Margaret Cho on Raunch

This comedian is busy busting gender stereotypes. Here she talks about her act, raunch, parents, being Korean-American and more.

By Jennifer Drapkin, published on November 01, 2005 - last reviewed on September 19, 2007

A Korean-American comedian who once described herself as having so little maternal instinct that she ovulated sand, Margaret Cho is now happily married and thinking about having kids. But she is also busy busting gender and ethnic stereotypes. Her second book, I Have Chosen to Stay and Fight, is now in stores; she wrapped her first feature film, Bam Bam and Celeste; and her new stand-up routine is as tart and bawdy as ever.

JD: Has marriage changed your standup?

MC: When I talked about relationships before, it was always so unhappy. Since this is a happy situation there is nothing to talk about. But you learn to draw from other things. It is a myth that artists have to be unhappy to produce.

Your parents don't seem to mind you talking about sex on stage.

They don't really understand it. Stand-up comedy doesn't exist in Korea. It's a very American idea of talking about your life and yourself.

I don't think I could get the word "fisting" out in front of my parents. Well, my parents have no idea what it is.

But you pantomime it on stage.

Yeah, it's weird. It just doesn't register.

If, all of a sudden, your parents understood, could you keep doing what you are doing?

They have disapproved of so much for so long that I couldn't let that stop me.

According to one theory, humor is testosterone-driven. Perhaps female comics have been masculinized, which is why you see so many lesbian comedians.

I know female comedians who are very feminine. Comics also have to have a certain courage that is not always considered acceptable for women to have.

So a female comic has to have balls?

Yeah, but you have to be indestructible. Balls are not always indestructible. They are vulnerable. It's about more than balls.