Comedian Margaret Cho saves the "raunchy" stuff for onstage

Comedian Margaret Cho has been called fierce, fearless and even notorious.

But over the phone, Cho isn't so brash. In fact, she sounds like somebody else, answering questions in a quiet voice.

Yet she brings her self-described "raunchy" comedic show, called "Beautiful," to Seattle's Paramount Theatre Saturday night. Opening for her is Liam Sullivan, known for his YouTube Valley Girl alter-ego Kelly.

The Seattle Times talked to Cho while she was on tour, from Minneapolis.

Q: You're known to be bold, even fearless, but how would you describe yourself?

A: Well, I guess I am fearless, but I don't really know. I just don't really care what people think anymore. I just do what I want, and I just enjoy myself.

Q: You're a strong advocate on many issues. What inspires you?

A: I've been inspired by the Victory Fund and their effort to put homophobic messages out there ... so people can see how much homophobia there is, so I'm donating a lot of the proceeds from my ticket sales to them on this tour. ... I'm inspired a lot by Cyndi Lauper, who put together the True Colors Tour, ... which is a big tour devoted to ending homophobia and hatred. It's really, really great.

Q: You are known for pushing boundaries, but are there certain things too risqué for you?

A: I'm not really sure. I haven't reached them yet, so we'll have to see.

Q: How do you balance ethnic humor? Do you ever worry that non-Asians will take the jokes as truth?

A: I haven't really thought about that. I'm just happy to be able to do what I do. I don't know. I guess you worry about how people will perceive things, but do white people worry about how white things are going to be perceived?

Q: Since you came on the scene with the first Asian-American sitcom "All-American Girl," there have been more and more Asian-American actors, actresses and comedians. Is the need to fight stereotypes as strong as it used to be?

A: I still think that it's really pretty hard. There are more Asian-American faces on television and I think that's great, but I don't think that there are enough.

I think that it's still pretty racist. ... It is better but it is not as good as it could be.

Marian Liu: 206-464-3825

or mliu@seattletimes.com