Before There Was Sriracha, There Was Margaret Cho

I just came back from seeing Margaret Cho's PSYCHO tour in Westbury, NY tonight! I have never been to Westbury and don't know anything about this town other than that her tour was there tonight. We rented a car and drove out to see her in the middle of kinda of nowhere. The only other time I saw Margaret was the NOTORIOUS CHO in 2002 tour years ago in NYC. A lot has happened in her career (a few TV shows, several TV roles, a divorce, etc), and you really got a sense of the revolution of her as a comedienne (and one of my heroines), but more significantly of Margaret as a political activist. From her site:

This show is about insanity, and about the anger I feel about everything happening in the world right now, from police brutality to racism to the rising tide of violence against women. It makes me so crazy – hence the title: “THE PSYCHO TOUR” because there is no “I” in team but there is a “CHO” in psycho”.

Her show opened with a bang with Gina Yashere, a black British comedienne who absolutely slayed. Her set was TIGHT and so well delivered. I was inspired, smitten and pulled right into the CHO madness. Selene Luna followed second and she was so charming and obviously newly smitten in her own personal life as well as that was the central topic of her set. I've only seen Selene on Margaret's hilariously absurd episode in ABC's TV show Wife Swap so it was great to see her do her thing on stage. Selene said it best, this was the most diverse comedy show cast ever: an Asian, a British black woman, and a little person Selene, is there a punch line to this? Well, turns out there were quite a few. I won't give away any spoilers but I did learn several things about Margaret's checkered past and sad truths about her childhood that made my eyes water in the theater. By the time she got to her closing songs performed with the band Jane Lee Hooker, the "psy-cle" came full circle. One of the songs she sang was called "I want to kill my rapist" and I was shocked to see how complacent the audiences were during this obviously heavy song. I would say 90% of the audience were older white folks, which I was surprised by. Maybe because we were in Westbury, NY? Seriously like 90% of the people were older white folks, then you got your gay men's, and lesbians. But it wasn't the most diverse crowd. Again maybe cause it's Westbury? Traffic did take us 1.5 hours to get out there from the Lower East Side... I don't know but I do know that the raw emotion and energy Margaret and the band put into this particular song did not match the audience reaction. Just weird to hear a song like this and see everyone sitting down properly with their nice sweater sets and combed hair-dos. After the sets were over Selene announced that they were doing an impromptu meet-and-greet but only had 30 minutes since they had to get to the airport at 5am (ah, glamorous tour life!). Varla, Michael, and I waited at the wrong location in the lobby and before we knew it, the line was disappointingly long. But Michael, being the rock star that he is, got us in the VIP lounge where the cast was coming through on their way to the lobby! I really wanted to introduce myself to Margaret just to thank her for her continued support of the Asian Burlesque Spectacular show that I co-produced annually in NYC. She has tweeted about the show two years in a row (thanks to Jen Gapay). Plus, she is truly the first pioneer for Asian Americans in popular culture, before any feng shui, reiki, sriracha, and Fresh Off the Boat. Even Eddie Huang calls Margaret "Chobi-one-kenobi".

I went into the VIP Lounge to wait to ambush Margaret (haha), and there was a group of large white men Homer Simpson looking dudes standing around talking and drinking. The minute I walk in, one of them barked loudly, "Look! It's Margaret Cho's sister!" I was like WTF? Seriously? You are making this racist ignorant joke at Margaret Cho's show? I dryly replied, "No, she's the other Asian here tonight" and I don't think these Homer Simpsons got it at all. I shoulda said, "Look! It's a Homer Simpsons convention here." Who ARE these people who come to this show? One would think if you came to see Margaret Cho, you kinda get it or are in the tribe, no? Guess one can't control how one's message is received, who is receiving it, and what they take (or don't take) from it. Then again, maybe Westbury?

Anyway so finally Margaret and Selene came through with a security guy. Of course the Homers ambushed her first and I'm reminded of when I have to do meet and greets after shows and people want to say hello and thank yous etc when you just want to go to bed! Keeping that in mind I already unsheathed my phone out of my made in China vodka cover so I can get photos of her without taking up too much of her time. So when she came up I introduced myself and thank her for supporting the Asian Burlesque show. Then I asked her, "Why don't you want to do burlesque anymore?" Her reply, "Cause I don't want to wear makeup." LOL here's my face!

Go catch Margaret and her killer cast on this tour. It was absolutely inspiring and grounding to witness an intelligent, powerful and funny woman using the creative platform to raise political awareness with humour, wit, and some cultural i-ching shit thrown in (wink, wink). And if you don't like it, you are dead to me.

Me and Margaret. Thanks Michael for taking the photo!

Varla, me, and Margaret Cho

Interview with Calamity Chang, NYSB Instructor and Co-Producer of The Asian Burlesque Spectacle

schoolofburlesque:

NYSB: How did the Asian Burlesque Spectacular start? What’s it all about?



Calamity Chang: ABC started with a conversation with Sukki Singapora who is a co-producer of this event. Sukki, from Singapore, is very active in women’s rights in conservative Singapore so our conversation started on that thread, and a few Skype meetings later, the “Asian Burlesque Spectacular” was born. Sukki had always wanted to hold a giant burlesque show specifically for Asian or Asian origin performers, as a continuation from her society, The Singapore Burlesque Club (to promote and nurture Asian performers in environments where sometimes burlesque is a difficult choice, or perhaps not celebrated enough). We enlisted Thirsty Girl Productions (Jen Gapay) right away. With her acclaimed experience and finesse in producing, she was the obvious choice to help realize the dream.



NYSB: The Asian Burlesque Spectacular is in its second year now. What will differentiate the show from last year’s premiere? 



Calamity Chang: We have an entirely new cast and we are at DROM in the East Village this year. We have an incredible line-up featuring some heavy hitters like The Shanghai Pearl (Seattle), Cherry Typhoon (Montreal) and Orchid Mei (Denver) , as well as international performers like Violet Eva (Japan) and Miyuki Divine (Calgary, Canada). Our host this year is NYC drag extraordinaire Yuhua Hamasaki (Miss Asia NYC 2014 and Miss Fire Island 2012), and we have added a boylesque performer, Wrong Note Rusty (Toronto) this year for the first time as well.Lastly, we are proud to be officially sponsored by ByeJoe: Spirit of China. We are very excited about this particular sponsorship, because “baijiu” has been a traditional Chinese spirit but as “ByeJoe” the liquor is expanding to a more Western palate to appeal to a young, modern Asian audience.







(Above, Calamity Chang. Photo Photo by Michael Webb)



NYSB: While show is all current performers, there is a strong element of homage to burlesque legends performers as Barbara Yung and Mei Ling. How important was that in so far as a production decision? 



Calamity Chang: Tributes are important to us, because Asian burlesque legends were less well known and less celebrated than their Western counterparts. Last year Sukki and I did our tribute acts to Yung and Ling. Other performers did their own interpretation of what constitutes their “Asian-ness” or whether that is relevant to them as a performer. Having that variety added an interesting layer of texture to the show. That’s the key for us. We are not going around forcing people to do Asian acts or collecting acts to create some kind of hyper-sensitive, somber event. Some of the acts addressed current topics with a comedic twist. For example, last year Fancy Chance’s act was about a hungry Korean student and Stella Chuuu’s act was to Monty Python’s “I Love Chinese Food”. We also had Dame Cuchifrita’s beautiful and haunting piece which addressed the colonialization of Southeast Asian women and sexuality. Show us how your ethnicity has influenced you as a performer and the acts you create, or how it hasn’t. We also are in agreement that one does not have to be Asian to do an act that is Asian-inspired. It is important this year to not only grow the show, but also to celebrate Asian culture without making it inaccessible to any other cultural group. To quote The Shanghai Pearl, there is a difference between “appropriating” and “appreciating.” I don’t think people know the difference so ABS is trying to be part of the answer to that question.







(Above, Calamity Chang. Photo by Michael Webb)



NYSB: Asian women have always had to deal with a very specific Western stereotype and fetishization of their bodies. Do you feel like the platform of the Asian Burlesque Spectacular is able to comment or take away from some of that?



Calamity Chang: I will posit that Asian men are also grossly sexualized and diminutized by Western stereotypes quite possibly even worse. Asian men are constantly portrayed as nerds, under sexed, or gay in popular television whereas Asian women are oversexed, “sluts”, and sexual objects (i.e.: the Tila Tequilas). ABS gives us a platform in which we present ourselves, our bodies, and our own sexual projection on our own terms whether through allure, comedy or confrontation through the art form of burlesque and live performance theater. The blessing of working in a niche art form (versus Hollywood) is that we have control over how we are presented to the public.



NYSB: What are your hopes for for the future of The Asian Burlesque Spectacular?



Calamity Chang: We are working on taking it to the West Coast (San Francisco) and to the UK. We aim to turn this into a 2-3 day festival! The possibilities are endless. We’ve received so many inquiries since last year from interested Asian performers all over. ABS stands as a strong beacon of hope for many Asian women (and men) interested in burlesque but who may be afraid to pursue it because of cultural taboos. We are here to challenge those ideas and also to create new images of Asian sexuality.



To find out more on The Asian Burlesque Spectacular visit The event page

Doors Open: 7:00 PM. Show Time: 8:00 PM

Get Tickets!



Interview by Coco te Amo for the New York School of Burlesque

RED Burlesque "Calamity Chang" Shade on My Hapa Friends!

This weekend I met with my two self-described "hapa" girl friends to have them try on my RED Burlesque lipstick to show how the shades flatter darker skinned Asian girls too. Kathleen and Melissa are sisters, and they are of half-Bangladeshi and half-Filipina heritage.

Fun fact: I actually went to high school in Texas with Kathleen. 

Here are the results!

Melissa is wearing "Calamity Chang" here. It was by chance that she happened to wear this gorgeous fuchsia colored sweater which matched the shade beautifully!

Close up of "Calamity Chang" with a fuchsia-plum colored top. Really great match.

Gorgeous!

Kathleen wearing "Calamity Chang". She is slightly darker than Melissa. Both colors "Calamity Chang" and "Strawberry Siren" seem to complement their complexions.

Close up of "Calamity Chang". All shot with natural lighting on my iPhone and no doctoring in Photoshop!

Melissa wears "Strawberry Siren" here. As you can see, Strawberry Siren is redder on darker skin.

Close up of Strawberry Siren.

More Strawberry Siren

Pop-O-Matic a vintage lifestyle enthusiast blog reviews my shade >

One of the Beauty Editors of Jane Magazine recently reviewed my shade and said it is for "going to the Oscars". Read about it >

So, wanna try my shade? It's quick and easy!

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Nurse Bettie Tonight!

I am so excited about tonight's show at Nurse Bettie because I have 2 new games to play on the unsuspecting sausage festival. He he. They are really quite brilliant games that I concocted in my depraved and deviant mind. All I told Brassy is to "wear gloves" for tonight. Haha. She will be doing Magic Man with Michael accompanying her on electric guitar. I have Lil Miss Lixx - who I adore - she is a tall blonde drink of brazen fierceness. Bird of Paradise is doing "Last Girl on Earth", Nikkita Lemarcelle is bringing the classy element to this show, Rosabelle Selavy - that hot mess - will be gogo-ing and doing a special bondage act. Lastly, I'm going to do my favorite number (of the month) to close the show. It's going to be great! I love that bar, Stephen the owner who is so playful and silly and make us all feel very appreciated as performers, and last I heard, he's supposed to make a special cocktail named "Calamity Chang" just for me. :)


The show is at 10 PM. No cover (for a few more weeks!). Nurse Bettie is at 106 Norfolk Street.

New Site Launch!

My new site has launched! http://www.CalamityChangNYC.com - now you can find out about the shows I'm producing and performing in and other juicy tidbits on my blog too. Big xoxo to photographer Michael Webb, stylist Rebecca Walsh, and the people at Double Crown & Madame Geneva for making this site so elegant and beautiful! I hope you love it as much as I do.

Hello!

This blog is now dedicated to my show announcements, new act ideas, burlesque gossip, and whatever else that strikes a calamity fancy. Isn't the background photo sumptuous? That's taken by my boyfriend Michael Webb who has sole proprietory rights to photograph me. Just kiddin! But it is a sumptuous photo taken in the downstairs bathroom of Double Crown, one of my favorite restaurants, and also named the #1 Best Restroom to have Public Sex by Time Out in 2009.