

MC: They cover my stomach, and my back and my arms, and then they go down my right leg. Essentially, I have one … two… five. But they’re broken up into small sorts of things. So maybe 60 or 70? The latest one is on my back. It’s done by Kat Von D. It’s a peacock. It’s sort of an art nouveau peacock.

'I'm really kind of waiting to see who is going to step up for the gay community,' Cho sighs.

NNN: Are you behind any particular presidential candidate at this point?

MC: I’m really frustrated with the whole presidential thing, just because there are so many presidential candidates and none of them really are standing up for the gay community, except for Dennis Kucinich. He’s actually the only one who’s been very forthcoming, very forthright about his support of gay marriage. But none of the other ones are. It’s very weird. So I don’t know, I’m really kind of waiting to see who’s going to step up for the gay community.

NNN: What do you think is the biggest issue facing the LGBT community in the upcoming election?

MC: I think it’s really just to combat invisibility. That we have to actually exist, that they have to acknowledge us and take into account our involvement, that our silence is kind of causing that invisibility to be sort of okay. We all want a Democrat to win, yes, of course that’s true. But, in order for that to happen, also we’ve got to be very vocal about standing up for our rights and wanting to just be visible, and to be heard. I mean, that is the most pressing issue. It is gay marriage, but it is not exactly that. It is the acknowledgement that we need to be put on the radar, and that our opinion has to count to these politicians. And right now, I’m not seeing that. So it’s very frustrating.

NNN: What do you think is behind the persistent lesbian rumors about Hillary Clinton?

MC: Well, I think it’s because she’s hot. She’s very sexy, in a very, um, sort of hot, top way. She’s like a hot femme top. She’s got that ‘hot for teacher’ kind of feeling. You know, she’s very sexy, she’s got that sort of like, the very authoritative stance, you know. She’s never seemed heterosexual to me. I mean, ever! I don’t get that vibe from her. She’s like a hot, femme top. That’s what I see when I see her. But a sensible femme.

Comments

[ProfessorVP]

Maggie is a lesbian. There is no evidence she has sex with men, and that includes her husband. Margaret Cho being supportive of the gay community is like Bullwinkle being supportive of the moose community. She has fudged about her sexuality not to save the whales, preserve our diminising wetlands, stop the genocide in Darfur or establish universal health care in America. It has been, and is, to be more palatable to the white straights in her audience, and so be able to play more lucrative dates and keep her income high. It also helped her get on TV and may again. And so Maggie is like the money-grubbing Hollywood millionaires she sneers at.

[Wasabi Grrl]

I'm just diggin the look she's, well...okay, sportin, thanks to the influence of her friend, Ms. Lauper, who performed in cabaret costume for True Colors.

[Melvin]

Professor VP: And exactly how sure are you that she's not had sex with men? She has talked about dating men onstage and has written about her past relationships with men in her books. Is it really so important for Cho to slap a label on herself?

[Lyle]

re: Professor - Margaret Cho is bisexual or pansexual and has always admitted this in interviews.

Your anger that she doesn't ID as only Lesbian is your own personal problem you need to work through.

[ProfessorVP]

Melvin, talking about the men in her life is part of her stage act. She has, on occasion, had to recant, especially about the tall tale about the Marine she was allegedly schtumping. She explained that the "boyfriend" she talks about is "a composite." Busted. To solidify her pansexual credentials, Maggie got married. To a man, natch.

You see, Melvin (better sit down) there's this thing called "acting." Let me explain. Y'see, the actor or performer goes into what's called a "character" and says things to be interesting- sometimes tragic, sometimes amusing. These things are often not based on real life, but on fiction designed to please an audience. In Margaret's case- the widest audience possible.

Lyle, of course when you hear things you don't like, the person telling you must be angry. Mean, angry me. Doofus.

[David in Toronto]

Actually, Margaret is pretty honest about who she is sexually, a straightish female who has had sex with women. I think she says she's not so much bi as she is slutty.

Moreover, I have no problem with a heterosexual being an honorary member of our community. People like Kucinich and Cho are such strong advocates they risk the same rejection we do.

[ProfessorVP]

David, never have people been so conned since Rummy used to say that not only does Saddam have WMDs, but "we know where they are."

If Margaret is an honorary member of the LBGT community, then Bullwinkle is an honorary member of the moose community.

[junior]

I believe Margaret Cho has slept with whomever has showed interest in sleeping with Margaret Cho, man, woman, beast. I think she would even tell you that. If she's a lesbian, great! If she's bisexual, great! WHY ARE WE SO HUNG-UP ON LABELS! It's not like she's pretending only to be straight (*cough*Jodie*cough*)