Margaret Cho: "I think it would be great if everyone was ordered to get gay married”

This should be a simple job. She was in Edinburgh during August for the Fringe; she’s going to play The Stand in Glasgow in October. She couldn’t have gotten far, right? But when we finally catch up with Margaret Cho, she’s in Australia preparing for a gig at the Sydney Opera House. Which begs the question: how on earth do you deal with the jetlag?

“I’m still not over my Edinburgh jetlag,” she says, sounding suspiciously perky. “I was getting up at 8pm, doing my show at 9 and then having breakfast. For the whole month of August I was completely nocturnal.”

Cho Dependent, her first Fringe appearance in 10 years, was something of a hit, with a string of 5-star reviews and a great buzz around town. It sees a slightly more mellow Cho than 2001’s Notorious C.H.O., with thoughts on relationships and wanting to have children, as well as some songs from her Grammy-nominated album (featuring collaborations with the likes of Ani DiFranco and Tegan & Sara). But there’s still plenty of the usual blend of political consciousness and hair-raising filth.

A self-proclaimed “patron saint of outsiders”, Cho is of Korean descent and grew up in the ultra-liberal Haight Street area of San Francisco region at the end of the hippie era.  Ever since her comedy debut at the age of 16 she’s been outspoken on issues of race and sexuality, campaigning for LGBT issues and against the death penalty.

Is it ever difficult to talk about important things while trying to be funny? “No, you have this idea that comedy should be beyond feminism or race, but we still have to focus attention on these issues. There are still inequalities. Like, when I see a female comic saying 'I'm not a feminist', I'm like, 'That's... strange.' Feminism is such a basic part of who I am."

All of which puts her on the exact opposite end of the political spectrum to people like Sarah Palin, a frequent target for Cho who has called her “the worst thing to happen to America since 9/11.” Last year, Cho found herself directly in conflict with her nemesis when she appeared on Dancing With The Stars with Bristol Palin, the daughter who spoiled her family’s wholesome image by getting pregnant at 18.

“Yeah, it was really weird to be on the same show as her,” says Cho, “especially when I had said so many really rude things about her mother. But I became friends with her after a while, and then we had this huge fight.

“I found out that Bristol didn’t want to do Dancing With The Stars but Sarah Palin forced her to, because she blamed her for losing the 2008 election. She told her, ‘You owe it to me to do Dancing With The Stars so I can have a good start to a run for the presidency in 2012’.”

“I talk about this a lot on stage, I got in trouble for exposing it. Bristol got mad and wrote this long blog about it. Actually, I think it was her mother’s speechwriter. Bristol is just one of these silent, wordless people. I would have loved to have taken her away because she’s totally in the shadow of her mother.”

Like a lot of American comics, Cho was slightly surprised to come to Edinburgh and find that everyone was already familiar with Sarah Palin, as well as figures like Michelle Bachmann and the Tea Party. It’s true that we love a bit of American political panto, but do we in Europe only hear about the extreme elements?

Cho disagrees. “No. It is extreme now. It’s become a kind of world theatre that’s not even about politics, it’s just this soap opera that’s fascinating and weird.”

In the interest of objectivity, let’s ask her to compare right-wing nutters on both sides of the Atlantic. The Daily Mail recently ran a headline screaming that gay marriage was “to be imposed on Scotland”. What do you make of that?

“So it’s going to be instated by force?  That would be awesome. I think it would be great if everyone was ordered to get gay married.”

On the same day, there was a story about a Florida preacher who was calling for a national registry of atheists.

“Like a sex offender registry, so we can treat atheists like paedophiles? That’s more proof of all the idiots that are in America. That’s crazy.”

One-nil to us then. Does that mean that we are really smarter than Americans? 

Cho laughs. “You know what, there are different dialogues happening in the two countries. There are some things I noticed in Edinburgh, like when it comes to environmental issues Scotland is way ahead of the US. The political consciousness there is generally more inclined towards helping and co-operating with the rest of the world.

“What Scotland maybe has less of is a race consciousness because there are fewer black people and a smaller range of minorities. You have more immigrants from South Asia who’ve been there for generations, and maybe a narrower racial spectrum. So it can be weird. When I’m in Scotland I’m not considered Asian. What? So where do I fit in? Oh, it turns out I’m American. Here’s me thinking I was Asian all this time.”

Cho has blogged about some borderline racist experiences at this year’s Fringe, like being consistently ignored by Edinburgh taxi drivers and receiving racist and sexist abuse while walking across The Meadows (although the latter problem was solved by running at them with her iPhone while screaming “say it to the camera!’).

Talking to her now in September, all the stress of the Fringe has melted away. Racist cabbies and terrorised neds are all in the past; she remembers all the things she fell in love with in Edinburgh: the magical atmosphere at the Dans Palais in George Square, the buzz of being surrounded by artists, the late-night drinking, and “white cheddar and Branston pickle sandwiches. And a salt and vinegar chip. That’s all I ever really want to eat. That’s why I want to come back to Scotland, so I can eat those all day.”

Plans are already afoot for next year, with an idea for a gay-themed cabaret with her new friend Scott Capurro and the intention of getting guests ranging from the über-camp Bob Downe to Rich Hall’s hoedown band.

But her real desire to come back is so that she can try out her ideas on a foreign audience. “I love this thing of touring internationally and exploring different cultures,” she says. “Because we share a common language, but the culture is totally different.

“There’s a reserve in the UK that isn’t there even in Australia or Canada, certainly not in the US. If you can move an audience past that it’s really satisfying, That was my challenge, going into these taboo areas of talking about sexuality or politics and moving audiences past their level of comfort.” 

Well, Edinburgh audiences might be reserved but Glasgow audiences are a little less so.

“Good! I can’t wait.”