Margaret Cho TOPICS: Comedian Entertainment Celebrity Asian American FEE CATEGORY:* 30.0k to 50.0k TRAVELS FROM: California Profile Request This Speaker

Margaret Cho: Profile

Margaret Cho was born Dec. 5, 1968 and raised in San Francisco. "It was different than any other place on Earth," she says. "I grew up and went to grammar school on Haight Street during the '70s. There were old hippies, ex-druggies, burnouts from the '60s, drag queens, and Chinese people. To say it was a melting pot - that's the least of it. It was a really confusing, enlightening, wonderful time."

Her grandfather was a Methodist minister who ran an orphanage in Seoul during the Korean War. Ignoring the traditions of her patriarchal culture, her mother bravely resisted an arranged marriage in Korea and married Margaret's father who writes joke books - in Korean. "Books like 1001 Jokes for Public Speakers - real corny stuff," Cho says. "I guess we're in the same line of work. But we don't understand each other that way. I don't know why the things he says are funny and the same for him."

Cho started performing stand-up at age 16 in a comedy club called The Rose & Thistle above a bookstore her parents ran. Soon after, she won a comedy contest where first prize was opening for Jerry Seinfeld. She moved to Los Angeles in the early '90s and lived in a house with several other young performers.

"I moved out because I wasn't the most famous. If the Manson Family had come, I wouldn't have been Sharon Tate; I would have been one of the supporting victims, and who wants that? Janeane Garofalo moved into my old room. Anyway, 'Cho' written in blood on the wall doesn't look as cool as 'Garofalo.'

Still in her early twenties, Margaret hit the college circuit, where she immediately became the most booked act in the market and garnered a nomination for Campus Comedian of The Year. Arsenio Hall introduced her to late night audiences, Bob Hope put her on a prime time special and, seemingly overnight, Margaret Cho became a national celebrity.

In 1994, Margaret starred in a short-lived ABC sitcom called All-American Girl. Says Cho:

"There were just so many people involved in that show, and so much importance put on the fact that it was an ethnic show. It's hard to pin down what "ethnic" is without appearing to be racist. And then, for fear of being too "ethnic," it got so watered down for television that by the end, it was completely lacking in the essence of what I am and what I do. I learned a lot, though. It was a good experience as far as finding myself, knowing who I was and what direction I wanted to take with my comedy."

In 1999, Margaret chronicled her experience on the sitcom in an off Broadway one-woman show called I'm The One That I Want. The show was extremely well received, toured the U.S, and was made into a concert film and a best-selling book of the same name. The film, which garnered incredible reviews, broke the record for the most money grossed per print in movie history. After the success of her first show, Cho launched Notorious C.H.O. in 2001, a smash-hit 37-city national tour that culminated in a sold-out concert at Carnegie Hall. Notorious C.H.O. was also recorded and released as a feature film, hailed by the New York Times as "Brilliant!" Both films were acquired by Showtime Cable Networks in 2004 and are currently airing on their channels.

Margaret embarked on her third sold-out national tour, Revolution, in 2003. The tour ultimately grossed 4.4M and was heralded as "Her strongest show yet!" by the Chicago Sun Times. The concert film premiered on the Sundance Channel in 2004 and was released on DVD later that year. The CD of Revolution was nominated for a Grammy for best comedy album of the year for 2003.

In 2004, Margaret took her politically charged State of Emergency tour through the swing states of the Presidential election. Lauded as "Murderously funny!" by the New York Times, State of Emergency eventually evolved into Margaret's fourth national show, Assassin. Her most political and topical work to date, Assassin toured the US, Canada and Australia and was filmed at the Warner Theatre in Washington D.C. The concert film premiered in select theatres and on the gay and lesbian premium channel Here! TV in late 2005. It was recently released on CD by Nettwerk records and on DVD by Koch Entertainment.

Cho has also completed her first narrative feature, Bam Bam and Celeste, which she has described as a fag and fag hag "Dumb and Dumber." Bam Bam and Celeste, directed by Lorene Machado and written by and starring Cho, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in late 2005 and has since played at the AFI Fest and at Fusion, the Los Angeles LGBT People of Color Film Festival.

Margaret's second book, I Have Chosen to Stay and Fight, is a collection of Margaret's essays on all subjects political and pop. A deft mix of Margaret's trademark acerbic wit and artful wordplay, I Have Chosen to Stay and Fight was released by Riverhead Books, a division of Penguin Group (USA) in October of 2005, and has been praised as "Raw. Blunt. Passionate. Empathetic, yet no-holds-barred," by the Star-Telegram.

Next year may see the return of Cho to the small screen, in a role she took on in Bam Bam and Celeste. She is currently developing a new sitcom with Fox and Regency Television, revolving around the character of her "Mommy," treasured by fans of her stand-up. Says Cho, "I am very excited because I finally have actually become my mother.

" Margaret recently received a First Amendment Award from the ACLU of Southern California. Said Ramona Ripston: "In these very troubled times, when the rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution are in jeopardy, we applaud your courage to speak out about the dangerous policies of the Bush administration and your commitment to organizing others to do the same. More than ever before, this country needs activists and artists like you to stand up and let their voices be heard." She has also been honored by GLAAD, American Women in Radio and Television, the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF), the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), PFLAG and the National Organization for Women (NOW) for "making a significant difference in promoting equal rights for all, regardless of race, sexual orientation or gender identity."

"I didn't mean to be a role model. I just speak my truth. I guess speaking from your heart really creates a huge impact, and if I can encourage people to do that, then I would love to be a role model. If I could encourage people to use their voices loudly, then that's my reward. I don't care about winning an academy award; I don't care about mainstream acceptance, because it's never going to be what I want it to be. I just want to do my work and love it."

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