The irrepressible comedian and Attitude favourite Margaret Cho brings her new tour, Mother, to the UK, playing fives shows at the Leicester Square Theatre, from Friday October 26th to Wednesday October 31st. We caught up with Margaret for a quick chat ahead of the start of her new show.
Your audiences are often pretty fanatical about you. How does it compare, playing the UK to the USA? Do you change your sets a lot depending on where you play them?
Yes - I try to tailor my shows to wherever I happen to be, and I also do a lot of playing with the audience and that's just in the moment and improvisational. The UK is where I started to be more of a spontaneous performer. I think that's a wonderful thing and I really got that from doing shows in London.
The American comedy scene is fairly different to ours in the UK. Which British comedians do you like? Do you think there is a British comedian who is comparable to you?
I love French and Saunders. They're exactly my kind of comics. I'd say what they do and AbFab - it's very similar to my brand of comedy. My favorite British comic is Paul Foote. He's a true genius.
On that note, where do you like to go when you’re in London?
I love shopping in Spitalfields, dining and drinking at the Hospital Club, riding the tube fairly aimlessly - London is wonderful.
You’re from San Francisco, possibly the LGBT capital of the world. What should we do when we visit?
Walk across the golden gate bridge, go to a public porn shoot for kink.com, and attend the Folsom street fair in October!
After having been on American TV and performing for so long, how do you feel that reactions have changed towards you, both from the Korean community and the public as a whole?
I'd say it's now that people aren't as surprised by my appearance - it used to be considered highly unusual for a Korean woman to be in comedy, but I've been around so long everyone is used to it!
Your previous shows have been very outspoken about LGBT issues. Can we expect more in your next show? What other topics will you be covering in your new show?
I'm still very gay, political, raunchy and rude! Lots of observations about sex - gay and otherwise, mother figures like Madonna and Lady Gaga, drugs and beyond.
Following on, what’s your perspective on where America stands right now with gay rights? From across the pond, that whole Chick-Fil-A scandal, for example, seems ridiculous. Are things changing for the better in America?
America is really divided on issues regarding the LGBT community and the homophobia and ignorance can be overwhelming. It's totally ridiculous, but the amount of bigotry out there is insane. But there's also a lot of great progress - we have made amazing changes for ourselves in the last few years and that's inspiring.
On a lighter note: we always ask comedians who, (apart from themselves!) they consider to be new, exciting acts to look out for?
I love David Mills who will be there as my support act in London!
Having seen Mr Mills for ourselves, we can confirm: he is indeed a very funny chap. Thanks Margaret, and we look forward to seeing you in London!
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