Margaret Cho headlined the second annual Comedy Funstival Friendstival fundraiser for Los Angeles-based women’s treatment and recovery organization Friendly House on July 29 at the Hollywood Improv.
During her 20-minute set, the “Fire Island” actor weighed in on the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade. “I haven’t menstruated in a while but when I heard that Roe v. Wade was overturned my uterus rose up from its casket looking for an Iron Maiden concert,” she said as the audience erupted with laughter. “My fallopian tubes started popping and locking. I dropped an egg – a dinosaur egg. Anybody my age or older, we have lived with women’s rights, fighting for women’s rights for 50 years. The loss of that right really brought out the Alanis anger…I think we all got our period out of rage.”
Cho also recalled her time competing on “Dancing With the Stars,” a moment that made her parents very proud because of their love of ballroom dancing. “They acted like I was in the fucking Olympics,” she remembered. “They made me food in these little boxes to make sure my nutrition was dialed in and they would sit on the side and watch me rehearse. They were so nervous the whole time watching that they were emoting this low pitch moan only I could hear.”
Fellow contestants included Bristol Palin, daughter of former Republican Gov. Sarah Palin, “I miss those old Republicans. They were really not that bad,” Cho cracked, adding, “I feel so bad. I talked so much shit about them. I apologize to George W. Bush wholeheartedly.”
She continued, “Those old Republicans weren’t as offensive as the ones now. They’re like, ‘All pronouns are patriot!’ — it’s a noun. They should be reading books instead of burning them. I challenge any insurrectionist to spell ‘insurrectionist.’”
Cho also said of Bristol Palin, “I really didn’t like her politics at the time and I talked so much shit because I really don’t like what she stands for. But I also find her really attractive.”
John Salangsang for Variety
Cho addressed her own gender identity. “I’ve never quite felt like a woman or man and I always felt there was something in between so having the option to be different really is a statement to the world saying, ‘I don’t have to be where you want me to be and I am more than what meets my thighs.”
Then she quipped, “I don’t change my pronouns. I’m too old – I’ll forget.”
The lineup for the Friendly House comedy show also included Darrell Hammond, Atsuko Okatsuka, Steven Randolph, Sarah Rose Hyland and Drew Lynch.
