From gay cruises to "being raised by drag queens," Margaret Cho has done it all, and she wants students to hear about it.
The comedian performed at Irvine Auditorium to a full house last night as part of the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Center's QPenn week celebrating gay culture.
Cho is as much of an activist as she is a comedian. Last night, she spoke mainly about her anger with the Bush administration and on issues concerning race, gender identity and sexual orientation.
"The people limiting laws about sexuality are the least sexy people," said Cho. "The Bush administration is the least sexy administration ever."
Cho does not define her own sexual orientation, saying that "she is kind of everything."
However, she told a story about her experience on a lesbian cruise to Alaska that sparked a frenzied response from her Korean mother.
"I know lots of gay people; gay people are everywhere -- but not Korea," Cho said, imitating her mother.
She criticized what she termed "the politics of appearance," which caused her to go on a diet of persimmons -- to comic effect.
"We're all fine the way we are," Cho said.
The organizers of QPenn were pleased with Cho's performance.
"I think she really spoke to the diversity that we hoped she'd represent," QPenn co-Chairman and College senior Phil Cochetti said.
Cho, who was born in San Francisco, has opened for Jerry Seinfeld, written a best-selling book and had several successful national tours.
According to College senior and QPenn co-chairwoman Kathy Totoki, Cho's long-standing support for the LGBT community made her an appropriate choice for the QPenn theme of "Diversifying the Q."
"We wanted to bring together a wide variety of audiences who would not usually have come together for a QPenn event," Totoki said. "Cho gets across her political messages with humor, making for an entertaining yet informative forum."
The audience at last night's show was receptive to Cho's message, finding her both funny and politically conscious.
"I've been a fan for six or seven years," Nursing freshman Kristine Villapando said. "She's great to watch because she's very political and speaks her mind."
College freshman Aaron Blacksberg also enjoyed the show.
"I thought it was really good and covered a lot of issues really well," he said. "I'm still digesting it."
