A Night with Henry Cho

Dallas is known as a place where people adore their pro sports, get giddy about trying new restaurants, and anxiously swap stories with friends about who-saw-who at “Dragonfly” or “Ghostbar”. So a recent trip up to Addison on a Saturday night to check out the comedian Henry Cho was a welcome relief from the prototypical Dallas night out.

Stolling up the North Dallas Tollway and grabbing an early dinner at Houstons, I made it just in time to the show. At the Improv, I was pleasantly surprised to find that my table was right smack next to stage. But this realization also made me nervous. After all, I was well within firing range and had a fairly high likelihood of getting really embarrassed. The waitress came around to serve us drinks and I was relieved that the opening comedians consistently chose victims just to my right and left. Whew, close one. The first two comedians were excellent in their own right, but after hearing quite a bit of buzz on the headliner, I was particularly interested in the main event.

Henry Cho, a Korean-American actor, comedian, and so-called “rancher”, probably has as much in common with your typical Talladega Nascar fan as he does with a Korean barbeque chef. Based out of Nashville, Tennessee, the boot wearing Cho is currently working on a couple new projects, including a new television series now in development with CBS-TV/Paramount Studios. Cho is teaming up with Craig Ferguson, of Late Late Show fame. Due to an on-going writer’s strike, Cho’s schedule has been a bit more freed up to tour around the country with his ever-witty stand-up routine.

Cho is one of the few gifted comedians who have the uncanny ability to be funny without going “blue” and to find a perfect tone with political and racial humor which magically finds everybody laughing and no one truly offended. Cho also has the unique advantage of marrying into a stereotypical southern family, which he claims gives him no shortage of material for his routine. Cho routinely performs in corporate engagements, who give him solid reviews for his talent and ability to create humor on the spot.

Leaving the show, the audience piled for the exit and entered into the cold Texas night. Upon walking out the door the first site was a long line of people, 100 people deep, all waiting to pick up their cars to head home. The one stand, three person valet service could have easily employed 10 more college kids to run and fetch cars. I was going to have to save my frustration for another time. Coming out of a Henry Cho show leaves you with little other choice than to shrug it off and laugh out loud to his jokes the rest of the way home.