Aptly named this year as one of the “50 Best Stand-Up Comics of All Time” by Rolling Stone magazine, five-time Grammy and Emmy nominated comedian, actress, and activist Margaret Cho returned to Warner Theatre Saturday night, blazed and primed to set DC on fire with her signature snarky, razor-sharp wit in her brand new, no-holds barred stand-up touring show: Fresh Off the Bloat.
Cued up with a 20-minute opening act by her best friend and comedienne, Selena Luna, Cho bolted on the stage with renewed verve, donning a multi-blue patterned body suit, an eye-catching gold statement necklace and mega-high wedge platforms, ready to unleash, launching immediately into her synopsis of the headlining news du jour, which may be summed up in her first three words of the night: “Fuckin’ Harvey Weinstein.” The riff is on.
Segueing from Weinstein, Cho delved very openly and candidly into own her personal experience with sexual assault, starting from when she was only five, with seamless shifts to other sensitive topics such as drug usage and addiction, sharing her journey through rehabilitation last year with her friends staging an intervention (she thought she was going to a birthday party and showed up with a bottle of wine).
True to form, as she has for over 30 years now, Cho fearlessly and authentically tackled a wide range of subjects close to her heart, including her family (complete with Cho’s hysterically landmark impersonation/embodiment of her heavily Korean-accented mother, recounting her take on the AIDS epidemic: “Everybody that have AIDS, they die. Except for ugly people. Only ugly people survive AIDS. Because nobody wanna have the sex with the ugly people…”) and gender relations (proudly declaring that she represents the “B” in LGBT), as well as the current state of affairs, but irrespective of political positions, her brisk observations and social commentary get the point across in a way that is uniquely powerful, unparalleled and all her own.
Running Time: Approximately 90 minutes, with no intermission.
Margaret Cho performed on Saturday, October 14, 2017 at The Warner Theatre – 513 13th Street, in Washington, DC. For tickets to all events at The Warner Theatre, purchase them online.
