She’s an American girl

Margaret Cho

Performances through Saturday night

The Pittsburgh Improv

(412) 462-5233… Margaret Cho

Performances through Saturday night

The Pittsburgh Improv

(412) 462-5233

If you missed “The Notorious C.H.O.” when it was in theaters, don’t worry, you can rent it on DVD. No membership to a video store? You’re in luck! You can catch comedienne Margaret Cho this weekend at The Pittsburgh IMPROV for a live performance that will surely be better than anything you can watch while wearing pajamas in your apartment.

Cho has been performing stand-up comedy since the age of 16, and her career quickly took off when she won a spot opening for Jerry Seinfeld. Cho’s career continued as she starred in the ABC sitcom, “All-American Girl.” The television show lived a short life, but Cho looks back on the experience fondly.

In 1999, Cho had an off-Broadway show, “I’m The One That I Want,” that proved to be a huge success and was later made into a movie. Her latest movie, “The Notorious C.H.O.,” was released in theaters last year and Cho was once again warmly embraced by her fans.

In a phone interview, Cho said she characterizes her job as “a good job to have when you’re completely into having fun; it’s a good way to get rid of pent up [feelings].” Cho certainly uses her performances as a release, discussing everything from death to sexuality to politics. She is known for her blunt, edgy and uninhibited style, disregarding the taboos on such issues as homosexuality.

She feels it is perfectly natural to discuss every aspect of her life in her performances. “Everybody has to deal with painful things and sad things,” she said. “Happiness can’t exist without sadness.”

Cho has been pushing the proverbial envelope from the start, shocking and delighting audiences with her candor.

“I’m certainly given a lot more leeway in what I’m able to talk about [now that I am more successful],” she said. “I think that people are really more willing to let me feel OK about who I am and what I do. I’m really lucky that way.”

Regardless of people’s reactions, Cho will continue to talk honestly about her life. As of now, “people are really considerate. I don’t have any sense that there’s any kind of negativity about what I do. I think that it’s a really nice way to be able to work as an artist and people are really respectful.”

Cho is often characterized by any number of the minority groups in which she falls, and she addresses this within her shows.

“If I don’t address it, it’s weird,” she said. “It’s strange; for some reason minority artists have to do work that speaks to their situation (to their race, to their sexuality, to their gender). It’s unfair because in a sense, why can’t we just be a part of the secular world and be able to talk about anything we want to? For some reason the only way to validate ourselves is talk about who we are.”

On the other hand, Cho’s verbal recognitions of her race, sexuality and gender often earns her fans. Many of Cho’s staunch supporters also view her as a role model.

“I really enjoy it,” she said. “I don’t think that there’s any pressure involved in it. I feel very fortunate and it’s very exciting just to be able to be understood and to be completely agreed with. It’s a good feeling.”

Cho is not only open about her personal life, but she reveals her political views on many subjects as well.

“I think my political views are very apparent. To me, what I do is not conservative by any means. I just talk honestly about my life, and politics can really involve every part of your existence. Politics affects relationships, politics affects the way that we interact with each other in the world, it’s really important that we understand that.”

As well as addressing numerous personal and political issues through her comedy, Cho also manages to crack up a crowd. So if you’re looking for a night of belly-aching, knee-slapping laughter, The Pittsburgh Improv is the place to be this weekend. Don’t miss it.