The “insanely funny” Margaret Cho (photo credit: Lindsey Byrnes)
In another example of a hot show coming to Wilmington, Margaret Cho hit the duPont Theatre for a midweek stop on her MOTHER comedy tour. Best known for her many television roles over the years (including her Emmy-nominated guest role on “30 Rock” and a featured spot on “Dancing with the Stars,” both of which came up in MOTHER (if you ever wanted to be a fly on the wall when Cho first met Bristol Palin, this is the closest you’ll get). A gay icon, Cho presents a one-woman act not for the intolerant or the easily offended. For the rest of us, MOTHER is insanely funny, with equal-opportunity raunchiness (she’s bisexual, so she comfortably tackles both gay and straight sex).
Make no mistake: this is a gay-friendly show, from its politics (addressing gay rights issues in a serious but lighthearted way) to its observational comedy (poking fun at sexual minorities in a way that only a sexual minority can). But it succeeds without alienating the non-minorities in the audience (unless you count pro-gay Republicans).
The show’s title becomes meaningful when Cho goes back to her roots. She grew up in San Francisco as the only American-born member of a Korean immigrant family led by her thick-accented, slightly eccentric mother. Cho makes fun of her, but it’s clear her mom, who owned a gay bookstore with her dad, shaped her into the fabulous thing she is today. Near the end of the play, Cho considers the idea of motherhood herself. She is not a mother and she’s happy with her life choices.
That’s not what makes this a feel good show though. Cho is relatable and will tell you anything, no matter how gross or shocking, like a true friend.
Opening for Cho is comic Selena Luna, a three-foot-ten-inch burlesque star who is fall-down hilarious and just as blue. They make a great team.
MOTHER
By Margaret Cho
October 9, 2012
DuPont Theatre
The DuPont Building
Wilmington, DE 19801
800.388.0881
http://duponttheatre.com
