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Category, plural categories, may refer to:

Philosophy and Cognitive Science[link]

• Category of being
• Categories (Aristotle)
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• For categories in cognitive science, see categorization

Mathematics[link]

• Category (mathematics)
• Abelian category
• Category of abelian groups
• Category of sets
• Category (topology) in the context of Baire spaces
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• Lyusternik–Schnirelmann category, sometimes called LS-category or simply category
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Games[link]

• Category (chess tournament)

Computer programming[link]

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Network cabling[link]

• Networking Cable: CAT (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5e, 6, 6a)

Other[link]

• Pregnancy category
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Thalia, muse of comedy, holding a comic mask - detail of “Muses Sarcophagus”, the nine Muses and their attributes; marble, early second century AD, Via Ostiense - Louvre

Charlie Chaplin

Comedy (from the Greek: κωμῳδία, kōmōidía), as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in Ancient Greece. In the Athenian democracy, the public opinion of voters was remarkably influenced by the political satire performed by the comic poets at the theaters.^[1] The theatrical genre can be simply described as a dramatic performance which pits two societies against each other in an amusing agon or conflict. Northrop Frye famously depicted these two opposing sides as a "Society of Youth" and a "Society of the Old",^[2] but this dichotomy is seldom described as an entirely satisfactory explanation. A later view characterizes the essential agon of comedy as a struggle between a relatively powerless youth and the societal conventions that pose obstacles to his hopes; in this sense, the youth is understood to be constrained by his lack of social authority, and is left with little choice but to take recourse to ruses which engender very dramatic irony which provokes laughter.^[3]

Satire and political satire use ironic comedy to portray persons or social institutions as ridiculous or corrupt, thus alienating their audience from the object of humor. Satire is a type of comedy. Parody borrows the form of some popular genre, artwork, or text but uses certain ironic changes to critique that form from within (though not necessarily in a condemning way). Screwball comedy derives its humor largely from bizarre, surprising (and improbable) situations or characters. Black comedy is defined by dark humor that makes light of so called dark or evil elements in human nature. Similarly scatological humor, sexual humor, and race humor create comedy by violating social conventions or taboos in comic ways. A comedy of manners typically takes as its subject a particular part of society (usually upper class society) and uses humor to parody or satirize the behavior and mannerisms of its members. Romantic comedy is a popular genre that depicts burgeoning romance in humorous terms, and focuses on the foibles of those who are falling in love.

Etymology[link]

Tragic Comic Masks of Ancient Greek Theatre represented in the Hadrian's Villa mosaic.

The word "comedy" is derived from the Classical Greek κωμῳδία kōmōidía, which is a compound either of κῶμος kômos (revel) or κώμη kṓmē (village) and ᾠδή ōidḗ (singing); it is possible that κῶμος itself is derived from κώμη, and originally meant a village revel. The adjective "comic" (Greek κωμικός kōmikós), which strictly means that which relates to comedy is, in modern usage, generally confined to the sense of "laughter-provoking".^[4] Of this, the word came into modern usage through the Latin comoedia and Italian commedia and has, over time, passed through various shades of meaning.^[5]

Greeks and Romans confined the word "comedy" to descriptions of stage-plays with happy endings. In the Middle Ages, the term expanded to include narrative poems with happy endings and a lighter tone. In this sense Dante used the term in the title of his poem, La Commedia. As time progressed, the word came more and more to be associated with any sort of performance intended to cause laughter.^[5] During the Middle Ages, the term "comedy" became synonymous with satire, and later humour in general, after Aristotle's Poetics was translated into Arabic in the medieval Islamic world, where it was elaborated upon by Arabic writers and Islamic philosophers, such as Abu Bischr, his pupil Al-Farabi, Avicenna, and Averroes. Due to cultural differences, they disassociated comedy from Greek dramatic representation and instead identified it with Arabic poetic themes and forms, such as hija (satirical poetry). They viewed comedy as simply the "art of reprehension", and made no reference to light and cheerful events, or troublous beginnings and happy endings, associated with classical Greek comedy. After the Latin translations of the 12th century, the term "comedy" thus gained a more general semantic meaning in medieval literature.^[6]

In the late 20th century, emerged among scholars the tendency to pragmatically prefer the term laughter to comprehensively refer to the whole gamut of the comic, to avoid the classification in ambiguous and problematically defined genres and fields like humour, grotesque, irony, and satire.^[7][8]

History[link]

Dionysiac origins and Aristophanes[link]

A satyr masturbating. Detail of side B of a Greek column krater showing two satyrs and a maenad in a Dionysiac scene.

Starting from 425 BCE, Aristophanes, a comic playwright and satirical author of the Ancient Greek Theater wrote 40 comedies, 11 of which survive and are still being performed. Aristophanes developed his type of comedy from the earlier satyr plays, which were shamelessly obscene.^[9] Of the satyr plays only survive examples by Euripides which are not representative of the genre.^[10] In ancient Greece, comedy originated in bawdy and ribald songs or recitations apropos of phallic processions and fertility festivals or gatherings.^[11]

Around 335 BCE, philosopher Aristotle, in his work Poetics, stated that comedy originated in Phallic processions and the light treatment of the otherwise base and ugly. He also adds that the origins of comedy are obscure because it was not treated seriously from its inception.^[12] That said, comedy had its own Muse: Thalia.

Also in Poetics, Aristotle defined Comedy as one of the original four genres of literature. The other three genres are tragedy, epic poetry, and lyric poetry. Literature in general is defined by Aristotle as a mimesis, or imitation of life. Comedy is the third form of literature, being the most divorced from a true mimesis. Tragedy is the truest mimesis, followed by epic poetry, comedy and lyric poetry. The genre of comedy is defined by a certain pattern according to Aristotle's definition. Comedies begin with low or base characters seeking insignificant aims, and end with some accomplishment of the aims which either lightens the initial baseness or reveals the insignificance of the aims. A modern application of this theory would be the story the "ugly" guy who goes about things the wrong way, but in the end wins the "pretty" girl. Comedies usually also have elements of the supernatural, typically magic and, for the Ancient Greeks, the gods. Comedy includes the unrealistic in order to portray the realistic. For the Greeks, all comedies ended happily which is opposite of tragedy, which ends sadly.

In ancient Sanskrit drama[link]

After 200 BCE, in ancient Sanskrit drama, Bharata Muni's Natya Shastra defined humour (hāsyam) as one of the nine nava rasas, or principle rasas (emotional responses), which can be inspired in the audience by bhavas, the imitations of emotions that the actors perform. Each rasa was associated with a specific bhavas portrayed on stage. In the case of humour, it was associated with mirth (hasya).

Shakespearean and Elizabethan comedy[link]

Title page of the first quarto of Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream (1600)

"Comedy", in its Elizabethan usage, had a very different meaning from modern comedy. A Shakespearean comedy is one that has a happy ending, usually involving marriages between the unmarried characters, and a tone and style that is more light-hearted than Shakespeare's other plays.^[13]

After the 19th century[link]

Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis (ca. 1950)

Rowan Atkinson as Mr. Bean

Jackie Chan at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival

Popov the Clown in 2009

Barry Humphries in character in London as "Dame Edna Everage" on the day of the 2011 Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton

The advent of cinema in the late 19th century, and later radio and television in the 20th century broadened the access of comedians to the general public. Charlie Chaplin, through silent film, became one of the best known faces on earth. The silent tradition lived on well in to the 20th century through mime artists like Marcel Marceau, and the physical comedy of artists like Rowan Atkinson as Mr Bean. The tradition of the circus clown also continued, with such as Bozo the Clown in the United States and Oleg Popov in Russia. Radio provided new possibilities - with Britain producing the influential Goon Show after the Second World War. American cinema has produced a great number of globally renowned comedy artists, from Laurel and Hardy, the Three Stooges, Abbott and Costello, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, as well as Bob Hope during the mid-20th century, to performers like George Carlin, Robin Williams, and Eddie Murphy at the end of the century. Hollywood attracted many international talents like Canadian comics Dan Aykroyd, Jim Carrey, and Mike Myers. Among the most successful non-Hollywood comics was Australian comedian Paul Hogan in character as Crocodile Dundee. Other centres of creative comic activity have been the cinema of Hong Kong, Bollywood, and French farce.

American television has also been an influential force in world comedy: with American series like M*A*S*H, Seinfeld and The Simpsons achieving large followings around the world. British television comedy also remains influential, with quintessential works including Fawlty Towers, Monty Python, Dad's Army, Blackadder, and The Office. Australian satirist Barry Humphries, whose comic creations include the housewife and "gigastar" Dame Edna Everage, For his delivery of Dadaist and absurdist humour to millions, was described by biographer Anne Pender in 2010 as not only "the most significant theatrical figure of our time … [but] the most significant comedian to emerge since Charlie Chaplin".^[14]

Studies on the theory of the comic[link]

The phenomena connected with laughter and that which provokes it have been carefully investigated by psychologists. They agreed the predominant characteristics are incongruity or contrast in the object and shock or emotional seizure on the part of the subject. It has also been held that the feeling of superiority is an essential factor: thus Thomas Hobbes speaks of laughter as a "sudden glory". Modern investigators have paid much attention to the origin both of laughter and of smiling, as well as the development of the "play instinct" and its emotional expression.

George Meredith, Essay on Comedy, said that "One excellent test of the civilization of a country ... I take to be the flourishing of the Comic idea and Comedy; and the test of true Comedy is that it shall awaken thoughtful laughter." Laughter is said to be the cure to being sick. Studies show that people who laugh more often get sick less.^[15][16]

Forms[link]

Comedy may be divided into multiple genres based on the source of humor, the method of delivery, and the context in which it is delivered. The different forms often overlap, and most comedy can fit into multiple genres. Some of the sub-genres of comedy are farce, comedy of manners, burlesque, and satire.

Performing arts[link]

This section is in a list format that may be better presented using prose. You can help by converting this section to prose, if appropriate. Editing help is available. (April 2008)

Historical forms[link]

• Ancient Greek comedy, as practiced by Aristophanes and Menander
• Ancient Roman comedy, as practiced by Plautus and Terence
• Burlesque, from Music hall and Vaudeville to Performance art
• Citizen comedy, as practiced by Thomas Dekker, Thomas Middleton and Ben Jonson
• Clowns such as Richard Tarlton, William Kempe, and Robert Armin
• Comedy of humours, as practiced by Ben Jonson and George Chapman
• Comedy of intrigue, as practiced by Niccolò Machiavelli and Lope de Vega
• Comedy of manners, as practiced by Molière, William Wycherley and William Congreve
• Comedy of menace, as practiced by David Campton and Harold Pinter
• comédie larmoyante or 'tearful comedy', as practiced by Pierre-Claude Nivelle de La Chaussée and Louis-Sébastien Mercier
• Commedia dell'arte, as practiced in the twentieth-century by Dario Fo, Vsevolod Meyerhold, and Jacques Copeau
• Farce, from Georges Feydeau to Joe Orton and Alan Ayckbourn
• Jester
• Laughing comedy, as practiced by Oliver Goldsmith and Richard Brinsley Sheridan
• Restoration comedy, as practiced by George Etherege, Aphra Behn and John Vanbrugh
• Sentimental comedy, as practiced by Colley Cibber and Richard Steele
• Shakespearean comedy, as practiced by William Shakespeare
• Stand-up comedy
• Dadaist and Surrealist performance, usually in cabaret form
• Theatre of the Absurd, used by some critics to describe Samuel Beckett, Harold Pinter, Jean Genet and Eugène Ionesco^[17]
• Sketch comedy

Plays[link]

• Comic theatre
  • Musical comedy and palace

Opera[link]

• Comic opera

Improvisational comedy[link]

• Improvisational theatre
• Bouffon comedy
• Clowns

Joke[link]

• One-liner joke
• Blonde jokes
• Shaggy-dog story
• Paddy Irishman joke

Stand-up comedy[link]

Stand-up comedy is a mode of comic performance in which the performer addresses the audience directly, usually speaking in their own person rather than as a dramatic character.

• Impressionist (entertainment)
• Alternative comedy
• Comedy club
• Comedy albums

Events and awards[link]

• British Comedy Awards
• Canadian Comedy Awards
• Cat Laughs Comedy Festival
• The Comedy Festival, in Aspen, formerly the HBO Comedy Arts Festival
• Comedy Walk, monthly comedy festival in Los Angeles
• Edinburgh Festival Fringe
• Edinburgh Comedy Festival
• Halifax Comedy Festival
• Just for laughs festival
• Leicester Comedy Festival
• Melbourne International Comedy Festival
• New Zealand International Comedy Festival
• New York Underground Comedy Festival
• HK International Comedy Festival
• Vancouver Comedy Festival

List of comedians[link]

• List of stand-up comedians
• List of musical comedians
• List of Australian comedians
• List of British comedians
• List of Canadian comedians
• List of Finnish comedians
• List of German language comedians
• List of Indian comedians
• List of Italian comedians
• List of Mexican comedians
• List of Puerto Rican comedians

Mass media[link]

This section is in a list format that may be better presented using prose. You can help by converting this section to prose, if appropriate. Editing help is available. (April 2008)

Literature[link]

This section requires expansion.

• Comic novel
• Light poetry

Film[link]

• Comedy film
  • Anarchic comedy film
  • Gross-out film
  • Parody film
  • Romantic comedy film
  • Screwball comedy film
  • Slapstick film

Television and radio[link]

• Television comedy
  • Situation comedy
• Radio comedy

Lists of comedy television programs[link]

• British sitcom
• British comedy
• Comedy Central - A television channel devoted strictly to comedy.
• German television comedy
• List of British TV shows remade for the American market
• Paramount Comedy (Spain).
• Paramount Comedy 1 and 2.
• TBS (TV network)
• The Comedy Channel (Australia)
• The Comedy Channel (UK)
• The Comedy Channel (USA) not to be confused with HA! - channels that have merged into Comedy Central.
• The Comedy Network, a Canadian TV channel.
• G.O.L.D

See also[link]

Comedy portal

• List of comedies
• Humour
• List of genres

References[link]

This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (April 2010)

Footnotes[link]

Notations[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Comedy

Wikiversity has learning materials about Collaborative_play_writing

Wikisource has the text of the 1920 Encyclopedia Americana article Comedy.

• Comedy at the Open Directory Project
• A Vocabulary for Comedy from a professor at Dallas Baptist University

Shari Headley (born July 15, 1964) is an American actress. Headley made her acting debut on The Cosby Show in 1985. Her career has mostly focused on television acting; she is perhaps best known for portraying police officer Mimi Reed Frye Williams on the soap opera All My Children from May 1991 to April 1994, in February 1995 and from June 2005 until her final appearance on October 14, 2005. She has also acted occasionally on the big-screen, and is known for her role as Lisa McDowell, Eddie Murphy's love interest, in the 1988 comedy film Coming to America.

Headley co-starred in an episode of Miami Vice in 1984 and on The Cover Girl episode of Andy Griffith's Matlock series on November 20, 1990. In 1997, she had a leading role in the short-lived FOX ensemble drama 413 Hope St. Headley made a cameo appearance in Will Smith's "Wild Wild West" music video and also starred in Blackstreet's video "Before I Let You Go". In 2004, she played Mack Johnson's (portrayed by Steve Harvey) wife Jacqueline in Johnson Family Vacation. Headley portrayed Felicia Boudreau on Guiding Light from November 2001 until May 2002. She made a Guest appearance in TV Episode: Walker Texas Ranger as Trevet's date. She also appeared in the episode of the ABC Family comedy series 10 Things I Hate About You, "The Winner Takes It All" as Marcheline.

Headley was married to rapper/actor Christopher "Play" Martin from May 1993 until they divorced in June 1995. In April 1994, Headley gave birth to a son, Skyler Martin.

External links[link]

• Shari Headley at the Internet Movie Database

This African American-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Margaret Cho
Cho in 2009
Birth name	Moran Cho
Born	(1968-12-05) December 5, 1968 (age 43) San Francisco, California, U.S.
Medium	comedy, television, film
Nationality	American
Years active	1993–present
Genres	Liberal/political humor, LGBT humor
Subject(s)	Gay rights, race, liberal issues
Influences	Richard Pryor, Bill Hicks
Spouse	Al Ridenour (2003–present)
Notable works and roles	Assassin, I'm the One That I Want
Website	MargaretCho.com MySpace.com/MargaretCho

Margaret Cho (born December 5, 1968) is an American comedian, fashion designer, actress, author, and singer-songwriter. Cho, of Korean descent, is best known for her stand-up routines, through which she critiques social and political problems, especially those pertaining to race and sexuality. She has also directed and appeared in music videos and has her own clothing line. She has frequently supported LGBT rights and has won awards for her humanitarian efforts on behalf of women, Asians, and the LGBT community.

As an actress she has played more serious parts, such as Charlene Lee in It's My Party and that of John Travolta's FBI colleague in the action movie Face/Off. She is part of the TV series Drop Dead Diva on Lifetime Television, playing the role of Teri Lee, a paralegal assistant.

Early life[link]

Cho was born into a Korean family in San Francisco, California. She grew up in a racially diverse neighborhood in the 1970s and 1980s, which she described as a community of "old hippies, ex-druggies, burn-outs from the '60s, drag queens, Chinese people, and Koreans. To say it was a melting pot — that's the least of it. It was a really confusing, enlightening, wonderful time."^[2]

Cho's parents, Young-Hie and Seung-Hoon Cho,^[3] ran Paperback Traffic, a bookstore on Polk Street at California Street in San Francisco. Her father writes joke books and a newspaper column in Seoul, South Korea.^[4] After Cho expressed an interest in performance, she auditioned and was accepted into the San Francisco School of the Arts, an area arts high school. While at the school, she became involved with the school's improvisational comedy group^[5] alongside actor Sam Rockwell.

Early career[link]

After doing several shows in a club adjacent to her parents' bookstore, Cho launched a stand-up career and spent several years developing her material in clubs. Cho's career began to build after appearances on television and university campuses. In 1992, she appeared on the unsuccessful Golden Girls spin-off The Golden Palace in a small role. In 1994, Cho won the American Comedy Award for Best Female Comedian.^[6] In 2010, on The View, she discussed her nervousness about doing The Golden Palace and thanked the late Rue McClanahan for her help with rehearsing. Also in the early years of her career, she secured a coveted spot as opening act for Jerry Seinfeld and was featured on a Bob Hope special. She was also a frequent visitor to The Arsenio Hall Show.^[7]

Television career[link]

[edit] All American Girl

That same year, ABC developed and aired a sitcom based on Cho's stand-up routine. The show, All American Girl, was initially feted as the first show prominently featuring an East Asian family, although the short lived sitcom Mr. T and Tina preceded it by nearly two decades.

Cho has expressed subsequent regret for much of what transpired during the production of the show.

• After network executives criticized her appearance and the roundness of her face, Cho starved herself for several weeks. Her rapid weight loss, done to modify her appearance by the time the pilot episode was filmed, caused serious kidney failure.
• The show suffered criticism from within the U.S. East Asian community over its perception of stereotyping. Producers told Cho at different times during production both that she was "too Asian" and that she was "not Asian enough". At one point during the course of the show, producers hired a coach to teach Cho how to "be more Asian".^[7]
• Much of the humor was broad, and at times stereotypical portrayals of her close Korean relatives and gay book-shop customers were employed.

The show was canceled after suffering from poor ratings and the effect of major content changes over the course of its single season (19 episodes).^[8]

After the show's 1995 cancellation, Cho became addicted to drugs including alcohol. As detailed in her 2002 autobiography, I'm the One That I Want, in 1995 her substance abuse was evident during a performance in Monroe, Louisiana, where she was booed off the stage by 800 college students.^[9]

New Year's Rockin' Eve[link]

At the same time All American Girl underwent a difficult period, Margaret Cho hosted the New Year's Rockin' Eve 95 show with Steve Harvey.^[10][11][12]

Other appearances[link]

Cho and her family and friends appeared in an episode of NBC's series Celebrity Family Feud, which premiered on June 24, 2008. Later that summer, Cho appeared in her own reality show for VH1. The Cho Show premiered on August 21, 2008^[13] and lasted one season. She next appeared as a supporting actress on the series Drop Dead Diva, which debuted in July 2009.^[14]

In April 2011, Cho guest starred on the comedy 30 Rock in the episode "Everything Sunny All the Time Always". She played North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il. The role had her speak Korean as well as English.^[15] In 2010, Cho appeared as a contestant on the 11th season of Dancing with the Stars.^[16]

She appeared on the YouTube comedy show Equals Three as the Comment Question of the Day.

Books[link]

[edit] I'm the One That I Want

Cho's career and personal life were challenging after the cancellation of the show, but Cho eventually sobered, refocused her energy and developed new material. In 1999, she wrote about her struggles with the show in her first one-woman show, I'm the One That I Want. Cho then released her book of the same name, and the show was filmed and released as a concert film in 2000. Her material dealt with her difficulties breaking into show business because of her ethnicity and weight and her resulting struggle with and triumph over body image issues and drug and alcohol addiction.^[17]

[edit] I Have Chosen to Stay and Fight

Also in 2005, Cho released her second book, I Have Chosen to Stay and Fight, a compilation of essays and prose about global politics, human rights, and other topical issues. Cho launched a national book tour in support of the collection. An audio reading of the book was also released. A DVD of a live taping of the Assassin tour was released in conjunction with the book.

Film career[link]

In late 2004, Cho began work on her first self-written film in which she starred. Bam Bam and Celeste, a low-budget comedy about a "fag hag" and her gay best friend, co-starred Cho's friend and co-touring act Bruce Daniels. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2005. On Valentine's Day of 2004, Cho spoke at the Marriage Equality Rally at the California State Capitol. Her speech can be seen in the documentary Freedom to Marry.^[18][19]

Shows and tours[link]

Cho appeared in an episode of the HBO comedy Sex and the City's fourth season. The episode, titled "The Real Me", first aired on June 3, 2001, and also guest-starred supermodel Heidi Klum.

In 2002, the show Notorious C.H.O. (the title derived from slain rapper The Notorious B.I.G.) dealt with the comedian having been raised in 1970s San Francisco and her bisexuality.

In 2003, Cho made another stand-up film, Revolution, which was released in 2004.

Cho doing stand-up in June 2005

In 2005, Cho started promoting and touring with her new show, Assassin. The show became her fourth live concert film and premiered on the gay and lesbian premium cable network Here! TV in September 2005. In this DVD, she notably includes herself when talking about gays, saying "we" and "our community". Posters for Assassin featured Cho in paratrooper gear and holding a microphone in the style of an automatic rifle, a reference to the infamous 1974 photo of heiress Patty Hearst.

Cho launched "The Sensuous Woman"^[20] burlesque-style variety show tour in Los Angeles on August 10, 2007, with tour dates scheduled through November 3, as of October 10.^[21] Past and scheduled tour stops after Los Angeles are Chicago, Illinois and New York City.^[21] On August 10, 2007 the San Francisco Chronicle reviewed the show, Cho's work, key events in her personal life and characterized the show as, "In fact, as bawdy and bad-behaving as the cast gets, the whole show feels more like a crazy family reunion than a performance."^[22]

The premiere performance of Cho's "Beautiful" tour was on February 28, 2008, in Sydney, Australia as part of the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Festival. Cho was also the Chief of Parade for the festival's annual parade along Oxford Street on March 1. During her stay in Sydney, Cho was filmed shopping for parade outfits in a drag store with Kathy Griffin and Cyndi Lauper for Griffin's reality series Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List. The episode featuring Cho aired on June 26, 2008.

Music[link]

In September 2008, Cho released her single, "I Cho Am a Woman", on iTunes. The song, produced by Desmond Child,^[23] was featured on her VH1 series.

Throughout 2010, she worked on a full length album, going through the titles "Guitarded" and "Banjovi" before finally settling on Cho Dependent.^[24] The album was released on August 24, 2010. It was supported by music videos for "I'm Sorry", "Eat Shit and Die", and "My Lil' Wayne"; Liam Kyle Sullivan directed the first two. The album was nominated for a 2010 Grammy award for Best Comedy Album.^[25]

In May 2010, Cho directed and appeared in the music video for "I Wanna Be a Bear," a song by "Pixie Herculon" (a pseudonym of Jill Sobule).

Nature of material and political advocacy[link]

This biographical section of an article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (July 2008)

Cho at Los Angeles LGBT pride parade in 2011

Cho performing burlesque at the 2006 Miss Exotic World Pageant.

Cho is also well known for discussing her relationship with her mother, particularly in imitating her mother's heavily accented speech. Her depictions of "Mommy" have become a popular part of her routine. Cho's comedy routines are often explicit. She has covered substance abuse, eating disorders, her bisexuality and obsession with gay men, and Asian-American stereotypes, among other subjects, in her stand up.

A substantial segment of her material and advocacy addresses LGBT issues. In addition to her shows, Cho also developed an additional outlet for her advocacy with the advent of Margaretcho.com and her daily weblog. When San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom directed that San Francisco's city hall issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples in San Francisco in 2004 (until reversed by the state supreme court), Cho started Love is Love is Love,^[26] a website promoting the legalization of gay marriage in the United States.

Cho's material often features commentary on politics and contemporary American culture. She has also been outspoken about her dislike of former President George W. Bush. She began to draw intense fire from conservatives over her fiercely anti-Bush commentary; a live performance in Houston, Texas was threatened with picketing. Although protesters never showed up, she held a counter protest outside the club until security told her she had to go inside.^[27]

In 2004, Cho was performing at a corporate event in a hotel when after ten minutes her microphone was cut off and a band was instructed to begin playing. Cho claims this was because the manager of the hotel was offended by anti-Bush administration comments. Cho's payment, which was issued by way of check directly to a non-profit organization, a defense fund for the West Memphis Three, initially bounced but was eventually honored.^[28]

In July 2004, during the Democratic National Convention, Cho was disinvited to speak at a Human Rights Campaign/National Stonewall Democrats fundraiser out of fear that her comments might cause controversy. In November 2005, she campaigned to pardon Stanley Tookie Williams, an early Crips gang leader, for his death sentence for four murders. On December 13, 2005, after exhausting all forms of appeal, Williams was executed by lethal injection at San Quentin State Prison, California.^[29]

She emceed the multi-artist True Colors Tour,^[30] which traveled through 15 cities in the United States and Canada. The tour, sponsored by the Logo channel, began on June 8, 2007. Headlined by Cyndi Lauper, the tour also included Debbie Harry, Erasure, The Gossip, Rufus Wainwright, The Dresden Dolls, The MisShapes, Rosie O'Donnell, Indigo Girls, The Cliks and other special guests. Profits from the tour helped to benefit the Human Rights Campaign as well as PFLAG and The Matthew Shepard Foundation.

On January 25, 2008, Cho officially gave her support to Barack Obama for the nomination on the Democratic ticket for the 2008 U.S. presidential election.^[31] After Republican Presidential candidate John McCain announced his running-mate, Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska, Cho said of Palin, "I think [Palin] is the worst thing to happen to America since 9/11."^[32]

After same-sex marriage became legal in California in May 2008, Cho was deputized by the City of San Francisco to perform marriages there.^[33]

Other projects[link]

In 2002, Cho founded a clothing line with friend and fashion designer Ava Stander called High Class Cho. The company eventually went defunct.^{[citation needed]}

In 2004, Cho took up bellydancing and in 2006 started her own line of bellydancing belts and accessories called Hip Wear^[34] (sold through her website). She also had extensive tattooing done to cover the majority of her back.^[35] She co-wrote and starred in a sitcom pilot based around the "Mommy" character of her stand-up, but it was not picked up. She began releasing comedic rap animated videos on her website under the moniker "M.C. M.C." (MC Margaret Cho) including the tracks "Finger" and "Roofies."

In November 2006, Cho joined the board of Good Vibrations.^[36] She co-wrote a rap song with fellow comedian Diana Yanez entitled "My Puss", which was recorded by the duo as "Maureen and Angela". She then appeared in and directed the music video for the song.^[37] In December 2006, Cho appeared on the Sci-Fi Channel's miniseries The Lost Room as Suzie Kang.^[38]

In 2007, Cho appeared in The Dresden Dolls' video of their song "Shores of California", which was MCed by Amanda Palmer^[39] and in The Cliks' video for "Eyes in the Back of My Head", in which she played Lucas Silveira's lover.^[40] She also voiced a character, Condie Ling, on the Logo animated series Rick & Steve: The Happiest Gay Couple in All the World. Her episodes began airing in 2007.

Recently on an episode of The Hour with host George Stroumboulopoulos, Cho mentioned that she loved Broken Social Scene and wishes to be a part of the band (offering to play the rainstick or the triangle). On air, Stroumboulopoulos called Kevin Drew from his cell phone and Cho made her request to join the band via his voicemail.^{[citation needed]}

In April 2009, Cho was photographed by photographer Austin Young and appeared in a Bettie Page–inspired "Heaven Bound" art show.^[41]

In September 2010 she competed in the eleventh season of Dancing with the Stars partnered by Louis van Amstel. She was the third star to be eliminated on week three of the show, landing her in 10th place.

The online human rights awareness project America 2049 had Margaret portray one of the main characters, whose videos were played as part of the main storyline. The facebook-interfaced game uses a fictional, fractioned future in order to highlight today's social inequities.^[42]

Personal life[link]

In 1994 Cho was in a relationship with Quentin Tarantino and he appeared in the Pulp Fiction-parody episode of her All American Girl sitcom, Pulp Sitcom, as Desmond, a bootleg-video salesman.

Cho married Al Ridenour, an artist involved in the production of Cacophony Society and the Art of Bleeding, in 2003.^[43] Margaret was featured in an Art of Bleeding performance in March 2006.^[44] In a Bond interview, she reveals that her marriage is "very conventional and conservative, I think. I mean we're such weird people that people just can't imagine that we would have a conventional marriage. But, yeah, we are very conventional."^[45]

Cho began getting major tattoo work done in 2006 and has become an enthusiast; as of March 2007 she estimates that 15–20% of her body is currently tattooed.

As of 2009, Cho lives in Peachtree City, Georgia,^[46] as Drop Dead Diva is filmed in the Atlanta area.

She is openly bisexual.^[47]

Commendations[link]

• In 1994, Skankin' Pickle released their album Sing Along With Skankin' Pickle featuring a song entitled "It's Margaret Cho."
• In 1999, I'm The One That I Want won New York magazine's Performance of the Year award and was named one of the Great Performances of the year by Entertainment Weekly.^[48]
• In 2000, her "E! Celebrity Profile" won a Gracie Allen Award from the American Women in Radio and Television organization acknowledging its "superior quality and effective portrayal of the changing roles and concerns of women."^[48]
• In 2000, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) awarded her with a Golden Gate award and described her as an entertainer who, "as a pioneer, has made a significant difference in promoting equal rights for all, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity."^[49]
• In 2001, she was given a Lambda Liberty Award by Lambda Legal for "pressing us to see how false constructions of race, sexuality, and gender operate similarly to obscure and demean identity."^[50]
• In 2003, she received a "Justice in Action" award from the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund.^[51]
• In 2003, she was given an Intrepid Award by the National Organization for Women.^[52]
• In 2004, she was awarded with the First Amendment Award from the American Civil Liberties Union.^[53]
• In 2007, she won for Outstanding Comedy Performance in AZN's Asian Excellence Awards.^[54]
• April 30, 2008 was declared "Margaret Cho Day" in San Francisco, CA.^[55]

Filmography[link]

• The Golden Palace (1992) – Television (Episode: One Old Lady to Go)
• All American Girl (1994–1995) – Television (all episodes)
• Angie (1994)
• The Doom Generation (1995)
• It's My Party (1996)
• Pink as the Day She Was Born (1997)
• Fakin' Da Funk (1997)
• Sweethearts (1997)
• Face/Off (1997)
• The Thin Pink Line (1998)
• Ground Control (1998)
• The Rugrats Movie (1998)
• The Tavern (1999)
• I'm the One That I Want (2000)
• Notorious C.H.O. (2001)
• Sex and the City (2001) – Television
• Revolution (2003)
• Margaret Cho: Assassin (2005)
• Bam Bam and Celeste (2005)
• The Lost Room (2006)
• Falling for Grace (2007)
• Celebrity Family Feud (2008)
• One Missed Call (2008)
• The Cho Show (2008)
• Beautiful (2009)
• 17 Again (2009)
• Miss Oriented (2009)
• Drop Dead Diva (2009–present) – Television
• Ghost Whisperer (2010) – Television
• Dancing With The Stars (2010) – Television
• Don't Forget The Lyrics Celebrity Edition (2010) – Television
• 30 Rock as Kim Jong-il (2011) – Television

Bibliography[link]

• I'm the One That I Want (2000)
• I Have Chosen to Stay and Fight (2005)

Discography[link]

Comedy[link]

• Drunk with Power (1997)
• Live in Houston (1998)
• I'm the One That I Want (2000)
• Notorious C.H.O.: Live at Carnegie Hall (2001)
• Revolution (2003)
• Assassin (2005)
• Beautiful (2009)

Music[link]

• Cho Dependent (2010)^[56]

Tours[link]

• "I'm the One That I Want" (2000)
• "Notorious C.H.O." (2002)
• "Revolution" (2003)
• "State of Emergency" (2004)
• "Assassin" (2005)
• "True Colors" (2007)
• "Beautiful" (2008)
• "True Colors" (2008)
• "Cho Dependent" (2010)

References[link]