I have long been a huge, screaming mad fan of comedienne Margaret Cho. Whether you agree with her or not and I often do, you’ve got to give her an A plus for having the moxie not to pander to the middle and for telling the twisted story of womanhood just as it is: cellulite, discrimination, bad fellatio and all.

I gadded off gleefully last week to her inaugural book reading and was not dissapointed. It was refreshing to see her in street clothes, face dabbed in something other than that dastdardly pancakey stage make-up every Sunset Boulevarder must apply (and re-apply) when performing beneath the stage lights. For me, Margaret’s words have the potency of battery acid tinged with the incisive aha’s often contained in your grandma’s wise counsel. Her tome, I Have Chosen to Stay and Fight is no exception. A sampling:

“Feminism is non-negotiable. If you are not a feminist, you do not deserve to live” (p. 91)
“A government that would deny a gay man the right to a bridal registry is a fascist state” (p. 145)
“Strange, there is so much religion in the world, but only enough to make us fight over who is right, not enough to make us love each other.” (p. 179)
“Our revolution is long overdue.” (p. 233)

You may want to throw I Have Chosen to Stay and Fight across the room, tear out every page or conversely hug it tight to your chest and buy it a fancy dinner and desert on the way to the hotel. Either way, it will make you think…and scratch your head…and get off your fanny and do something, anything to make our three-ring circus of a world a better place. All hail Margaret! If you ever need an opening act, call me. I’d be honored to warm up the crowd. Heck, I’d be honored just to polish your barrettes and your Mommy’s Folger coffee can.

Signed,
TLRG

Check the Notorious CHO out at www.margaretcho.com