Margaret Cho's The Sensuous Woman - NYC: The Zipper Factory, 9/28/2007

When I walked out of The Zipper Factory after seeing "The Sensuous Woman," every smile muscle in my face hurt from the strain of an hour and a half of continuous work. I knew going into this show that Margaret Cho was funny, but what I didn't know is how adept she is at making the tassles on a pair of pasties spin in the process. Now that I know, let me just say that I'm pretty freakin' impressed. "The Sensuous Woman" is a variety show that highlights Cho and "some of [her] friends." It features a multitude of entertainment: stand up, burlesque, song and dance numbers, seductive little people (Selene Luna), and ironic facial hair. The show is gay, sexual, raunchy, empowering, and completely hilarious.

With an impersonation of Brittany Spears' VMA debachle, declaring her appreciation of Bears and enjoyment of giving analingus, and signature impressions of her traditional Korean mother (this was all in the first 10 minutes of the show), Cho had everyone in the house rolling in the aisles from the moment she graced (no, blessed!) the stage. And although we may have initially come to "The Sensuous Woman" to see Cho, her fellow performers did not disappoint.

Dirty Martini stunned with a brilliantly sardonic and erotic dance routine to Dolly Parton's rendition of "God Bless the USA" (which gave a slight nod to Carolee Schneemann's Interior Scroll), and Sir Ryan Heffington made the audience roar when he got up close and personal in high-heeled, leather boots and a tiger-striped leotard to the tune of Michael Jackson's "Dirty Diana." Comedian Diana Yanez teamed up with gay emcee Lisp (Kurt Hall) for two hip-hop numbers ("Sexual Homo" and "Funky Fag-Hag") and again with Cho for the dykalicious "My Puss." The least remarkable performances were given by comic actor Liam Sullivan and transgendered comic Ian Harvie, who got half-hearted laughs from tired jokes about an emo girl's obsession with shoes and going through airport security with a giant dildo, and Princess Farhana's Wizard of Oz parody was making me wish for a tornado to liven things up, but being the least impressive of this bunch is still pretty damn good.

It's amazing what some people can do with a little glitter, latex, lace, and feathers. "The Sensuous Woman" takes all of these fabulous things and mixes them with a group of campy cross-dressing queers to create a show that would be unfortunate to miss. The New York tour ends on October 20th so get your tickets now and prepare to be infected with the love and humor of these fantastic performers.

Review by Mandy Van Deven