YRB Magazine

“I think I should have my own vibrator,” says Margaret Cho, the San Francisco-born comedian and gay rights advocate. She's fantasizing about expanding the merchandising section of her official website. It currently includes the usual selection of t-shirts, books and CDs, plus a “Beaver Fever” button badge and a sticker emblazoned with the slogan, “I want Jesus to come back and say, 'That's not what I meant!'” Cho's not sure how much the new addition would retail for, but she's confident that the personal item would hit the spot. “I should definitely design a Margaret Cho-branded vibrator,” she laughs. “It would be a good thing to own.”

It's an in-character decision that aligns with her stand-up comedy persona, where she performs routines that aren't shy when it comes to lampooning issues of sexual identity and sending up bedroom athleticism. Having graduated from the San Francisco School of the Arts and catching a break opening for Jerry Seinfeld, she grabbed the American Comedy Award for Best Female Comedian in 1994 and has been steadily expanding her reach ever since. Along with her carnally-charged stage routines, she's etched out a growing career on the television screen (including her own reality-styled venture, The Cho Show), penned a couple of books and is now prepping her first comedy album, which may or may not be titled Guitarded. Taking a break from finishing off her breakfast, YRB checked in with Cho to reflect on her comedy career.

YRB: What are you working on at the moment?

Margaret: There's a bunch of projects, but primarily I'm recording a comedy album of songs. I've been in the studio and we're shopping the project around now. It's a collection of musical songs with goofy lyrics. There are some battle rhymes on there, some hip-hop stuff, some songs set to country and western, some indie rock stuff with the talented Andrew Bird and Patty Griffin. It should be fun to listen to – it's gonna be really great. You should buy it.

YRB: Which musical genre is the best to make spoof songs of?

Margaret: I'd say hip-hop, because it's the most lyric-focused. The lyrics are so in tune with the beat, they move the beat forward, so that's sort of the best for making jokes to. If you're gonna do comedy, then hip-hop lends itself well to that.

YRB: Which modern rappers would be the most fun to team up and make a song with?

Margaret: Probably some of the bigger names like Eminem, or someone who's got that comical touch to their character like Dizzee Rascal. I think Eminem has a lot of comedy influencing his style, if you listen to what he's saying and how he links things together. He'd be great to work with.

YRB: What non-comedy music do you listen to?

Margaret: I listen to everything really; I'm all over the place, including some world music. I used to be a belly dancer for a while, so the Arabic and Egyptian music I'll listen to comes from there. I used to perform in restaurants and at weddings; I did a lot of little shows. I really loved it, it was a great job, but I'm officially retired now.

YRB: Did it pay well?

Margaret: No!

YRB: Is it true that your father writes jokes for a living?

Margaret: Yes, he was a joke writer – he still is – but we don't really have the same sense of humor. He writes Korean joke books, like short one or two line jokes and little stories and anecdotes that you'd put in a speech to liven it up.

YRB: So when did you start to think about comedy as a career?

Margaret: I started very young, when I was 15 years old. I knew even then that I was going to do comedy. It was just the right thing for me. I grew up in San Francisco and I knew there was a lot of comedy happening around me, so from early on I had it planned out in my mind what I was going to do.

YRB: Can you remember your first performance in public?

Margaret: It was at The Rose & Thistle, which was a comedy club above the bookstore my parents ran. My first act was pretty tame, pretty mild. I was only 16. I didn't really know what I was doing. It was all very Hello Kitty-ish. Yeah, it was basically Hello Kitty comedy!

YRB: Which comedians were you influenced by during that time?

Margaret: Back then it was really the character comedians from that era, like Judy Tenuta and Bobcat Goldthwait.

YRB: Who was the funniest person at your school?

Margaret: It wasn't me! I think it was probably Sam Rockwell, who was my comedy partner at the time. He's a famous actor now, but he was very funny at school.

YRB: You moved to L.A. to pursue your comedy career, right?

Margaret: Yeah, in 1991 I moved to L.A. and moved into a house with a bunch of other comics – Janeane Garofalo moved in at one point and Jack Black bought the house eventually. It was fun, but a mess – the dishes never got done, you know? But I think I was a good roommate. The only thing was, I was out on the road a lot so I couldn't really hang out too much. But while I was there I got one of my first important gigs opening for Jerry Seinfeld at one of the big college comedy contests. He said that I should quit school to pursue a career in comedy.

YRB: Can you remember the last time you bombed on stage?

Margaret: I don't remember exactly, but I bomb all the time! [Laughs] I'll tell anyone trying to make it as a comedian: If you bomb, just forget about it 'cause there's going to be a million of them. You know, there's always something bad going to happen, but there's always something good, too.

YRB: Over the years you've moved from just doing stand-up to getting involved with television work. How did your current role in the show Drop Dead Diva come about?

Margaret: That's just a show where I fell in love with the script, with the actors, and with the pilot instantly. I'm happy to be a part of it now. It's really funny, it's beautifully acted, and it's about real people. We're actually on hiatus right now, but we're going to resume shooting in March.

YRB: Is there any topic or subject that you wouldn't make jokes about?

Margaret: No, I don't think so. I think everything is funny. I'd never censor anything.

YRB: The city of San Francisco deputized you to perform gay marriages. Have you done any?

Margaret: Yes, I've done a few, and I think it's great. I'd actually love to do more, but they're not legal now, unfortunately.

YRB: What sort of qualifications do you need to be able to officially marry people?

Margaret: I don't actually know! You just kinda go and they let you do it! To be honest, I suspect I may have been given an honorary position…

YRB: Finally, when you're out and about in daily life, do people expect you to be “funny” all the time?

Margaret: You know, I've found that I don't really have that problem, as people don't recognize me too often. I guess I've managed to perfect my stealth!