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Cho lays it on
the line: Be true
to yourself

By John Berger
Special to the Star-Bulletin

Margaret Cho in "I'm The One That I Want": At Diamond Head Theatre; a few tickets remain for 10:30 p.m. Friday show, $35 and $45. Call 526-4400

Don't allow others define who you are or what constitutes success for you. Comedian Margaret Cho delivers that empowering message in her one-woman show, "I'm The One That I Want," that opened at Diamond Head Theatre last night. What was originally announced as a one-nighter has been extended through Saturday.

Cho tells her real-life story in harsh and caustic terms. She blends black humor, rage and insight in recalling how she struggled for acceptance and eventually became the first Asian-American comedienne to headline a network television show. Cho was hired to do a show about the experiences of an Asian-American comedienne and her family, and then told that her round face was too full, that she was too fat to play herself in the show and would have too drop a lot of weight fast, and that she "wasn't Asian enough" to satisfy the producers.

It isn't necessary to know anything about the problems Cho survived to enjoy her 90-minute set at DHT, although her subject matter and presentation is not for the squeamish.

Cho quickly got the crowd on her side last night. She followed her remarks about flamboyant fashion industry figure Karl Lagerfeld with an explanation of why "fag hags" are gay men's best friends, and why she is afraid of straight men unless she's been drinking. By the time she explained why she likes "gay porno" and doesn't have to go male strip shows to see men dance naked the crowd would have followed her anywhere.

They roared with laughter when Cho told them that "lesbians love whale watching" and shared a gay male friend's practical how-to-do-it advice regarding a popular sex act.

Cho's impressions of other people added texture to her show. Her impression of her Korean mother was the most vivid, but she also hit home with impressions of various ex-boyfriends, television executives, an ex-manager, and various gay men.

The mood and tempo of the show changed when Cho got into the short life and painful death of her sitcom, "All-American Girl." She tells it as an ugly tale of corporate television in the great cultural wasteland, and speaks frankly of her descent into sex and substance abuse in the aftermath. When "All-American Girl" was canceled, her management stopped taking her calls, and a producer propositioned her in a very crude way during a meeting to discuss a screenplay she had written.

Cho capped the show last night by explaining how she finally realized she didn't have to let others define her personal worth and then promptly resigned "the full time job of being 10 pounds lighter" than was natural or healthy for her.

Cho is defining her life on her own terms and succeeds quite well in making "I'm The One That I Want" inspiring as well as entertaining.

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