After reading the Wikipedia entry about Margaret Cho, I decided the best way to begin is with its closing quote, made by Joan Juliet Buck, in W Magazine:
“[N]ot all women comedians are dangerous; some are just very funny: Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are too relatable, Joan Rivers was too firmly ensconced in the society that she mocked. Amy Schumer relies a little too much on the word “pussy” to be any kind of threat, though she would like very much to be a bad person. On the other hand, … Margaret Cho know[s] no boundaries and inspire[s] palpable fear anytime [she] begin[s] one of [her] riffs.”
So we are delighted to honor someone considered both dangerous and frightening… and who has crafted her own life with a strong sense of relentless determination and relentless curiosity!
Ms. Cho, born 1968 into a Korean family in San Francisco, California, is an American comedian, actress, fashion designer, author, and singer-songwriter. She is best known for her stand-up routines and their social and political critiques, focused especially on race and sexuality. Cho has also won awards for her humanitarian efforts on behalf of women, Asians, and the LGBT community.
Experiencing the frank and vulnerable way she speaks about her ambivalence toward parenting is a highly recommended opportunity to get to know this remarkable woman. In a post on her website, called Kids (dated 9/6/12), she explores her choices so far and, woven between classic Cho quips, shares thoughts about fear, love, mothering the world, and more.
It may be difficult to say where her greatest impact has been. Was it her activism, such as hosting the inaugural True Colors Tour and campaigning to pardon Stanley Tookie Williams? her awards, from groups such as American Women in Radio and Television and the ACLU? her stand-up comedy performances, which make us laugh and think, and laugh and think? or is it the way she so openly seeks to live life—outrageously, imperfectly, resiliently, and as a result, exquisitely?
Margaret Cho films Violet Blue for the music video, “San Francisco” by musical artist Jill Sobule. Video directed by Margaret Cho. This photo is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
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