And this is a picture with Margaret Cho and myself while she was doing a reading for her new book, I Have Chosen to Stay and Fight
I’ve been a fan of hers when she was “just” an stand-up comic focusing on Asian issues and even more so when she talked about gay issues, so when my friend Adam talked me into commuting from the South Bay up to Berkeley to get her book signed and to say hi, I figured, hey, why not? My blog is linked off her website, after all.
This is the conversation we had when she was signing my book:
“So, uhm, I’m a big fan. You link my website from your blog.”
“Really? Whats your website?”
“Little Yellow Different.”
“Oh. Yeah, that’s a good site. It’s funny.”
“I’m glad you like it.”
“…”
“…”
“Okay, next person in line?”
To be totally honest, I’m not quite sure what conversation we would have had, given the fact that it was a booksigning and she only has 30 to 45 seconds to talk to everyone in line anyway; I wasn’t sure if she would be in comedienne mode, whether we would go into instant banter as to who would have the wackier mother story, a competition I would have had the utmost pleasure at losing. Actually, to my surprise, she was polite, a little reserved, a little overwhelmed at signing books to her legions of adoring fans, which from what I could tell from the line at Codys consisted of angry adoring Asian college students, angry adoring hippies and angry adoring homosexuals.
It was kind of a relief, actually.
20 responses so far ↓
Stephanie // Nov 2, 2005 at 1:44 am
cool!!!
Fitfool // Nov 2, 2005 at 5:11 am
I had not liked her standup comedy the first time I saw her act on TV. I thought she was going for easy laughs by playing the patsy for a bunch of racist jokes. And then later on when I heard she had gained a lot of popularity, I was disappointed in people. But then I caught a bit more of her act again on TV and read an interview with her and now I like her.
c(h)ristine // Nov 2, 2005 at 7:52 am
yay! you got to see her.
I have never been this close to her, physically before. I have been her fan for 15 years, back when she would do her acts at the Punchline as an “unknown.” And I’ve never missed a single one of her tours, always sitting in the fan section. A bit stalkerish, I guess.
They were asking us to not take pictures with her during my time in line (they were trying to keep the line going). My conversationw ith her was pretty similar in length and curtness. She was sweet and seemed a bit shy and definitely seemed tired.
Jeff // Nov 2, 2005 at 8:40 am
Ah, I regret not going to see Margaret when she came to the D.C. area. Ha, it’s sort of like my conversation I had with Sarah Vowell after a reading a few years ago. After she signed my copy of her book and I complimented her work, we stood staring at each other for a few seconds (which seemed forever) before I ran out of there.
schmutzie // Nov 2, 2005 at 10:36 am
I’m such a fan, I think I would have bolted after sputtering out some unrelated phrases.
Jonathan // Nov 2, 2005 at 12:39 pm
I think it would have been more “LYD” if she screamed out “GAY MEN ARE HAWT”, grabbed you and then proceeded to stick her tongue down your throat. That’s just me though.
eric // Nov 2, 2005 at 2:05 pm
that sucks. i always assumed you two were the king and queen of the AQM [asian queer mafia].
i hung out with margaret a bit when she was in london, where she’s pretty much an unknown.
i’m going to see the premeire of her film next week and have a spare ticket if you wanna come and stalk her again?
queenkv // Nov 2, 2005 at 2:41 pm
lucky! i love it when she did impersonations of her mom during her stand-up routines. hilarious!
James // Nov 2, 2005 at 3:01 pm
Very cool!
Roshan // Nov 3, 2005 at 12:36 am
I ran into Margaret Cho at the Sacramento airport after she performed at UCD a couple of years ago. The conversation we had was pretty similar - it started out with me saying how big a fan I am, then ended with “…” and an ackward walking away by me from her.
Escribo Cartas // Nov 3, 2005 at 10:08 pm
I adore you and Margaret Cho– and I, too, envisioned you heading up the AQM… *sigh*
ed // Nov 5, 2005 at 12:45 am
If it’s any consolation, Ernie, Margaret Cho was apparently “too booked” to talk with me for one of the podcasts. Perhaps because I’m not angry enough. Perhaps because I do not have a studio. If there’s a lesson to be learned here, it’s that you must be angry enough to get properly credentialed.
Stacy // Nov 5, 2005 at 7:30 am
cholicious!
Jess // Nov 5, 2005 at 4:52 pm
You’ve now met Margaret Cho. Just when we thought you couldn’t get any gayer!
Kathy // Nov 7, 2005 at 9:54 pm
love your site!
Adam // Nov 10, 2005 at 11:01 am
I’ll take that ticket, Eric, if Ernie doesn’t want it.
Eddie // Nov 14, 2005 at 7:39 am
Nice! Margret Cho is funny yo!
The Muskrat // Nov 15, 2005 at 2:34 pm
Nothing to do with this post, but I just heard Minnie Ripperton’s “Loving You”, and thought of you…
mel // Nov 17, 2005 at 11:42 pm
I love Margaret Cho! hrm… I should get some of her latest stuff…
Jovanny // Feb 15, 2006 at 12:55 pm
I met her during the book tour too in October
she was great . .
I got all her DVDS and even the “All American Girl” box set