Margaret Cho
Korean-American
Stand-up Comedienne + Actress + Singer-Songwriter
Website: margaretcho.com
Instagram: @margaret_cho
Margaret Cho was born in San Francisco, California to South Korean parents who immigrated to the U.S. in 1964. In the 1970’s her parents bought a gay bookstore called Paperback Traffic, located on Polk Street. It was also the time period that the aids epidemic hit San Francisco, prompting Margaret to start her stand-up comedy career in order to be a positive outlet for the trying times in her diverse community. So starting at the age of 14, Margaret got involved with her high school’s improv comedy group at San Francisco School of the Arts, began writing jokes, and by 16 years old, was performing professionally.
After winning a comedy contest, Margaret was prized with opening for superstar comedian, Jerry Seinfeld. She then moved to Los Angeles in the early ‘90s (her early twenties) and became the most booked act in the market, especially on college campuses. This notoriety led to her nomination for ‘campus comedian of the year’ and a performance record of over 300 concerts within 2 years. In addition, the ABC network scouted Margaret to star in a sitcom about an East Asian family called ‘all-American girl’ in 1994. Although Margaret was an executive producer, and chosen because of who she was, the network executives criticized her for being too fat and too liberal as a Korean-American woman. This controversial experience made her starve herself in hopes of satisfying ‘the powers that be’, ultimately landing her in the hospital with kidney failure. During this time, Margaret’s thoughts of her childhood (bullying, sexual abuse and rape) also resurfaced. These unfortunate ordeals would lead her into a period of alcohol-abuse, although she continued performing to sold-out shows across the country – coping with her past traumas through comedy.
By 1999, Margaret sobered up and vowed never to have history repeat itself. She made the decision to become a boss – making herself fully in charge of her distribution and sales of her future films. Margaret kicked-off her one-woman show titled I’m The One That I Want, which turned into a countrywide tour and an instant success. The tour received “…national acclaim and was made into a best-selling [autobiographical] book and feature film of the same name.” She would continue on a path of sold-out national tours, including a 37-city tour called Notorious C.H.O., which sold-out at Carnegie Hall in 2001, and Revolution in 2003, which garnered a Grammy nomination for ‘Comedy Album of the Year’.
For over two decades, Margaret has been on fire! She has launched 11 national tours, published two books, dropped 9 comedy albums, 2 music albums (Cho Dependent in 2010 and American Myth in 2016), and has appeared in over 60 movies and TV shows (including Sex and the City, Drop Dead Diva, 30 Rock, Hell’s Kitchen, Dr. Ken, Family Guy and Fashion Police). As of today, Margaret is a survivor, comedic pioneer, and ‘Patron Saint For Outsiders’ – “speaking for those who are not able to speak for themselves, and encouraging people…to use their voice to promote change.”
Interesting fact: April 30th, 2008 was declared “Margaret Cho Day” in San Francisco.
Sources: Billboard and margaretcho.com