By Trav S.D.
One wondered how long it would take the burlesque revivalists to remember that the form is as much about comedians as exotic dancers. It may be a show-business first that, in her new variety show, The Sensuous Woman, Margaret Cho reveals herself to be both; she spins pasties and one-liners with equal aplomb.
Beyond that, she also proves herself to be something of a bizarro ringmaster. It is not a joke to report that this production contains a naked dwarf, a plus-size dancer pulling streamers out of her ass and a woman flaunting a prosthetic penis. That’s a remarkable comedy show when the most normal-seeming performer on the bill is a transgender comic whose routine is largely about lesbian cunnilingus.
While Cho’s ostensible message is a celebration of difference, you don’t feel hit over the head with this lesson—diversity is simply on display. “Funny” is the bottom line. There’s scarcely an act that isn’t as laugh-provoking as it is outré, from a gay rapper named “Lisp” to YouTube phenom Kelly, who sings a techno song about $300 shoes.
Anchoring it all is Cho herself, who opens the show with a hilarious and raunchy monologue about “Miss Larry Craig’s epic search in the men’s room for dick,” and closes it with a fan dance. A couple of segments of Asian-American shtick remind us how far her act has evolved since the early days, when her material was fairly tame and conventional. Those words could never be applied to The Sensuous Woman.
The Zipper Factory Dir. Randall Rapstine. With Cho and ensemble cast.
Posts Tagged ‘Sensuous Woman’
Timeout New York
“PUTTIN’ ON THE TITS Cho and co bare more than wit”
Monday, October 15th, 2007
Washington Square News
Margaret Cho and friends get a little too ‘Sensuous’
Friday, October 12th, 2007
By ERIC C. MARKOWITZ
“90 minutes of fleshy hilarity that will make you turn to your neighbor and whisper, “Oh my God, is this really happening?”
Throughout Margaret Cho’s career as a stand-up comedian, she has always operated under one guiding principle: If she shocks the hell out of you, you will laugh. Well, that principle stands in “The Sensuous Woman,” which is a wickedly funny, self-proclaimed “burlesque-style variety show.” No stereotype goes unexploited and ridiculed, from hot Latino cleaning ladies to Cho’s nasal impression of her own Korean mother.
The central theme of the show according to Cho, however, is much more personal and deep. “I have suffered from eating disorders and a horrendously distorted body image for my entire life and I think the biggest reason is a lack of images of real women’s bodies,” Cho said about the show’s inspiration.
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Rosie
Friday, October 12th, 2007Rosie came to our show and then we went to her art opening. Simply amazing paintings…she is such an incredible artist.
I just finished her book “Celebrity Detox.” I loved it, a deeply moving and fascinating read. I don’t know how she has time to do it all! She is an inspiration!!!!!
Chelsea Now
Margaret Cho unzips at the Zipper Factory ‘The Sensuous Woman’ is not for the uptight
Thursday, October 11th, 2007
By WILL McKINLEY
“With Cho as mistress of ceremonies, “The Sensuous Woman” feels like a variety show from the Golden Age of Television, only dirtier and gayer.”
If you enjoyed Janet Jackson’s performance at the Super Bowl a few years back, you’ll love Margaret Cho’s new burlesque show “The Sensuous Woman,” now playing at the Zipper Factory. It’s two hours of wardrobe malfunctions — all of them intentional.
“This show is about showing the body in all of its glory,” Cho proclaimed (or perhaps warned), as she took the stage for a recent performance. And she wasn’t kidding. For the next two hours, the San Francisco-bred comic and a collection of gay, lesbian and transgendered performers staged a sex-positive celebration of gender identity — or lack thereof. There was music, comedy, dance, parody and a few things that truly defy categorization. And there was nudity. Oh yes, there was nudity.
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Broadwayworld
Margaret Cho’s The Sensuous Woman: Good Clean Sex
Thursday, October 11th, 2007
By MICHAEL DALE
“….a happy and healthy dose of body positive antics that are so sweet, silly and approachable you can have a great time while completely forgetting to be aroused.”
“I always wanted to do Donny and Marie… at the same time,” says Margaret Cho at the top of her Off-Broadway revue, The Sensuous Woman. And though the cheery ninety minute spectacle contains no hot Osmond action, her sex-centric variety show, featuring a cast of burlesque performers and out-of-the-mainstream comics, is still, in a sense, very wholesome. This isn’t sex presented to shock or titillate. No, stripped of its mystery and eroticism, Cho and her troupe give us a happy and healthy dose of body positive antics that are so sweet, silly and approachable you can have a great time while completely forgetting to be aroused.
Entering through a chorus of fan dancers (directed by Randall Rapstine and choreographed by Kitty McNamee), Cho’s opening monologue riffs on the usual gang of celebrities (Britney Spears, Larry Craig, Ann Coulter, O.J. Simpson et. al.), giving the lightest of insight on world politics (”The Middle East is so fucked up!”) before addressing her own sexual preferences, sexual practices and body issues. She then turns much of the evening over to her guest stars, whose performances range from smile-worthy to very funny to just delightful.
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SF Gate
ASIAN POP: New Tricks
Wednesday, October 10th, 2007
By JEFF YANG| Special to SF Gate
“Cho’s goal isn’t in delivering a party line, but in lining up a party that delivers — and “The Sensuous Woman” does”
Comedian, blogger, activist, entrepreneur — exotic dancer? Jeff Yang catches up with renaissance girl Margaret Cho as she trades in standup for set of pasties and a cavalcade of scantily-clad studs and vixens in her new alt-burlesque traveling show, “The Sensuous Woman”
The scene: The Zipper Factory, a Manhattan midtown-west cabaret lounge whose decor is a psychedelic blend of Weimar Republic languor and zesty queerotica. It’s late, well past the do-you-know-where-your-children-are hour, and the butts in the theater’s seats are mostly male, tanned, waxed, and gymmed to perfection. Pulling back the tatty velvet curtain, Margaret Cho steps onto the stage, her face a Cheshire mask, a sly smile tweaking her lips. Flexing the mike like she’s wringing a neck, she shouts out, “It’s Margaret, bitch!”
And all us bitches cheer, like the bitches we are.
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