TCB Infomercial w. Margaret Cho

Summary

The Commercial Break – TCB Infomercial with Margaret Cho

Date: March 26, 2024
Hosts: Brian Green, Kristen Joy Hoadley
Guest: Margaret Cho (Comedian, Writer, Actor)

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Episode Overview

This episode of The Commercial Break welcomes the legendary comedian Margaret Cho as its featured guest. Described as one of Rolling Stone’s "Top 50 Standup Comics of All Time," Cho joins hosts Brian and Krissy for a candid, hilarious, and often profound conversation. The trio explores Margaret’s trailblazing comedy career, her experiences with the LGBTQ and kink communities, her thoughts on comedy as an evolving art, and a variety of wild, personal anecdotes—from failed vegan experiments to dominatrix mishaps and the historic context of her upbringing.

The tone remains unfiltered, irreverent, and celebratory of both the absurd and sincere, living up to TCB’s reputation as the “Cheesecake Factory of comedy podcasts.”

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Margaret’s Upbringing and Early Identity

• Queer Life in the ‘80s: Margaret recalls the challenges and style of being "a straight-up dyke" in the 1980s, describing both the danger and sense of community.
  • “Lesbians just like to hook shit on other shit. It starts with a fucking friendship bracelet and then hooking one thing into another… and then it’s a U-Haul.” (Margaret, 00:00)
• Parents’ Gay Bookstore: Cho’s parents owned a gay bookstore in San Francisco, which doubled as a community center and cultural hub.
  • “We had book signings… readings… [it was] a bookstore that was an art center but mostly for the gay community.” (Margaret, 23:16)
  • Exposure to activism and the AIDS crisis at an early age shaped her sense of empathy and advocacy.

2. On Kink, Fetish, and Dominatrix Days

• Kink Culture Emergence: Margaret connects the rise of kink/BDSM in the gay community to the search for intimacy during the AIDS epidemic—seeking ways to be close without fluid exchange.
  • “Kink was a direct reaction… to find ways to have sex without fluid bonding. …It was like, do it without doing it.” (Margaret, 31:03)
• Failed Dominatrix: She candidly shares her lack of conviction as a dominatrix and her misadventures with rope bondage and shibari.
  • “I’m like, really bad dominatrix. Like, what do they want? I’m so indecisive, and I have no conviction. That’s the worst.” (Margaret, 00:49 and 32:51)

3. Comedy Process, Mentors, and Legacy

• Love of Standup: Cho describes comedy as an "ever-evolving mystery."
  • “Your notoriety will only really buy you about 10 or 15 seconds of grace out there. You have to always deliver and always be funny, no matter who you are.” (Margaret, 16:43)
• Regular Bombing: Even after four decades, she admits she still bombs and constantly works on the craft.
• Influences: Early exposure to legends—Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy, Joan Rivers—helped shape her. Joan became a close mentor.
  • “Joan was really a good friend and a mentor… she had a very musical quality, like a staccato.” (Margaret, 20:55)
• Legacy and Influence: Proud of opening doors for Asian American comedians.
  • “A lot of Asian American comedians look to me as being the major influence… I’m always hitting them up for jobs!” (Margaret, 21:59)

4. Wildest Kinks & Listener Curiosities

• Outrageous Scenes: Cho describes witnessing the "latex vacuum beds" and a billionaire who used a vacuum apparatus to inflate his penis to “the size of a basketball.”
  • “He would put… [the device] onto his penis for up to 48 hours so that his penis would swell to the size of a basketball. And he would just sit around like that for hours.” (Margaret, 36:13)
  • Hosts are simultaneously shocked and amused, marveling at human creativity.
• Phone Sex Whiz Kid: Cho’s early hustle—recording language-learning "sexy" tapes for people learning English:
  • “I was like 15… doing phone sex for people who were just learning English. So it was very simple sentence structure…” (Margaret, 38:22)

5. Comedy Writing & Performance Insights

• Process: Most material is curated via memory; if it works, she remembers it. Doesn’t script word for word but relies on photographic recall for standup sets.
• Adaptation: Every audience requires adjustment. Good comedy is “alive”; she adapts to the room’s energy each night.
  • “You need to sort of tell them [the jokes] the same way, but you also have to be alive to what is the different thing that’s going on.” (Margaret, 47:38)
• Stage Companions: Margaret loves bringing up-and-coming comedians on tour—her opener Daniel Webb joins a list of openers who now fill stadiums.

6. Favorite Collaborators

• Wanda Sykes & Amy Schumer: Cho names these comedians as her favorite partners-in-crime, both for their talent and their offstage camaraderie.
  • “We just have a good time… she and I have the same sense of humor, so we just really laugh.” (Margaret, 41:04 re: Amy Schumer)

7. Personal Touches

• Lucia, the Dog: Discussion closes with a cameo from Margaret’s beloved dog, Lucia, ever-present during the episode’s recording.
  • “She’s so adorable right? …She’s extremely tired.” (Margaret, 49:27)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Margaret on early queer life:

  “But in the 80s, I was a straight up dyke. And it was different then… It was dangerous to be gay, and it was very hard…” (00:00)

• On learning empathy during the AIDS crisis:

  “And then also the people who didn’t die… there was a lot of survivor’s guilt…” (28:44)

• On comedy’s challenge:

  “Your notoriety will only really buy you about 10 or 15 seconds of grace out there. You have to always deliver and always be funny…” (16:43)

• On performer memory:

  “If something works, then I’ll always… I know it works like that. That’s what it does. And then I just file it away.” (45:16)

• The latex vacuum king:

  “They’ll like vacuum seal themselves into like a latex bed…” (Margaret, 34:38)
  “He would hook [a suction machine] onto his penis for up to 48 hours so that his penis would swell to the size of a basketball…” (Margaret, 36:13)

• On gratitude for her impact:

  “A lot of Asian American comedians look to me as being the major influence and, and that’s a really great. To me, that’s the best legacy. I’m really proud of that.” (21:59)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:00–01:12 – Margaret reflects on queer identity in the 1980s and her “straight up dyke” era
• 10:23–16:03 – Hilarious stories about failed vegan chef experiments and kitchen mishaps
• 16:43–21:46 – Discussion of comedy as an evolving art, standup process, and Joan Rivers as mentor
• 21:59–26:37 – Legacy, impact on Asian-American comedy
• 23:16–27:34 – The gay bookstore as a community center and its role during the AIDS crisis
• 31:03–33:53 – The rise of kink culture and Margaret's stint as a dominatrix
• 34:38–37:25 – Most extreme and bizarre kinks witnessed; the infamous “ballooned penis” anecdote
• 38:19–39:37 – Margaret as a teenage phone sex worker (for English language learners!)
• 41:04–42:01 – Favorite comedians to work with: Wanda Sykes and Amy Schumer
• 47:38–48:28 – Adapting material live and her current touring opener Daniel Webb
• 49:27–50:06 – Margaret’s dog Lucia makes an appearance
• 51:25–57:11 – Hosts reflect on Margaret’s pathbreaking legacy and comedic process

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Highlights & Takeaways

• Irreverence Meets Insight: The episode blends raucous laughter with genuine insight into queer history, comedy craft, and the resilience of marginalized communities.
• Comedy Is Never Static: Even legends still bomb and have to earn each laugh night after night; the art evolves alongside the performer.
• LGBTQ+ Advancement: Cho’s openness helped pave the way for other Asian American comics and normalized more diverse stories and experiences in mainstream media.
• Human Oddity Celebration: From wild kink stories to failed tofu, the show revels in the quirks of both its guests and audience.
• Honest Warmth: Despite the humor, Margaret’s warmth, humility, and gratitude permeate the conversation.

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Conclusion

Margaret Cho’s appearance on TCB is both a masterclass in comedy history and a hilarious ride through the wild, weird, and wonderful parts of life. Her candor about queer identity, comedy, kink, and culinary disasters offers a rare—and riotous—glimpse into the mind of a true original.

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Margaret Cho is currently on tour—check out margaretcho.com/tour for tickets.

[For more show info, listener interactions, or to join the podcast’s ongoing chaos, visit tcbpodcast.com.]

Transcript

[Margaret Cho]

But in the 80s, I was a straight up dyke. And it was different then. I mean, we didn't have Queer Eye, you know, we didn't have anything like that, you know, and it was dangerous to be gay, and it was very hard. It was like the 80s, and I was like, I'm gay, I'm gay. I had, like, really heavy boots and, like, cargo pants with lots of shit in the pockets. Like carabiners and D rings and measuring tape. Lesbians just like to hook shit on other shit. It starts with a fucking friendship bracelet and then hooking one thing into another thing, and then it's a U haul.

[Brian Green]

On this episode of the commercial break, were you dominatrix for a while also?

[Margaret Cho]

Yeah, but I am, like, a better raw chef than I am. I'm, like, really bad dominatrix. Like, I'm really, like, what do they want?

[Brian Green]

Right? Really?

[Margaret Cho]

I'm so indecisive, and I'm really, like, I have no conviction. That's the worst.

[Brian Green]

Yeah.

[Margaret Cho]

Like, I'm like a real, like. Okay. Like, I just don't. Don't have what it takes to be a good dog.

[Brian Green]

The next episode of the commercial break starts now. Welcome back to the commercial break. I'm Brian Green. This is the minister of Justice, Kristen Joy Hoadley. Best to you, Chrissy, and best to you out there in the podcast universe. My mic up, just. My microphone just did a hiccup. I don't know. I don't know how that happened.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Oh, has it been drinking?

[Brian Green]

The studio is now falling apart. We got it all together just in time for two weeks of perfectness, and now it's all going to start falling apart. We don't have the money to recover, so we may be doing a. I don't know. We'll probably.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

We'll go back to the basics like when we first started.

[Brian Green]

Go back to the basics. Maybe my microphone stand is breaking. And I'll take my flashlight and I'll just hang it from here and we'll stick the microphone in the vagina if it'll fit. I. The great Margaret Cho is here today. What an honor to have someone named.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

She's a legend.

[Brian Green]

Named one of the top 50 standup comics of all time by Rolling Stone. If you know, you know, it's hard not to know. Margaret Cho, the Notorious Cho. And I'm so just starstruck a little bit, if I'm being honest about having.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Margaret Cho to have her for sure. And she's been in the business 40 years.

[Brian Green]

Yeah.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

I mean, and. And she's still going strong.

[Brian Green]

I've been in the business 40 years, too, only I just got a microphone four years ago. I had to save up my. All my allowance. Yeah, I'm so happy to have her on. So, Margaret, show coming up in just a few minutes. But first, Chrissy, let me share with you little story that I read. And I think it's about time. I think it's about time. So you know, all these states after Roe was overturned, and now all these states are taking extreme measures to make sure that, you know, women don't have rights over their. And you don't need to be. You just need to be a casual listener of the commercial break to understand that that's not the way we swing. We. I don't believe right in one bit of it. I just think it's all horseshit. It's all horse cocky. But if we're going to do what's fair, fair is fair. And Kentucky, one of the states that I believe is passing these incredibly restrictive abortion laws, Kentucky has now passed a bill that makes it legal for mothers to collect child support from the moment of conception, which according most of the people who would like to see abortion outlawed in any way, shape or form, conception is the second. You jizz. Essentially, that's it. Right? So now a mother has the right to go collect child support from the second that. From the moment they get done making love. All right. Amen. Raise the stakes for everybody, why don't we. Right. Make you think twice about, like, have you been watching Love is Blind or you watch Love is Blind? Yes. That guy Jeremiah or whatever his name is, Jeremy with an A. How do you spell that? I have no idea. That guy didn't know how a dick worked. Did you see that? He was like, I didn't know that all women weren't on birth control. What are you, a moron?

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

He's like, I didn't know the ins and outs of birth control.

[Brian Green]

You don't know the ins and outs of.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Yeah. Somebody was like, what about just the condom?

[Brian Green]

Yeah, just use a condom. Yeah.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

He's like, I don't know. Well, to be honest, everybody's always taking care of it.

[Brian Green]

To be honest. I never really had to worry about it. You never had to worry about it. Yeah, that's right. You never had to worry about it, Jeremy, I gotta say, like, you know, good for them. In love and everything seems to be going well for them. Yes.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

They're expecting.

[Brian Green]

He's. They are? Yeah. Really?

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

I think so.

[Brian Green]

Are you serious?

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

I think so.

[Brian Green]

Oh, my God. Well, that's how sex works. Jeremy. Congratulations. They're trying. Yeah, I thought the whole thing was he didn't want to try. The whole thing was they weren't having sex because he didn't want to be inconvenienced by birth control. I mean, what a nudnik thing to say. Fred Flintstone said smarter stuff. Do you know what I'm saying? Barney Rubble had more brains in his head and his name was Barney Rubble. I mean, come on, man. Come on, dude.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Yeah, but good for Kentucky, by the way.

[Brian Green]

Listen, I'm down with this. What's good for the goose is good for the gander, as we learned 70 episodes ago when we spent an entire episode wondering what good for the goose, good for the gander meant.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

I forgot about the gander.

[Brian Green]

We had so many people write in and be like, that's a nice saying, but I don't think a gander has anything to do with geese. Isn't it a gander of geese? We are not going to go through it again. Okay? Yeah, but I agree with this 1000% because you gotta. If. If someone's going to have to deal with the consequences and it takes two to tango, then let two people deal with the consequences. That's how it should go.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Yeah. In it together.

[Brian Green]

Especially if we're gonna, you know, outlaw some of the choices that were otherwise there to listen. We. I don't want to go through a big political speech here. I just want my women friends, you and my wife and everybody else to know that it is not my place to make that decision. And it never will be. Unfortunately, God did not equip me with the uterus. Actually, fortunately, God did not equip me with the uterus. So I say, hey, hey.

[Margaret Cho]

Yay.

[Brian Green]

Yay. Let's go.

[Margaret Cho]

Yeah.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

You should have the choice for a safe. A safe alternative if that's the choice that you make.

[Brian Green]

Oh, yeah. Let's not even get into the.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

I know. I was just watching a documentary actually yesterday about this guy in Hollywood, Scotty, and I can't remember his last name, but it was pretty crazy, I guess. He wrote a book a few years ago about all the dalliances that happened in, like, the 40s and 50s, you know, when people weren't able to be gay or anything or bi or anything else other than just straight. Yeah. So he wrote this tell all, but, you know, they were talking about. About his daughter. His daughter died at 23 from having an abortion that was unsafe.

[Brian Green]

Unbelievable. Yeah, unbelievable. Welcome to the 1940s, kid.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

I know. It's crazy.

[Brian Green]

That's why it excites me that Margaret Cho is here today. Let me explain a little bit. Not only is Margaret Cho one of the best standup comedians of comedians, period, of all time, and I agree with that, actually, but she has also been a big flag waiver for the fetish community, the kink community, the be what you be, do what you do community, Ubu community. And I can't think of another famous person that probably has been so out there on. On a lot of these issues.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Yes.

[Brian Green]

And so early. Like back in the night, we were just talking about it, I think the first time. And I want to talk to her about this. I think the first time that I saw Margaret Cho was probably. Probably her Arsenio hall appearance.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

That's right.

[Brian Green]

Back in the early 90s. That dates me, but it dates her too. So the both of us are, as far as age is concerned, we're all on the backside. We just don't give a anymore exact. But back in the early 90s, when I'm telling you something, there weren't a lot of. There certainly weren't a lot of comedians that were talking about LGBTQ issues, fetish, kink. I mean, just like so many stereotypes and so many walls broken by Margaret Joe. And it'll be exciting to talk to her about all that stuff.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

I can't wait.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, well, maybe we'll talk to her about Kentucky too, because, you know, good for Kentucky. Yes, Good for Kentucky. Okay, you want to do this? Let. Why don't we take a short break? Do you want to do this? We already know what we're going to do. Do you want to do this?

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Let's do it.

[Brian Green]

I've only said that 12F is 12 interviews in a row. Do you want to do this? Do you want to take a break? And then after the break, we'll actually have the guest here in a move of podcast magic. We'll just port her in live while we're on the commercial break.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

I would like to do that.

[Brian Green]

You would like to do that. Okay, then let's do that. And we'll also change outfits just in case you're watching this on YouTube. All right, we'll take a short break. We'll be back with Margaret show.

[Producer/Announcer]

Well, thank the baby Jesus. Brian took a breath. And now I will use this opportunity to let you know that we've got a brand new phone number. That's right. It's 212-4333, TCB. And you can text us anytime you want, or you can call and leave us a voicemail and we might just use your message on the show once Brian gets through all the messages he missed last year, of course. Anyway, you can also find and DM us on Instagram hecommercial break and on TikTok CBpodcast. And of course all of our audio and video is easily found on tcbpodcast.com now I'm going to thank G one more time that we have sponsors. So thank G. And here they are.

[Brian Green]

And we're here with Margaret right now. Hi Margaret, thanks for joining us today. We really appreciate it.

[Margaret Cho]

Thank you.

[Brian Green]

Hi Margaret. Inquiring minds want to know, and Chrissy and I were talking about this right before you appeared magically on our screen here. What is the worst thing that you have ever tasted, drank or tasted like the worst thing?

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

I guess eatin or drink.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, eatin.

[Margaret Cho]

Yeah. Okay. So I was studying to be a raw vegan chef.

[Brian Green]

Okay.

[Margaret Cho]

And this was at the turn of the century. So this is 2000.

[Brian Green]

Okay.

[Margaret Cho]

The year's 2000. And I was, this is before like, I mean, erewhan existed, but we didn't have the erewhon that we have now. I mean we didn't really have the whole foods that we have now. It was very different. All those things existed. But that was not to the extent of raw vegan.

[Brian Green]

They were like collectives and little markets here and there.

[Margaret Cho]

Yeah.

[Brian Green]

They weren't like, you know, mass produced, beautifully quality food. Right.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Yeah.

[Margaret Cho]

Gotcha. No, so a lot of trial and error. So one time I made a, I tried to sprout soybeans and then make like a, a kind of like a, a sort of a my own tofu.

[Brian Green]

Okay.

[Margaret Cho]

And I, I, I did it wrong and, but it looks so beautiful. Like it looked like Duncan Hines yellow cake batter mix.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Oh wow.

[Margaret Cho]

You know that beautiful like golden color and that, that creamy consistency and it looks so good. But I ate some and I threw up immediately because the taste was so awful. Like it was bitter and acrid and like I ate a big bunch and it was just like the worst, I mean the worst things I've eaten are for by my own hand. I am really. Sometimes I'm so terrible. I'm a chef in general. Sometimes I'm real terrible because I do things that are not, not really. You shouldn't do, don't do that, don't do that. Don't do that. Yeah, don't sprout it and then. Yeah, don't, don't, don't do that. Like, because I just don't have the capacity. I've made myself sick multiple times, you know, just because I just don't have a handle. But I also like know like what to serve people and what to not serve.

[Brian Green]

Serve people. Yeah.

[Margaret Cho]

My experimental kitchen is my only. It's my own doing. But yeah, the worst thing that. And then I tried to make something with soursop and I did it wrong.

[Brian Green]

What is soursop?

[Margaret Cho]

Soursop is a kind of a fruit. It's sort of an exotic fruit. I think it's kind of a. More of a kind of a Caribbean fruit. Even from that region of the world. A little bit tropical and really. Not good. Not good. Cherimoya. Same thing. Not good, not good. I made some puddings out of the, you know, not. I shouldn't have done it.

[Brian Green]

Don't do that. My wife is from Venezuela and she's always trying to get me to try stink fruit. Do you know what stink fruit is?

[Margaret Cho]

Oh, I have not.

[Brian Green]

Okay.

[Margaret Cho]

Like I have not.

[Brian Green]

It's this just. There is no smell on earth and I've never smelled a decomposing body because I keep them under the house like most people should. And so I've never, I've never smelled anything quite as terrible as stink fruit. And I'm sure that's not the actual name. I think it's like the proverbial name that they give it. It's stink fruit. But it is just. It smells so bad. How could you ever want to put it in your mouth? That's just my opinion personally.

[Margaret Cho]

Well, sometimes this smell is not related to the taste.

[Brian Green]

Agreed.

[Margaret Cho]

Like durian.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Margaret Cho]

Durian is a very off putting smell. It smells like, like lawn, like dirty laundry or like feet or like a decomposing body. That's also kind of what it's compared to, but in taste it's quite like mango. I think it's similar to.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Oh wow, that's a bit different.

[Margaret Cho]

Very ripe papaya. You know, there's a, a really, a delicious unctuousness to it, you know, that's similar to those fruits but the smell is somewhat off putting. Off putting. And unrelated.

[Brian Green]

I felt that way about like certain kinds of Roquefort cheese, like blue cheeses and stuff like that. I felt that way for a long time in my early 20s until I actually tasted it. And then I was like, oh, this is delicious. I cannot believe I've been missing out on this all my life because it was so good. Do you remain vegan today?

[Margaret Cho]

No, no, no.

[Brian Green]

Okay.

[Margaret Cho]

I, I eat everything. But at that time I was trying to accomplish Something. I don't even know what.

[Brian Green]

Me too. I did vegetarian for like six days. And I was just trying to be a better human, I guess is like the best way to explain, like do something good for, for myself and maybe the earth and the poor animals and all this other stuff. But I just didn't, I don't know, it didn't stick with me. Yeah, it didn't take. It was six days, wasn't it? Yeah.

[Margaret Cho]

Yeah. Well, I went to a camp with Liza Minnelli and Ben Vereen in the year 2000 and I. So I so wanted to be like this raw vegan, you know, it was this very, like amazing. It was this amazing health place where a lot of people went to, you know, when they had these life threatening illnesses and they didn't have anywhere to turn. So they would go to this one place that was like this healing camp, whatever, and you learned how to become a raw vegan chef and, you know, and they kind of showed you. And I took all these classes, but that I did not apply that knowledge in my own kitchen.

[Brian Green]

Bring on the bacon. I think it was the bacon that I couldn't stay away from. Let's be honest.

[Margaret Cho]

Bacon's good. Bacon's good. It's hard to replicate. I mean, I know that there's lots of different kinds of like, you know, they do it with tempeh, they do it with all sorts of different things you could do with jackfruit, I believe.

[Brian Green]

Sure. But I've had it.

[Margaret Cho]

Yeah. Yeah. It's really, it's, it's really its own thing. It's not the same. There's something about the flesh of an animal.

[Brian Green]

Yeah. And I'm sorry, little piggies, but you're just so delicious. Margaret, you're such a legendary comic. And it seems, it seems to me, at least from my point of view, you seemingly have broke every stereotype and possible prejudice to just become so successful and then, I don't know, kind of clear a path for others behind you. Do you still love the joke? Do you still love the art of comedy? Are you still in love with getting up there and making people laugh after all these years?

[Margaret Cho]

Well, thank you. And yes, it's a mystery because comedy is an ever evolving mystery that you will never quite know figure out, you know, like it's. And your notoriety will only really buy you about 10 or 15 seconds of grace out there. You have to always deliver and always be funny, no matter who you are. You know, the most famous illustrious comedians. Bomb.

[Brian Green]

Yeah.

[Margaret Cho]

Because you, you, you don't have time. You don't have the time.

[Brian Green]

No.

[Margaret Cho]

You don't have the luxury of time. It's our job description. It's just, it has to be satisfied all the time. You cannot. That's the best thing about it and the worst thing about it. So do you still continually work on it?

[Brian Green]

Do you still bomb. Do you still have bad nights? Yeah, yeah.

[Margaret Cho]

And yeah, also I do a lot of nights, so. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Brian Green]

You're working all the time, right? I mean you're just like how many nights a week do you work still up on stage?

[Margaret Cho]

I guess I would say 4, 3 to 4 to 5. Like it depends because I sort of divide my time amongst other types of things too, so. And also other kinds of live performance so that I'm trying to work on as well. So it's, it's more like I, I mean it's the majority of what I go out for, like all the, like to the farmer's market or the comedy club. It's one or the other. So it's like that kind of thing.

[Brian Green]

When you were young. I have asked this question of a few of a few comedians that I hold in high regard and I, and I. Do you also. What is the first thing you remember being funny?

[Margaret Cho]

I just. Well, we had a really old school vcr. You know my parents had when it had, was had wood, wood on the side, the wood paneling.

[Brian Green]

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, I remember.

[Margaret Cho]

Yeah, yeah. And I mimic the, the grain of the television. So it was like these wood sided like old technology. But we had an old VCR and my dad really loved stand up comedy. So we would get to watch old, like we would get to watch old concert comedy films that he, we would rent at the video store. So we rented like Buddy Hackett in concert which was so funny and ridiculous. And also Richard Pryor. All of Richard Pryor's comedy shows were on video. Like it was a really big deal. So. And also very adult. Like a lot of things I didn't even understand was what was happening, you know, as I was really too young to even know what these jokes were about. Exactly.

[Brian Green]

Sure.

[Margaret Cho]

But the fact that he was so animated and you know, just engaging to watch, you know, he was just quite a mimic and really just so like kind of majestic, you know, in this way. He's kind of like this king. I, I really took to that. And then of course I think Eddie Murphy's Delirious when I was a little bit older that had a huge, huge impact, you know, because you saw that comedy now sort of Branched into this rock star kind of thing, which I think Eddie Murphy was really kind of the first to do that. And then, then I think the person that really clinched it for me was Joan Rivers. When I saw her, I was really like, oh, this is what I, I will grow up to be.

[Brian Green]

Yeah. Something about those prior Carlin, Chris Rock, you know, later on. They stalk the stage. They stalk the stage. You make, they make you pay attention. Your eyes can't leave them. The rhythmic. It's almost musical in a way. And that always got me about some of my favorite stand up comics is that there was a musicality to it, but there was also a very commanding presence about it. Joan was like that too. She had a very, like, she, absolutely. You couldn't take your eyes off her if she was in the room. I remember watching her in my grandma's like guest bedroom on Johnny Carson show because I think she would, she would guest host there sometimes, I believe. Yeah. And that was like my first exposure with Joan.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

And you guys got to be friends too and know each other, right? Yes, yeah.

[Margaret Cho]

Yes. We were very, very good friends. And she had a very musical quality. It was like a staccato.

[Brian Green]

Yeah.

[Margaret Cho]

That's kind of like the way that, you know, you would hear her voice in your head. It was like it was this beat, you know, and it is very musical. But Joan was really a good friend and a mentor and certainly as later in life, as I got older and she was just so important. So, you know, I really miss her. You know, it's been 10 years now.

[Brian Green]

It's hard to believe.

[Margaret Cho]

Yeah, it's a long time. But also her presence is so enormous. And as I get older, I think, oh, this is. Joan would like this. Joan would get, get a kick out of this and you know, she would have laughed or she would have enjoyed it.

[Brian Green]

As you get older, does your impact on comedy, does it, does that become more important? Like, is it something that you think about your own impact on?

[Margaret Cho]

Well, I know that, I know that, like what's great is that I get. Got to encourage a lot of Asian American comedians to think, oh, I can do this, you know, So a lot of Asian American comedians look to me as being the major influence and, and that's a really great. To me, that's the best legacy. I'm really proud of that. And I'm always hitting them up for jobs. Like, I'm always hitting up like Ali Wong. Like you would get me season two of Beef. You know, you gotta get, you gotta, you gotta like, I just really? Because I just really want to ride their coattails all the way up. But I. I'm really grateful to. To have had a hand in their development. And, you know, they're so amazing.

[Brian Green]

Yeah. Oh, yeah, for sure. It's full circle. It's. The children eat their young eventually. You know what I'm saying?

[Margaret Cho]

I love it.

[Brian Green]

You ride my coattails and I'll ride yours a little bit later.

[Margaret Cho]

I love it.

[Brian Green]

You had a really interesting upbringing. You. Your parents owned a gay bookstore as. So by gay bookstore. When you refer to this, and we've seen this a number of times in podcasts and interviews. Is it just mainly gay material that they are. That your parents were selling inside of the bookstore, or was it like a community center, like a place to congregate and hang out?

[Margaret Cho]

Both. I mean, it also sold, like, mainstream literature, mainstream books, and, you know, whatever that is. Like photography books, which is also kind of gay. Yeah, Art. Any kind of literature. We would have book signings. People would do readings. You know, it was like an old school, like, independent bookstore. I mean, at that time, it wasn't, like, considered independent because, you know, Amazon and stuff like that didn't exist, but, like, it would be like an independent bookseller, like today.

[Brian Green]

Right.

[Margaret Cho]

So. And the focus was on gay literature, but also everybody else. And, you know, we had a very, like, large section for magazines. We had a lot of tattoo magazines. And that's where I met Don Ed Hardy, who was selling his own, like, Tattoo Time, these, like, specialized books that he would make and curate, showing tattooing from all over the world. So he would bring them in and we would sell them on consignment, and he would tattoo a lot of the people at the bookstore.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Wow.

[Brian Green]

So cool.

[Margaret Cho]

And he ended up tattooing me later in the early 2000s. So it's like, I think it was just sort of a bookstore that was a art center, but mostly for the gay community.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

And how did they get into.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, yeah, that's a great question.

[Margaret Cho]

Well, I don't. I don't really know exactly. I think they just liked the idea of having a bookstore. It was like this thing that my dad wanted to do. My dad was also a writer, so he just liked the. The sort of literary pursuit of being a, you know, sort of this bookseller. And, you know, he wanted to curate window displays and. And things like, you know, having, like, different. We had like, a one time we had sort of a big manger, so, you know, you. For Christmas and you had all of the figures reading books, like, you know, like, Mary's reading. I love that, you know, like Simone de Beauvoir, like feminist stuff and you know, Jesus is reading like a children's book. Just stuff like that that's sort of very like, it's barely irreverent, but also kind of alludes to like sort of of literature.

[Brian Green]

And it was like just a satirical. If you knew what he was going for.

[Margaret Cho]

Yeah, it's cute. And I think so he wanted to have also like a community center.

[Brian Green]

Yeah.

[Margaret Cho]

So I think, yeah, they just wanted something that was there and that particular Brookster had come up for sale. So that's why.

[Brian Green]

Ah, I wonder. Like I wish I had Europe.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

I know it seems like a great place.

[Brian Green]

So open minded. I mean then we're not talking about this like you having your parents having bought this bookstore in 2020. This is back in the 70s, am I right?

[Margaret Cho]

Yeah, this was in 1978.

[Brian Green]

So the world was such a different place back then. How far we've come and how not far we've come over the last, you know, a couple of decades. But your parents are so open minded. I imagine that had a big influence on who you became because they were just wide open.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Hey, you don't have access to all of that.

[Margaret Cho]

Yes, it's really lucky. And I think also because so in San Francisco, and it's in that era was also very progressive in its own way. And they were electing Harvey Milk to public office. He was the first gay public official politician in elected office. And so there was political movements happening. And so getting to grow up around that was. Was incredibly, you know, like an incredible education. And my first gay pride was in 1978. So that's an amazing thing to grow up next to and around. And also the heartbreaking thing of having to grow up alongside aids, which was a horrifying. I mean you can't even imagine the desperation that the community felt at that time. And to return from that is also really triumphant.

[Brian Green]

The kind of exposure, I mean, I'm, you know, I grew up in the 80s and so the AIDS epidemic was just national news for years and years and years. And I never forget my mom, I think maybe watching an Oprah episode and bawling her eyes out about how people didn't want to touch people that had HIV or aids. And the. How she told us, you know, these people, they're not pariahs, like they're not lepers. And I'm like 8 years old, so I'm like, you know, I don't even really understand what's going on But I just remember my mom being so emotionally affected by this. But this is as far as it went. I grew up in a suburban Chicago area, so I wasn't in San Francisco, where it was kind of ground zero for this. And I bet that must have been greatly affected. Affecting as such a young person whose parents owned this bookstore that became a community center. And how devastating. And like you said, a sense of desperation that went on there. And I bet there was a lot of sadness and a lot of heartbreak that went on there over those years also, you know, people passing away and getting sick and all that other stuff.

[Margaret Cho]

It was so dark and traumatic. And I think, you know, and then also the people who didn't die, you know, we had a lot of survivor's guilt as well.

[Brian Green]

Yeah.

[Margaret Cho]

So you had a sense of this community collapse, and then our business collapsed underneath all of that as well. The entire infrastructure of that neighborhood collapsed. So in a sense, you know, that there was. There was a couple of gay neighborhoods in San Francisco that were really very, very big. I mean, the whole city's very gay. But there was two. It was kind of centralized into two huge neighborhoods. And then our neighborhood, the Polk District, completely collapsed, and the Castro remained. So. And I think that's still true to this day. It's really sort of.

[Brian Green]

It never came back.

[Margaret Cho]

Castro that remains, but the Polk District never came back.

[Brian Green]

Oh, that's. That's very interesting and so sad. And you don't think about that when you think about the, the AIDS epidemic. You don't think about the survivors guilt. And then the, the businesses, the people who were going to work every day, who one day just weren't there. Right. And all these other things. And the, the businesses that also, the people that frequented the businesses that catered to the LGBT community. And then all of a sudden, they're just not there or they're too devastated or they move away because it's too sad. What a. Yeah, that's a. I, I. You know, we all think about COVID as the most recent, you know, devastating health issue that happened. But I think that, but when we were going through that or when the, the country was going through that, I do remember that being just so sad. And just the way that I remember my mom being affected by that visual, that visually striking sobbing in the family room. I knew that it was sad. Right. It must have been something sad. You.

[Margaret Cho]

But really sad.

[Brian Green]

Did that also, I think, like, spur on your. I see you as a very, as a, Like a champion of all things fetish and kink and you know, lgbtq, you're so, so damn open minded. I wish we. I wish everybody was like you. Do you think that that empathy, that being in the middle of that, that helped you kind of form this, like, deep well of love and affection and wanting to champion these causes? Because I think you've been very, you know, out there on these causes. You're not a shrinking violet when it comes to this.

[Margaret Cho]

No. Well, thank you.

[Brian Green]

You're welcome.

[Margaret Cho]

Well, I think kink was a direct reaction, reaction to the way that we were learning as a community to heal and also to find ways to have sex without fluid bonding.

[Brian Green]

Very interesting.

[Margaret Cho]

So kink became a way to look at this idea of sex being still risky, but not actually risky. So how do we, like, do it without doing it? Yeah, yeah. Find a way to do it that doesn't necessarily involve exchanging fluids, yet at the same time is immersive and transgressive. So kink was almost this out, like, outside idea that became, oh, wow. We could actually do something that is really, really transformative and, you know, incredibly cathartic, but we don't have to put our lives at risk when we're living with hiv. So it's a really specific kind of thing that I was drawn to BDSM because it was sort of like the time period. And also those sorts of businesses around the gay community were really booming, like in that era in like the 90s when we're talking about the worst part of the AIDS epidemic pandemic. You had the kink community emerging really triumphant because here's an alternative way where we can kind of get busy with ourselves and each other without putting anybody in harm's way.

[Brian Green]

Oh, that's a very. That's very interesting. I never even thought about it like that. And. And you became a. Were you dominatrix for a while also?

[Margaret Cho]

Yeah, but I, I'm like a better raw chef than I am. I'm like, really bad dominatrix. Like, I'm really like, what do they want?

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Right?

[Brian Green]

Really?

[Margaret Cho]

I'm so indecisive and I'm really like, I have no conviction. That's the worst. Yeah. Like, I'm like a real, like. Okay. Like, I just don't. Don't have what it takes to be a good dominatrist. I do, like, every so often, like, I'll go back and so before the pandemic, I was doing this thing with my friends where we were going to be rope doms. So we're going to do suspension bondage and like, you know, with like, all the Japanese ties and the knots, shibari and stuff. So I started doing that, and then we had to stop doing them in person because of the lockdown, and it never quite came back. And there's something about it. When you do it online, it's really hard to figure out because everything's reversed.

[Brian Green]

Right. It's a mirror.

[Margaret Cho]

I'm like, what do I.

[Brian Green]

What do I.

[Margaret Cho]

You have to get behind me. I don't know what I'm doing. Like, so it's like, I'm much better off if I do it in person. But those classes haven't come back yet. When they do, I'm definitely into it, but it's. It's really hard to do it online.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Class, you know?

[Producer/Announcer]

Yeah.

[Brian Green]

Listen, I am, you know, a straight white guy from Chicago. Right. But I have met a few women who have been into some BDSM type stuff, and I'm like you. I just don't have a conviction. I'm like, I don't want to hurt you.

[Producer/Announcer]

Really?

[Brian Green]

I mean, is that really what you want? I don't know. It's just. But that's, you know, that's not for me. That particular thing is not for me. But there. I also feel like sometimes kink is a little performative also. And that part of it I can get into sometimes. Like, you know, there's kinks that I feel are performative and that's. Can be fun in the bedroom. What's like the. What is the. Because I feel you're much more of an expert at this than the commercial break. But what is like the kinkiest kink you've heard of, been a part of, seen like the most out there. There.

[Margaret Cho]

Oh, the weirdest what it is like latex beds where they're like compressed and then so, you know, when you vacuum seal food.

[Brian Green]

Yeah.

[Margaret Cho]

They'll like vacuum seal themselves into like a latex bed.

[Brian Green]

Wow.

[Margaret Cho]

So that's like. To me, I'm like.

[Producer/Announcer]

I'm like, what? Okay.

[Margaret Cho]

Like when you back. Oh, okay. Okay. So I get. I don't know what, what.

[Brian Green]

What turns them on. Yeah.

[Margaret Cho]

But that, that any kind of like a vacuum thing or. Like, there was but one guy that really, like, that took the cake was this guy who. Really nice guy, and he would take a. He rigged a. A veterinary, like a medicine, like a medical machine that usually is used in veterinary medicine. And it's like a suction thing to pull out body fluids. So he rigged it to use it on his penis and he would put. Hook it onto his penis for up to, like, 48 hours so that his penis would swell to the size of a. Like a basketball. So it looked like he was holding a basketball in his lap, but it.

[Brian Green]

Was actually his penis.

[Margaret Cho]

Penis. And he would just sit around like that for hours. And after taking out the sort of the suction thing and, you know, he described it as being. He was high off the sensation and, you know, because of blood left his head. Yeah. I couldn't figure out, like, he wasn't really either a top or bottom. It had no sort of power dynamic involved.

[Brian Green]

Okay.

[Margaret Cho]

Like, it wasn't like somebody was forcing him to do that. It wasn't like he would, you know, he wasn't using it because it was just like a marshmallow, so it couldn't be inserted into anything.

[Brian Green]

So it wasn't necessarily about, like, you know, I'm sure that it's a kink. So I'm sure there was some kind of pleasure involved for him. Whether that was maybe the blood leaving his head and enlarging it. Yeah, maybe.

[Margaret Cho]

I. It's the body modification that he was excited by. And so it didn't necessarily fit because he would show up to, like, these, like, quote, unquote, like, play parties at all these dungeons. Sometimes dungeons will hold, like, these parties where they sort of have lots of different types of people come and use the facility to play, and then it's almost very performative. So he would have his own room where he would do that.

[Brian Green]

Wow.

[Margaret Cho]

And he would pay for, like, the most expensive. Very, very wealthy. So he'd pay for, like, the most expensive. He had, like, yachts and stuff. Like, he was this, like, really rich guy. But also, like, you couldn't. I couldn't.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Whoa.

[Margaret Cho]

I couldn't figure out.

[Brian Green]

You couldn't figure it out? Yeah, I can't figure it out either. Like. But I mean, that's the wonderful thing I think about kink, when you think about it, is that if, you know, if you want to do it, you can do it. Like, as long as you're not on, you know, without consent, hurting somebody else, then do it. Whatever. It's. It's all good. You want to dress up like a furry. Cool. You want to blow your penis up to the size of a basketball. Cool. Or suck it up to the size of a basketball. I've seen. I've seen that done on vaginas. Like, I've. I've seen that in certain videos. I've seen people, like, suck those, you know, that put those suctions on their vaginas. And I'm Sure. That also probably brings some kink. Were you a phone sex worker one time, too?

[Margaret Cho]

Yeah, when I was really young.

[Brian Green]

How young?

[Margaret Cho]

I was like 15.

[Brian Green]

Holy.

[Margaret Cho]

I was doing it like 15, but I didn't talk to anybody. Like, I was doing, like, recorded messages, so.

[Brian Green]

Oh.

[Margaret Cho]

I tried sort of like. I sort of got, like, tried to talk to people, but then it wasn't working, so they would, like, have us. So I had my friend and I would write these kind of, like, messages and then we would read them. And it was this thing called Hot Girls USA where we were doing phone sex for people who were just learning English. So it was a very simple sentence structure. And the girls. My name is Mary. I have large breasts. And you, you know, you would just go through the, you know, like these very simple sentences so people learning English could get an understanding of, you know, I don't. I don't. I guess they were like learning English.

[Brian Green]

Duolingo for horny people.

[Margaret Cho]

Yes. So this. This is all sort of before apps and before.

[Brian Green]

Oh, yeah.

[Margaret Cho]

Rosetta Stone or any of those things. So you. You had another way. But that was a. It was actually. We made a lot of money doing that.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Yeah.

[Margaret Cho]

So it was really great.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Those services made a lot of money.

[Brian Green]

Yeah. My dad can tell you he paid quite a. Quite a few of those bills. It was a.

[Margaret Cho]

Those 976.

[Brian Green]

976, 1900 numbers. We've done episodes on this before, but, you know, there were these companies that were making millions and millions of dollars a week, you know, bringing in, you know, people that wanted to talk sex on the phone.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

And I can imagine Sex and the psychics.

[Brian Green]

The Sex and the psychics.

[Margaret Cho]

Those two, like Ms. Cleo. Ms. Cleo?

[Brian Green]

Yeah, Miss Cleo. There's a version of Ms. Cleo that's back. I think there's like, you know, California psychics or something like that. I just don't think they can make the promises that Ms. Cleo did because I hear she got in trouble.

[Margaret Cho]

So interesting.

[Brian Green]

I know you over your career have worked with so many people, you've done so many things. Television, film, comedy. Can you pinpoint the. Your favorite comedian that you've worked with? Like that you've worked with? Not a favorite comedian that you've seen, but a favorite comedian or two that you have worked with.

[Margaret Cho]

Well, I really love working with Wanda Sykes because we just laugh. She's so great and we have a good time. You know, we do karaoke and she loves to sing some Jeffrey Osbourne.

[Brian Green]

Oh, really?

[Margaret Cho]

And she's just very Good. She's a really good. She's such a good person to hang out with and just, like, laugh. I also laugh a ton with Amy Schumer. We really get along.

[Brian Green]

You're in.

[Margaret Cho]

We really get along.

[Brian Green]

You're in life. And Beth, right?

[Margaret Cho]

Yeah. Yeah. So we really. We just. We just have a good time, you know, and she and I have the same sense of humor, so we just really. We really laugh. And, you know, I really appreciate her in so many ways.

[Brian Green]

So one of our producers would like you to know her name is Christina. One of our producers, she's such a huge fan of yours, and she would like you to know that her dream ob GYN is you just.

[Margaret Cho]

Oh, thank you. Thank you. I agree. I think I would be good at that. I think I. That's the one thing that I would be able to do very easily, I think.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

I love that show. I haven't gotten to your specific episode yet because I just started binging it, but, yeah, it's a great show. I love the first season, too. So, yeah, I love it.

[Brian Green]

And I do have to tell you, even though I think it's a total of 5 full minutes in the entire series, I think your turn on 30 rock was so fucking hilarious. I just think it was so good. Did you enjoy working on that show?

[Margaret Cho]

Oh, I loved it. You know, I love. I love Tina, too. Tina is just really an incredible, incredible person. And, you know, she's so. I've done quite a few things with her, you know, we. Things that haven't made it on the air, you know, unfortunately, like, I've done, like, pilots with her, and she's just. She always puts me in things. She's always thinking of me, and I'm just so grateful to her for that. But I also just enjoy her comedy, her perspective, and she's just, just. She's. She's awesome.

[Brian Green]

She seems like one of those human beings that was just born a badass. You know what I'm saying? In my opinion, she seems like she can do no wrong comedically when she acts, when she's. You know, I'm assuming when she's writing, when she'd host those shows, she's just so good every time.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Seems like a great person.

[Brian Green]

She seems like a good human being, too. So you're on tour right now, as I'm sure that is the concept. Constant in your life, you're always onto. Well, I mean, not during the pandemic, but I'm sure it's been the constant in your life. And is this all new Material that you're doing now or are you.

[Margaret Cho]

Yes, yes. Oh, yes. I think it's, you know, also like comedians in general, like what I. My theory is that we're all just telling the same joke, but we're telling it in a million different ways. Like, you know, you have like music. Yeah, yeah. You have like sort of your style and your, your way of being and then you present that in a million different ways.

[Brian Green]

Yeah.

[Margaret Cho]

You know, so do you ever revisit.

[Brian Green]

Do you ever revisit bits, segments, jokes? Do you ever say, like, you know, we just. Chrissy and I were just watching the Arsenio hall where I think I first saw you back in 1993, and there's some funny stuff in there and you're really referring to being a child of the 80s, you know, all this other stuff. Do you ever, like, go back, look and go, hey, I think I could retool that, Massage it a little bit and bring it forward. Yeah, yeah, like the greatest.

[Margaret Cho]

All the time. All the time. All the time. You know who does that, is so great at doing that is Brian Regan.

[Brian Green]

Oh, I love Brian.

[Margaret Cho]

Isn't he the best?

[Brian Green]

I interviewed him and I just loved him. I thought he was great.

[Margaret Cho]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I love him. I love him.

[Brian Green]

He's so underrated. But I love Brian. I mean, he's very famous, but I just don't think he gets the credit he deserves.

[Margaret Cho]

No, he doesn't. And he really is so special. But at the end of his shows, now for the encore, he asks for requests, so audience members get to yell out their favorite and they'll do them. And it's always different. You just never know. It's so great.

[Brian Green]

That is so. That is such a good idea. Start that in your show.

[Margaret Cho]

I mean, yeah, you have to go back and brush up, brush up on it. I mean, everything. And yeah, I, I've thought about doing that, but I think, you know, it's just like you can kind of go back and revisit things and people really appreciate it. Also if you have a new take on it, because we're always different, changing, you know.

[Brian Green]

So are you a student of comedy? Do you feel like you're a student of comedy and do you, do you write everything down and. Or is it just. I take bullet points and then go from there? What's your process when it comes to writing?

[Margaret Cho]

I mean, the thing is, is that like with certain things in stand up comedy, I will have a photographic memory. Like if I, if something works, then I'll always. I like, oh, I Know it works like that.

[Brian Green]

Yeah.

[Margaret Cho]

That's what it does. And then I just file it away. I do write a lot, lot down, but I don't write it word for word how it is, because I kind of will remember it.

[Brian Green]

Sure.

[Margaret Cho]

But also, it's like all kind of captured in all different ways.

[Brian Green]

Yeah.

[Margaret Cho]

So I just have a. Have a sense of like, oh, this worked this way. And for some reason, memory really works. My favorite when it comes to stand up comedy, not necessarily anything else.

[Brian Green]

Me neither.

[Margaret Cho]

You know, comedy is good.

[Brian Green]

I was telling Chrissy this. I don't know. We do so many episodes of the show. Who knows? But I was telling her this a couple months ago. I said, you know, I'm a. I'm a guy of a certain age. I have very young children. They occupy a ton of space in my head, as does all the abnormal stress. And so I don't. My memory does not work in my favor 70% of the time. But when I get in this studio, if I hear a clip from one of our episodes, I know exactly what I was thinking during that moment and what I thought I thought I should say. Like, it just takes me back to that moment instantaneous. Like, the only thing that my memory is good for is remembering the one thing it should not be good for. Like, it's. But it is kind of crazy and I kind of understand. Do you ever go up on stage, you have your set, you know, where you're generally gonna go with it, and then the crowd demeanor, the energy, it makes you like kind of shape shift a joke in a, in a certain way. Like, oh, this crowd is a little extra hyped. So let me put an extra pregnant pause here or let me tell this joke in a different way. Or I'm just, just. I'm, I'm such a fan of how this all works. So I'm curious.

[Margaret Cho]

Yeah. Because it's like stand up comedy is so alive. You have to be alive with it. So you have to adapt to whatever's happening in the moment and what you're doing and also the way that things started. Also, if you're performing on a show where there's like significant people before you, you have to sort of bring them into it as well, or the energy of what's happening as well. So you have to be alive with the jokes as well. You're not sort of compartmental.

[Brian Green]

Yeah.

[Margaret Cho]

On the same way every time. I mean, you need, you need to sort of tell them the same way, but you also have to be alive to. What is the different Thing that's going on.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Are you taking anybody on tour with you this time?

[Margaret Cho]

Yes. On tour with me right now is a wonderful comedian named Daniel Webb. He is so hilarious. And we've been working together now for four years, and I'm really enamored with him. I think he's really, really special. And, like, I'm really lucky because everybody that's opened for me now plays stadiums. Like, the people who open for me is, like. I mean, it's. It's pretty incredible. Like, Jim Gaffigan, Otsuko Okotka, you know, all of the. These people who are like, Mark Birbiglia, Russell Peters, everybody who's like, almost me, like, is now, like, Sir John, Jonathan Van Ness. They, like, all go into this very stratosphere. It's really, like, his incredible thing. So I'm. I'm a good.

[Brian Green]

You're a judge of talent.

[Margaret Cho]

Always. Yeah, I'm really good at it.

[Brian Green]

It's also not like you're playing, like, you know, I mean, you do go. And I'm sure, like a lot of comics, you go to the Comedy Store and you. You know. But that's a great. You know, that's a legendary room to play in itself. But you're also not playing these, you know, some cafe somewhere, either.

[Margaret Cho]

You're doing all right for yourself. No, but it's. It's really. It's really amazing. Like, all the people that I've, like, had open for me have really gone on to this incredible success. So Daniel is really great.

[Brian Green]

And so have you named one of rolling stones top 50 comics of all time? What an amazing. And I have to agree with them, Margaret Cho, you are a legend. I don't know how or why you got on this show, but we are better for it. We love you. You are the best. I hope that someday you will come back and say hello to us again, because there are 7 million things I want to talk to you about.

[Margaret Cho]

I know.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

I have a whole list.

[Brian Green]

We only got to 6. Ask one more question. We have a couple more minutes.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Well, how's Lucia, for one? I love your dog.

[Margaret Cho]

She's been sitting right here.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

She's so adorable, right?

[Margaret Cho]

Oh, my thigh.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

The most adorable.

[Brian Green]

Look at that look in her eyes.

[Margaret Cho]

Yeah, she's so good. Do you take her on tired? Yes, of course. Yes. She goes everywhere. And today we were in the studio all day today, so she's really tired because there was another dog there. She was running around there. Excitement with a brindle. A little brindle. Dog.

[Brian Green]

Look at her.

[Margaret Cho]

She is really. She's extremely tired. And so she was sitting right here this whole time.

[Brian Green]

Oh, you've been so good, Lucia.

[Margaret Cho]

She's so good.

[Brian Green]

I need to get me one of those. That dog makes. No, that dog. That dog didn't bark once. I have a dog. And. And she has appeared on every episode of the commercial break by way of barking the entire time. She's a Yorkie, though, so, you know.

[Margaret Cho]

Oh, cute.

[Brian Green]

God. God bless her soul. She was born like that. Tickets available now for Margaret Stewart, Life and Beth. We're going to put all of the information available in the show notes. Margaret Cho, the Notorious Cho. Thank you so much for spending time. We are just very grateful for it.

[Margaret Cho]

Thank you.

[Producer/Announcer]

Well, thank the baby Jesus. Brian took a breath. And now I will use this opportunity to let you know that we've got a brand new phone number.

[Margaret Cho]

That's right.

[Producer/Announcer]

It's 212-4333, TCB. And you can text us any, anytime you want or you can call and leave us a voicemail and we might just use your message on the show once Brian gets through all the messages he missed last year. Of course. Anyway, you can also find and DM us on Instagram, hecommercial break and on TikTok CBpodcast. And of course, all of our audio and video is easily found on tcbpodcast.com now I'm gonna thank G one more time that we have sponsors, so thank G. And here they are.

[Brian Green]

Oh, my gosh. Margaret show kids.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

I mean, I just love her so much. What, what a. Just a refreshing, you know, take on the world that she has. And I mean, so unique with her upbringing and what all she's done throughout her whole life. It's just, it's amazing. And I just, I love her.

[Brian Green]

Kids got a story to tell. That's for sure. Kids got a story to tell. I did not have a penis balloon on my bingo card for 2024, but I did ask the question, so I got the answer.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Exactly. That was as, you know, as she was talking about it, I was picturing it.

[Brian Green]

Yeah.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

You know, you can't help it.

[Brian Green]

She says, what was it? She said it was the size of a. Like a bowling ball.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Yeah, that was large.

[Brian Green]

And she said he was like a billionaire, didn't she? Like, he's a billionaire.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Yes, he was very wealthy.

[Brian Green]

Yeah. I guess when you have that much money and you can literally have anything you want, you have to go to.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Extremes, find new ways to entertain.

[Brian Green]

You just have to do It, Yeah, me, I, I stay awake by just stressing about money. The billionaire, he stays awake wondering how to spend it all. Well, I guess I could blow my penis up like a bowling ball. That's interesting. Yeah, that's got to do something to your junk, don't you think?

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Brian Green]

It's got to do something not healthy. Yeah, but you're a billionaire. You just get a new one. Yeah, a penis transplant. Oh, Lord. Margaret Show. The Great Margaret show is on tour now. So go to margaretcho.com backslash tour if you want tour tickets you can go there. You can see everything about it. She's got a big old nice, very nice website. So do that and go see her because she is incredible. Chrissy and I took some time. We watched a lot of the stand up videos that she's had from the first television appearance that she had to the most recent YouTube videos that she's put out. The lady is still funny. She's still got it. Like she said, she's still like the art of the joke is still in her head.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Interesting too, I've noticed because we've talked to quite a few, you know, more mature comedians. That's a nice way to put it. Yeah. And, and some younger ones and their different takes on how their processes and what they do is, is interesting.

[Brian Green]

It's very interesting. And I think one of the things that I think I didn't expect, but I liked was she shared with us that, you know, you have 15 seconds, right? You got a minute, you got a minute with the crowd and you think someone like Margaret Cho, after so many years, so much success and selling out venues time after time again, being up, you know, on in comedy clubs four or five nights a week that you just would, I guess not kill every time, but you wouldn't expect to have a bad night at the bad day at the office. Yeah. But she still says, you know, I only got a few minutes with, with my audience and if they're not there with me, they're not there with me. And she still says she bombed. And that makes me feel good because that makes, lets me know that every four episodes that we do, three and a half of them are bombs. And I'm still. I also know that I have 15 seconds. Yeah, yeah, yeah, good old Elton.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Well, another thing that she was mentioning and it makes me want to go check out this other guy too that she's on tour with. Daniel Webb. Yeah, yeah, because she was mentioning. And it's so true, everybody, that she's. That you Know, she brings out whether blows out stadiums, ends up going crazy, and that's a testament to her eye.

[Brian Green]

And then she says, like, you know, hey, when am I going to sell out stadiums? I mean, yeah, I guess that's the way you feel. No matter where you're at, you always want more success. That's how successful people get successful. That's why we're not. Is because they're hungry for more. We're happy with less. Right.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

But we like being mediocre.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, we like being mediocre. I don't want to. I don't want to be at the top of the pack or the bottom of the pack. I just want to be right in the middle. I'm okay with it. But one of the things that I guess. I guess it just is indicative of someone that is hungry for success that they, you know, they want to play bigger stadiums, they want to make funnier jokes, they want to whatever. They want to be the best at their art that they can possibly be. But what a fucking life. I mean, you know, what a fucking life. And she's so right. Awkwafina. You know, all these people, all the. The comics who have come from Asia or are of Asian descent, she kind of broke the barriers for them. That must be an interesting feeling to go to sleep at night and know that you were the first and everybody came but, like, rushing in behind you. But you were the first at something. I'd like to be the first at anything. I'm not the first at anything that I don't know, for me, that feels like such an accomplishment.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Absolutely.

[Brian Green]

And had I done the same thing, I probably would have just slept the rest of my life. You know what I'm saying? Break down the barriers and then take a nap until you die. I mean, seriously, one good. Think about it in your own personal life. When have you been the first, the best, the fastest, had the most audience member? When have you ever been? So few people can say that about anything. Unless we're talking about, like, stupid Guinness Book of World Records, like, you know, I don't know, most keys on a keyboard or something. Keyboard, 3000 keys. Who cares gives a. I'm talking about, like, really important stuff, like breaking down stereotypes and prejudices and using her voice.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

And her platform to then not only break down as a comedian barriers, but then to also be talking about all of the other things, too, to do with, you know, gay, bisexual, whatever. Again, you be you, whatever you're into.

[Brian Green]

You do you.

[Margaret Cho]

Yeah, you do you.

[Brian Green]

She said it. She didn't say this in this interview, but she said it in others interviews that her mom doesn't believe in bisexual. So she just call, she says, just be gay.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Yeah, just pick one.

[Brian Green]

Just pick one. And then the other thing she says is bisexual is not necessarily like a PC term right now. I guess, I don't know, I don't keep, you know, I can't keep up with everything, but, But I saw her in another interview say that it's not necessarily PC to say bisexual, but I like it because it's kind of 70s, right?

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

That's right. Yeah. She was saying pan. Pansexual is more than sexual.

[Brian Green]

Yeah, yeah. Hey, listen, I'm into, you know, I'm into it if you're into it. That's all I got to say. So the great Margaret Show Market Show.com Go get your tickets for her tour right now, please and thank you. I sure as shit hope that she comes back because, I mean, I say this after every single guest, but I think I've meant it on most of them. I wish we had had more time.

[Margaret Cho]

Yeah.

[Brian Green]

And we probably do. But I don't want to like burn them out on the commercial break. You know what I'm saying?

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Right.

[Brian Green]

I want to get, I want to give us a small opportunity, a small window of opportunity to invite some of these people back with the hopes that they may actually say yes. And if I spend two hours with them now, they're going to be like, that's way too much commercial break in my lifetime. Right? Yeah. I spent 120 minutes with them. That's 119 more than I needed to spend with them. But we are very grateful for Margaret coming on the show and good luck with the church. Her. She's not coming to Atlanta. I wish she was, cuz I, I'd go see her with you.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

I know she, she might be, she might be adding stuff.

[Brian Green]

I'd go get my penis pump and.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Be there in the front row, right.

[Brian Green]

There with my big bowling ball. I be like, I did it, Margaret. I did it.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

I tried that.

[Brian Green]

I tried it. It worked. I can't feel my lower body, but it's awesome. I'm high as a kite. Oh, okie dokie. You know what to do. Go to tcbpodcast.com More information about the show. Chrissy and I. You can read all the show notes, get all the links to all of our guests information. If you want tickets, if you want to check them out, all that stuff is available on the show notes of that particular episode and you can get your free piggy fronting sticker by hitting the contact us button. Give us your physical address. Piggy front front. I thought I'd throw a little twang in there since last time we saw Teresa, she was at that whatever it was, the hot dog shack or something.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

I don't know.

[Brian Green]

I don't know. It's a terrible show, by the way.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

It is terrible. Yeah.

[Brian Green]

All right. But onward and upward. So go get your piggy friend and sticker. Give us your address. We'll send it off. 212-4333. TCB. 1212-4333. TCB. Questions, comments, concerns, content, idea, ideas. Ask TCB. Ask Brian's mom. But more importantly, we want you to join us on the show. All you have to do is text us. Let us know you have a story. You want advice, you want to ask us something. Whatever it is, we're opening up the phone lines. But since you don't know when we record, you got to text us so we can set it up. 212-4333. TCB. Do it now. We're gonna start doing that soon. Add the commercial break on Instagram, TCB podcast on Tik Tok and YouTube.com the commercial break. All right, Chrissy. I guess that's all I can do for today. I love you.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

I love you.

[Brian Green]

Best to you.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Best to you.

[Brian Green]

Best to you out there in the podcast universe. Until next time, Chrissy and I will say, we do say, and we must say goodbye, Sam.