Finally a reason worth ‘coming out’ in Boulder! Margaret Cho, one of the most successful female comedians in America graced our very own Fox Theatre on Tuesday, October 6 in high-style and full force. Gays, goths and various beautiful freaks hiding in the woodwork all seemed to have found the time and cash to make it out to see the diva of delivery, the courtesan of comedy, the queen of queer, Margaret Cho!

A long time fan, I was beside my self when news hit that she was coming to town. Playing two back to back sets in Boulder, very little of her act is quotable in this forum. (It was a 21 + show, as her grand opening gestures quickly clued us into).  With a new musical touch to her standup routine, she had the crowd in stitches before much time had passed and blew away even the most meditative Boulder minds.

Carrying two opening stand-up acts, Ian Harvey and John Roberts they also doubled as her backup band for her musical section, cute comedic songs.   An especially ‘out’ crowd, gay comedian Roberts gauged the crowd by asking who was gay, straight, or transgendered at the beginning of his act, and announced that the straight people would be tolerated.

While I was nervous to hear her sing, especially after hearing her ‘defeat proposition 8’ protest song (great message, but didn’t sound amazing in terms of vocals) her songs impressed the crowd and added a packed punch of delicious hilarity. She even handles her guitar with great sexyness!   My favorite song was a one called “eat sh*t and die” dedicated to the lowest of the low types we sometimes happen on in life.

Using the sword of comedy, no group, gender, or orientation was left un-made fun of.   From body parts to gay men, straight men, lesbians, party girls, and of course, her very own dear mom, Cho spared no ego, including her own. Breaking though stereo-types, not reinforcing them was defiantly on the agenda.  She comments on her Korean ethnicity and discrimination often faced in white-washed America, as well as supporting Queer culture fervently, openly and loudly. Noting a press interview when someone asked how she liked working on Charlie’s Angels, Cho replied, “No I’m the other one, the one on Grey’s Anatomy.”

One excited fan described her as “raw” and claimed he would be blushing is he wasn’t African American.   She is raw, leaving no taboo safe.   Her appeal is to those of us who may not fit into conventional ideals, but have triumphed over them and found our own great inherent beauty, sexiness, and power to just say “screw off” to meanness supported by mainstream, destructive values.

I was at the last of two shows (Boulder demanded another when the early show sold out) and was blown away by her (and her supporting comedian’s) energy. To be in an intimate setting with Ms. Cho, who loves Boulder enough to come back here often, and feel the support of an open audience was better than many a dance party or music show I have seen recently. Comedy is a high art and Cho is a modern day virtuoso, shedding light and laughter into the modern psyche’s embarrassing and smelly cracks.

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