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MOTHER

‘I’m itching for Norwegian sweaters’

US comedian Margaret Cho is touching down in Oslo as part of her European 'Mother' tour. She tells The Local about Norwegian lovers, sweaters and what the audience should expect from her latest show.

Published: 26 November 2013 09:20 CET

'I'm itching for Norwegian sweaters'

Margaret Cho says she can't wait to perform in Oslo. Photo: Austin Young

Billed as “an untraditional look at motherhood and how we see maternal figures and strong women in queer culture, Cho’s European ‘Mother’ tour will come to Oslo on Sunday December 15th.

This will be Cho’s first trip to Norway, a country which she describes as “very mysterious”.

“I have not been to Norway yet but I am really looking forward to it,” she tells The Local. “I hear Oslo is a very good time and I can’t wait to meet it for myself.”

Not even the cold has discouraged the San Francisco native.

“I am going to buy so many sweaters, I can feel them already. It’s like I am itching for these sweaters. I bet the sweaters are going to be the best in the world.”

Norwegian members of the audience can even expect to hear a few jokes in their mother tongue as she plans on learning some Norwegian in time for the tour. “I need to learn a bit of Norwegian so that I can tell some Norway-themed jokes.”

While Norway is as yet uncharted territory for the comedienne, she admits to having had her fair share of Norwegian lovers.

“I have had a number of Norwegian lovers and remember them fondly – so maybe if I can picture them in one room that would be about the same size as my audience in Oslo,” she muses.

According to the comedienne, ‘Mother’, which toured the US earlier this year, is her edgiest show to date, touching on race issues, drugs, and sexuality.

The Local has one pair of tickets to win to Margaret Cho’s show in Oslo.

The Oslo show is on Sunday December 15th at the Latter Theatre. The show starts at 8pm.

To win, email [email protected] explaining in no more than one sentence the reason(s) why you should win the tickets.

Click here for tour dates and tickets for December

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Bill Bailey: 'Why can't I find a decent coffee in Spain?'

Photos by Andy Hollingworth

Ahead of gigs planned in Madrid, Barcelona and Torremolinos, the comic made famous for his role in sitcom Black Books spoke exclusively to The Local about the Spanish leg of his European tour.

His Spanish dates come in the wake of a tour first around Britain and then other parts of Europe

“The show I’m bringing to Spain , Larks in Transit, is particularly well travelled, and has just been well received all round Norway, Iceland, Sweden , Denmark and Belgium so it’s perhaps my most international show yet,” explains Bailey.

British comedy can draw big crowds in Spain, with Eddie Izzard performing sell out dates in Madrid recently, even learning Spanish for the occasion. Fellow Black Books star Dylan Moran also toured Spain last year.

“I’ve found that in the last few years there’s been huge amount of interest in English-speaking comedy around Europe and indeed around the world. I’ve performed my show in places I would never have imagined ..like former Soviet bloc countries, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia as well as those further afield like Shanghai and Kuala Lumpur.

“I think YouTube has had a large part to play in this, as anyone can now see all kinds of comedy online,” adds Bailey.

So can his Spanish audience expect to hear him tackling the local lingo?

“I like to learn some of each language for a few greetings, and I do a few checks to find out if a few cultural references will work, but other than that I tend not to change or adapt, I find that the show is well worked out, and balanced.”

He knows both Madrid and Barcelona having visited the cities on holiday but has also added a gig in Torremolinos. Why Torremolinos?

“Come on it’s sunny! It’s freezing in London, pouring with rain, we’re in the grip of Storm Beyonce or whatever, and I need some sun. Plus, it’s the holiday destination of my youth, and I’ve not been back in a long while,” he explains.

He is also hoping to find in a bit of mountain biking in breaks between shows… and eating.

“I love the food, and the biking.. so I’m looking forward to tapas, and taking to the mountain bike trails.”

But he admits he is baffled as to why he can’t find a decent coffee in Spain.

“I was just in Baqueira Beret for half term skiing with my son, and couldn’t get decent coffee,” he revealed. “So I’m bringing my own hand press!”

Anyone familiar with Bailey’s humour will know he is a master of all musical instruments and this latest show also includes musical interludes. So can we expect any Spanish influences to appear?

“Perhaps some opera, some flamenco,” he hinted.

And, in his first tour to Europe since 31st January when the UK left the European Union, will he be mentioning the ‘B’ word?

“You can’t not mention it. It’s the elephant in the room. But I won’t dwell on it .. I might mention it in passing,” he says. Asked if there was anything ‘funny’ about Brexit? He replied with an emphatic: “Not really”.

I ask Bailey who is an avid birdwatcher – he is author Bill Bailey’s Remarkable Guide to British Birds – if he has a favourite bird, and he recalls one he recently saw in Spain.

“I watched a Gryphon vulture soaring in the Pyrenees recently at nearly 3000 metres up, and apparently they go much higher, cruising at altitude looking for leftovers, that’s my kind of life.”

So what plans does Bailey have for the future? Is there a Black Books sequel on the cards? And would he like to play Doctor Who?

“Yes, I think I’d be an excellent Doctor.. perhaps one who also has an interest in owls, and owl conservation, uses his powers to stop the destruction of habitat.

“As to a Black Books sequel, I wouldn’t have thought so.. maybe a musical , or branded swimwear maybe?”

And finally, does he have a favourite ‘knock knock’ joke?

“It’s actually a backwards one that happened by accident,” he recounts. “My wife opened a cracker at Christmas, there was a knock knock joke in it, she read it out as “Who’s there? Then someone replied Knock Knock ….. .. mysterious, brilliant.”

Bill Bailey is performing in Madrid on March 2nd, Barcelona, March 3rd and Torremolinos on March 5th. For more information about tour dates and tickets click HERE

READ ALSO: Where, when and how to drink coffee like a Spaniard

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