Being in active in local media, I have had ample opportunities to meet and chat with plenty of celebrities and rock stars. My favorite people to chat with always seem to be the comedians. To date though, I haven’t met one that is as down-to-Earth and easy to chat with as Henry Cho. Henry took a few moments out of his now very busy schedule to chat with me about his upcoming run across the state of Iowa and much of the United States during his, “The Empty Nest Tour.”
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Cho’s latest tour is inspired by a personal milestone with his youngest child heading off to college. “My youngest started college about a year and a half ago, and so I’m an empty nester, so I’m getting a tour like I used to, which means I can do three nights in a row somewhere. I don’t have to get back for, you know, soccer games or football or horse shows or softball or what have you,” he explained. With his re-found freedom, Cho is taking his comedy across the country, including a rare multi-city run through Iowa. You can see him in Des Moines on April 9th, Iowa City on April 10th, and Dubuque on April 11th at the Five Flags Center.
“I haven’t been to Iowa in, gosh, 38 years or so. And we’ve always had requests throughout the years to get back there. So, I figured we’d just do a whole run of it,” Cho said. For audiences, that means three consecutive nights of comedy from one of the most consistent and approachable voices in stand-up.
Check out my full interview with Henry Cho Below
Cho’s comedy is known for being both adult and clean, a combination that makes his shows approachable for a wider audience. “It’s adult humor. It’s clean. So, your kids can hear it. I hope I’m more cerebral than an eight-year-old, but maybe I’m not,” he said with a laugh. His humor is relatable, family-friendly, and rooted in storytelling, making it enjoyable for anyone. For many in Iowa, Cho’s style fits perfectly with our regions “Iowa nice.”
A Cho performance balances polished material with audience interaction. While modern comics often focus heavily on “crowd work,” Cho described his approach as a mix of prepared material and live improvisation. “I tell you, the kids today call it crowd work. We just used to call it ad-libbing or riffing… My show is, you know, 80% material. There’s always riffing, there’s always ad-libbing, and something unique to my show, I’ve done a Q&A session for probably 38 years.” He even includes audience requests, sometimes pulling jokes from decades past, making each performance unique…