Beauty Quips

Margaret Cho's as saucy as ever.

by Natalie Hope McDonald

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Ever since her short-lived '90s sitcom, All-American Girl, San Francisco-born Margaret Cho has been making people laugh with her sometimes-raunchy wit and hilarious anecdotes about sex, love and her Korean-American family. Philly's straight and gay audiences alike will get a taste of Cho's new standup show, Beautiful, which the comedian promises to be her down-and-dirtiest tour yet. This, of course, coming from the lady behind the "ass master" joke. Comedy's biggest fruit fly chatted with us about her new show, reality TV and being Beautiful.

City Paper: You recently launched your new reality show on VH1, The Cho Show. How does it compare to your first sitcom?

Margaret Cho: It is very different, because instead of actors, we are using my real family, so it is like a sitcom starring real people. We are very scripted, so we are more like Curb Your Enthusiasm, or a Christopher Guest film. It isn't true reality.

CP: How did you convince your parents to be a part of the show?

MC: I told them it was either the show or assisted living.

CP: Do you ever get tired of the "ass master" legacy you've created? Do people come up to you on the street and discuss it on a regular basis?

MC: Yes, and I am proud of it. For a lot of people, I was the very first person they ever saw talking about gay culture on TV. I think because of that, I made it a lot easier for people to come out of the closet and accept themselves, so I am very into it.

CP: What about your new live show, Beautiful? How is it different from past tours?

MC: It is all new material and I can honestly say it is the raunchiest show I have ever written — and that is awesome.

CP: What's the inspiration for Beautiful?

MC: Feeling beautiful, feeling worthy of love, feeling good, feeling sexy, aging, tattooing, sex, race.

CP: Like many dedicated followers of Cho, I regularly quote I'm the One That I Want. What funny people do you look up to?

MC: I love Wanda Sykes, who shows up on The Cho Show, as well as Bobby Lee, Chris Rock and Rosie O'Donnell. I am a big comedy fan.

CP: You've gotten pretty political in the past. What's your take on this year's presidential election?

MC: Obama!

CP: Seen anything recently in the news that you'll use in your act?

MC: I was really upset about the Chinese girl who they wouldn't let sing in the opening ceremony of the Olympics because they didn't think she was pretty enough. They had that other girl lip-synch. I didn't know China had any little girls left; I thought the gays adopted them all.

Margaret Cho's Beautiful With Liam "Kelly" Sullivan, Fri., Oct. 3, 7:30 p.m., $32.50-$48.50, Merriam Theatre, 260 S. Broad St., 215-336-1234, margaretcho.com