MARGARET Cho, the out-there comic, is hilarious, vile, horifying – and did I mention hilarious? – when you go to see her in concert.
She so happily stomps beyond the boundaries of acceptable that when you aren’t laughing until soda comes out of your nose, you’re squirming like a fat man with gas in church.
Happily, Cho works in venues where you’re allowed to drink soda, not to mention hard liquor, which is always a big plus.
Now Cho, who was perhaps only one of four entertainers in the world who didn’t have her own reality show, has got one. A reality show I mean.
On the plus side, Cho’s life on “The Cho Show” unlike, say, the tedious reality shows of Gene Simmons, Pam Anderson, Tori and Dean and Denise Richards – who all have to create fake reality to seem even somewhat interesting – has real life characters that make it more interesting to watch. But the problem is there’s nothing here that you haven’t seen before.
Sure, her gay entourage of stylist and makeup artist (“Every dog has its day, every diva has her gay,” Cho sings), her little-person assistant and her Korean parents are more offbeat than, say, Denise Richards’ sad dad, or Gene Simmons’ boring family, but it’s still a far cry from riveting TV. At the end of the day, you’re still watching a celeb get dressed, gossip and moan over her hips.
In Cho’s case, however, she’s also a dirty girl who talks about places on her body you didn’t even know existed. Even though she’s worried that she’s fat, she has no problem whatsoever being naked on stage – or on the show.
On tomorrow’s premiere, she finds out that she’ll be presented as “Korean of the Year” at a big formal dinner. She sets her two stylists against each other to see who can come up with the most outrageous outfit. One choice is to show up naked with a dress painted on her bare skin, which she “wears” for the TV viewers.
Cho’s parents are the best – and have wicked senses of humor themselves. You’d have to have a sense of humor to not jump off a bridge when your little girl gets up in front of a live audience and does those nasty, nasty things to her naked self.
Her assistant, Selene, who is about 2-feet tall and who does a very sexy strip in Cho’s live show, is also good for laughs, going along with Cho’s parents – who are so desperate for Cho to have a baby that they treat this grown woman like a baby granddaughter.
The best part of the show is watching Cho’s standup act. Other than that, I really don’t care to watch someone pick out clothes and talk to her “Glam Squad.”
“The Cho Show”
Tomorrow at 11 p.m. on VH1