Comedian Margaret Cho Announces “Fresh Off The Bloat” Tour and New TNT Pilot “Highland”

Margaret Cho Set To Introduce Her Newest Stand-Up Comedy Material On Upcoming
“Fresh Off The Bloat Tour”

Tickets Go On Sale July 21 Via http://margaretcho.com/tour/

TNT Order New Comedic Drama “Highlands” Starring Margaret Cho To Pilot.

Five time Grammy & Emmy nominated comedian Margaret Cho has much to celebrate as she was recently named one of Rolling Stone magazine’s 50 Best Stand-Up Comics of All Time and is set to launch what is sure to be her sickest stand-up comedy show to date this fall. A pioneer amongst women in comedy, Margaret doesn’t take anything for granted as she continues to tackle difficult subjects with sensitivity and her razor sharp insight with her takes on addiction, abuse, activism and Asianness. It’s all about the politics of disgust and what is disgusting about politics. Aptly titled, “Fresh Off The Bloat,” Margaret says, ““Fresh Off The Bloat” is my sickest show to date. My grandmother said “You look like bloated as if you’ve been found dead in a lake after several days of searching.” Koreans are the most savage of all the Asians. My new show is all about being fresh off drugs and drinking and suicide and coming back to life – finally fished out of the river Styx. It’s meta. It’s magical. It’s me.”

The initial “Fresh Off The Bloat” tour dates go on sale Friday, July 21 here: http://margaretcho.com/tour/ – Please note that the December 6 show in Belgium will go on sale July 20. Additional dates to be announced in the coming weeks.

Margaret’s new TV project Highland has been picked up for pilot by TNT Network. Highland will chronicle what happens when two extended, dysfunctional Korean-American families who share the same patriarch must come together after tragedy strikes. As it turns out, the most reliable person in both families is the one who just got out of rehab.
“Executive producer Liz Sarnoff (Lost,Barry) and Margaret Cho’s brilliant script exposes Margaret’s warm heart and bracing humor, balancing powerful emotional truths with laugh-out-loud scenes and characters,” said Sarah Aubrey, executive vice president of original programming for TNT. “Highland continues TNT’s commitment to bringing diverse voices and worlds to television. We look forward to making a pilot with such a singular talent as Margaret Cho.”

“Fresh Off The Bloat” Tour Dates
9/23/2017 Chicago Theatre Chicago, IL
9/24/2017 Orpheum Theater – Stage Door Madison, WI
9/29/2017 Sands Bethlehem Events Center Bethlehem, PA
10/5/2017 The Wiltern Theater Los Angeles, CA, USA
10/12/2017 2 SHOWS, Gramercy Theatre New York, NY, USA
10/14/2017 Warner Theatre Washington, DC, USA
10/21/2017 2 SHOWS, Castro Theatre San Francisco, CA, USA
11/5/2017 The Fillmore Philadelphia, PA
11/25/2017 Queens Hall Edinburgh, UK
11/26/2017 Tivoli Theatre Dublin, Ireland
11/28/2017 St. George’s Hall Bristol, UK
11/29/2017 Glee Club Birmingham, UK
11/30/2017 The Lowry Manchester, UK
12/1/2017 Academy Sheffield, UK
12/2/2017 Brighton Concert Hall Brighton, UK
12/4/2017 De Meervaart Amsterdam, Netherlands (ON SALE 20 JULY)
12/6/2017 Zuiderpershuis Antwerp, Belgium
12/8/2017 Bremen Copenhagen, Denmark
12/10/2017 Shepherd’s Bush Empire London, UK
12/12/2017 Latter Oslo, Norway

 

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Comedian Margaret Cho discusses her new album “American Myth”

Actress/Musician/Comedian Margaret Cho is set to release her second music album titled “American Myth” on April 29th. The album is the follow up to her 2010 debut release “Cho Dependent” which help add musician to the artists already impressive skill set. Media Mikes had the chance to speak with Margaret recently about the new album, her current project with Amazon.com and about just what happened at The Stress Factory on March 26th.

Adam Lawton: Can you give us some background on your new music album “American Myth”

Margaret Cho: I always write music as it’s something I enjoy and is a part of my life. I worked on a majority of the album with Garrison Starr who is a really great artist and someone I have worked with before. She came down to right with me while I was living in Atlanta and I also had a few sketches of songs that I had done on my own. This is the first record where I actually did all the melodies and composed the pieces. I had never done that in the past which made things really exciting. I think the album is really beautiful.

AL: A lot of the song lyrics seem to be very personal. Can you tell us about writing from that perspective?

MC: A lot of the songs on the album deal with loss and compassion. They deal with a lot of human emotions. The songs are very anthemic as I appreciate a good rock anthem. I also did a memorial song on this album titled “Anna Nicole” which is about Anna Nicole Smith. We recently shot a video for this song as well which feature a variety of Anna Nicole impersonators running around a castle. This will be the third video for a song off the new album as I also did videos for “Come With Me” and “Kill My Rapist”. It was a lot of fun running around a castle filled with hundreds of Anna Nicole impersonators.

AL: What was it about releasing a music album that was more appealing than say a new comedy album from your recently aired comedy special?

MC: The stand show album will be coming out as part of the DVD release of the special. That’s something that will generally always come out. The music album is a very different undertaking. It is something that is very personal to me. Stand Up comedy is also very personal but music is a different part of my work.

AL: Over the past few years you have become very involved with bringing attention to homelessness in various cities here in the U.S. Can you tell us how you got involved in that?

MC: The “Be Robin” events are kind of a way for me to honor the life of Robin Williams and to be an advocate for the homeless population. We have events going on all the time in lots of different cities. I can’t always be at the events because of my schedule but we try to have them whenever I have the chance. They end up just being these big, crazy, fun events. There is actually a documentary about this as well which has been sort of a way for us to bring closure to the grief caused from his passing.

AL: What other projects are you currently working on?

MC: I am working on a pilot for Amazon right now called “Highlands”. The show is a comedy/drama about an Asian-American family involved in the marijuana business. I am working with Liz Sarnoff who has worked on “Lost” and “Deadwood”. She is a real genius. We just finished the script and start shooting soon. Everyone at Amazon has been really wonderful as they let the artist be themselves. They have really given a lot of creative freedom to the project which I feel has been priceless.

AL: You have quite a few live dates lined up can you tell us about those and also give us an update on the recent incident that occurred during your show at

MC: I will be in Detroit during the middle of April and then in Nashville at the beginning of May. As for what happened recently at the Stress Factory Comedy Club I speak about a lot of personal things in my shows. I talk about rape and sexual abuse because I feel it’s important to discuss those things. We are living in an age where as a survivor you don’t have to stay silent. That sometimes can be very confrontational to people and an audience. It can be very upsetting. Some jokes are meant to make you laugh while others are to make you think. As comedians we try to wake people up so there is this weird thing when people get angry but that’s part of the great arc of comedy. I am going to be going back to the Stress Factory for a makeup show with those who were there. I want to do a reenactment of what happened and talk to the audience members about why they got upset. (Laughs) It would be fun to bring in Dr. Phil to moderate. I love comedy so much and don’t want to hurt it or the Stress Factory as it is a really important venue in that it’s an independent club owned by comedians. The place is like a dojo and holy to me so I want to invite everyone back and to work this out. We will buy them dinner and drinks and allow them to have a conversation with one another. I think it could be very funny.

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Margaret Kerry reflects on modeling for Tinker Bell in Disney’s "Peter Pan"

Margaret Kerry is known best for her role as the live-action reference model for Tinker Bell in Walt Disney’s animated feature, “Peter Pan”. She also worked as the live-action reference model for the Red-Headed Mermaid in the lagoon sequence. With Disney’s “Peter Pan” being recently released on Blu-ray, Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Margaret about her role in the film and working with Walt Disney himself.

MG: How did you end up working as the model for Tinker Bell in the Walt Disney Pictures animated feature, “Peter Pan”?
MK: It may sound like I am going too far back but it is really not. I was adopted when I was 3 1/2 years old by this wonderful couple that were old enough to be my grandparents. They had no idea what to do with a tiny kid. They thought that I cute as a button and talented, so they started training me in acting. I got into Central Casting and I started working at 4 years old. I started in a movie called “A Midsummer’s Night Dream” and I made $8.50 a day, which was a lot then. So my mother became a “Hollywood mother”, but she really wasn’t very good at it [laughs]. I remember the first time I walked onto Warner Bros lot, it was terrifying. I worked with Meglin Kiddies, which is the group that MGM hired for their films. Producer Al Burton started out and put me down as a co-host of a local show where we found talented high school kids and put them on the show. At the same time, I was working in radio and was cast as the eldest sister on “The Ruggles”. I also had done the Eddie Cantor movie “If You Knew Susie” and you can see me on YouTube dancing up a storm. Next, I got hired to do a movie at Fox. So while, I was working at Fox I got the call if I wanted to try out for the reference model of Tinker Bell. Also while I was working at Fox, I was with a choreographer named Roland Dupree, whom I ended up getting him the reference model for the character Peter Pan. So all come around that is how it happened.

MG: Can you reflect on your experience working with the legendary Walt Disney?
MK: I have worked at almost every studio in town by the time I was working at Fox. So I was pretty well-versed at what studios were like. When I got the call from my agent that I might have a chance at working at Disney Studios, Michael I can’t tell you how exciting that was. During those times, Disney was the premiere studio to work with. It was just thrilling. In fact, I was just there a few days ago and it is still just as thrilling. Everything is for the employees. Creativity is blessed there. And Mr. Disney himself was just great. You will see in my book (more on that below) photo archives found two photos with him working on the same sound-stage as Buddy Ebsen. He would then come over and chat with Marc Davis, who was the animation director of “Peter Pan” and I got to chat with him at least five times. There were people who worked in the studio for over a year and never even met Walt. So I was so fortunate. I went to school with both of his daughters at Monticello School for Girls, while they were there for a short period. So I spoke to him about that and it was like I was the only person in the whole world. It was such a great experience.

MG:How long did you work on the film?
MK: It was about 9 months. But I wasn’t there every day. I also voiced the red haired mermaid in the lagoon along with June Foray and Connie Hilton. I said lines like “Oh Peter, we just wanted to drown her.” We also did the live-action work and had our legs bounded together and we had to slither around. It was just fabulous.

MG:Where you ever approached to model for any other Disney films after “Peter Pan”?
MK: I got married and had a family. When I met Jodi Benson, from “The Little Mermaid”, I told her that I was the great-great-grandmother of Ariel and we had a great laugh. But I ended up going into voice over. I speak 21 different dialects and 48 different voices. So I worked on shows like “Clutch Cargo” and “Space Angels”. So my primary focus was voice-over and radio. But they keep calling me back each time they re-release “Peter Pan”.

MG: Tell us about your autobiography “Tinker Bell Talks: Tales of a Pixie Dusted Life”?
MK: I am shooting for Valentine’s Day 2013, but of course you never know what can happen with printers. There are 110 chapters, none of which are over six pages. There are 80 photos and some really fun stories. Did you know I produced an animation short for George Clinton from Parliament-Funkadelic. In 10 days, I produced seven minutes of animation for one of their concerts. There is a funny story about that because this as well.  Since my boss (at the time) did not get the cash for the animation when it was delivered, I had to go and track down this group of people on the Sunset Strip. There are all these very tall black men around me and I am only 5’2 [laughs]. I walked up to them looking to get paid. We had a great laugh and they were such nice people. Those are the some of the stories included. It has been great fun to work on.

 

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Interview with Margaret Cho

Margaret Cho has been involved in a variety of projects throughout her career. Margaret started out as a standup comedian eventually bridging into television and movies. Margaret currently plays the role of Teri Lee on the show “Drop Dead Diva” and recently appeared on “Dancing with the Stars”. Media Mikes had a chance recently to talk with Margaret about working on the shows and what she has planned for 2012.

Adam Lawton: Can you tell us about your experience working on “Dancing with the Stars”?
Margaret Cho: It was pretty tough. I am not a particularly competitive person and I was also touring at the same time we were shooting. The whole time we were shooting I was trying to think of ways to disqualify myself without people knowing. (Laughs) I knew they weren’t going to drug test me so that idea was out. (Laughs) I had a good time hanging out with everyone but over all it’s not really fun or anything. I attended many tapings of this season to cheer on Ricki Lake, Carson Kressley and Chaz Bono. In general it’s pretty tough. Every time I go and watch it’s a real relief to know that I don’t have to dance.

AL: What were the rehearsals like?
MC: I have danced all over the world as I do burlesque and belly dancing. I really enjoy dancing. The schedule was very intense and I was out on the road touring. My partner would meet me on my bus and we would end up dancing in places like laundry rooms. We would show up to the tapings in the morning after sleeping on the road and it was just very difficult to manage.

AL: Do you prefer doing television and films over stand up these days?
MC: I love it all. I will always do standup comedy but I do love acting as well. I think it’s really amazing to be able to transform into different people. Ultimately standup comedy is my true passion. I also like doing music as part of my comedy as well.

AL: Recently you have started performing more music. What was it that really sparked your interest in doing so?
MC: I have been going to shows and have been around musicians for as long as I have been doing comedy. I think comics often become very close to musicians because of our similar life styles. I wanted to do a project that involved that side of my life with people that I really love to work with. That’s how my record was made.

AL: Can you tell us the story behind your love of tattoos?
MC: The people who worked for my father at his book store when I was growing up were all getting tattooed in major ways by people such as Ed Hardy. When I was 12 I didn’t have friends so the workers would tell my dad that if I ever got tattooed I would have friends. That kind of stuck with me my whole life. I started getting tattooed rather later in life around when I was 35. I knew that I was always going get tattooed. I am pretty much completely tattooed now except for the areas you see on camera. I have a great love for artists in the genre and I am good friends with a lot of them. I find it very pleasurable to get tattooed.

AL: Can you tell us about your recent appearance on “30 Rock”?
MC: I played Kim Jong-IL. Tina Fey and I have a lot of friends in common and it was really nice to meet her. I love the show so it was a nice thing to be able to do and a great honor. I have always wanted to play Kim Jong-IL as oddly enough I really sort of look like him. I had a great time playing that role however I was very stressed at the same time. There really is no way of hearing what he sounded like because of his image being so tightly controlled. It was tough so I based him on my mother. (Laughs) It was bitter sweet to play him. The only representative of that country that we have is him which is very disturbing.

AL: Can you tell us about working on “Drop Dead Diva”?
MC: I love it! It’s so fun and the cast is really close. I am very proud to be a part of the show. I’m not sure what’s going to happen on the upcoming season but I am curious to see how things will play out. The new season should start airing around June.

AL: What type of plans do you have for 2012?
MC: I will be going back to work on “Drop Dead Diva” starting in February. When I am doing shooting I am going to be doing a few tour dates. Near the end of the year I will be going back to England for some time before I return to Atlanta. Things will be pretty busy. Filming for “Drop Dead Diva” takes up a lot of my time so I have to cram a lot of things into the year’s end. But I love working on that show.

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