Inside the Mind of Margaret Cho

We've said it before: Margaret Cho is one our favorite comedians. (Love her!)

So, when The New York Times published an interview with her last weekend, we had to share.

Toughest type of gig: Any kind of business college. They just don’t think comedy.

Household item she’s fussy about: The company that installed the surround sound for our TV went out of business, and if the battery power goes out on the remote, we’ll never be able to use it again. So I am anal about sticking the remote in its charger.

Sexual politics: I refer to myself as gay, but I am married to a man. Of course, I’ve had relationships with women, but my politics are more queer than my lifestyle.

Disappointing celeb encounter: Sharon Stone. She was very hot and very beautiful and such a big actress at the time. I asked her if I could take a picture with her, and she gave me a look with daggers. It was really crushing.

Most vexing issue: I was raised to be self-conscious about weight. Then as I got older and started doing television, it became a career issue, like, “You have to lose weight or you’ll lose that job.” Now I have achieved some freedom from that.

Morning routine: I get up around 7 a.m. That’s very early for a stand-up comic. Then I’ll have breakfast with my husband, the artist Al Ridenour, take my three dogs for a walk and commence with my work.

Obsession: I can’t drag myself away from Final Cut Pro. It is a digital video editing system. I am obsessed with it, but I am always away from home, and I can’t use it.

Hobby: I am into belly dancing. I used to only hang with comics. Now I have friends who are dancers, and my whole house has a harem feel.

Upstairs downstairs: The house is big, but we only use the top half, which is where you enter the house, because my dog Ralph is 12 years old and has trouble with stairs.

Work uniform: I bought my old bathrobe in New Delhi, India. I wear it every single day. It is like my pajamas, house dress and eating dress in one.

Last meal: It would involve a lot of macaroni and cheese and fried chicken. It would be kind of Southern, because the execution would most likely be in the South and you would want the local specialty.

Worst onstage moment: I did a show in Louisiana, and they tried to boo me off stage. But I have this bad thing: if an audience doesn’t like me, I won’t leave the stage. I give them more and more. It lasted for an hour.

Favorite household object: This Buddhist shrine that closes to look like an eggplant. Many people have tried to steal it at parties. I have taken it out of a drag queen’s purse. I kicked her out, and she said, “You’re not Madonna!”

Backyard amenity: We have this cool photography studio my husband built in the yard. You can photograph or shoot video in there. It has perfect natural light.

Misconception about Koreans: That we all like golf. Well, everybody does but me. So there is one Korean person who doesn’t.

Family heirloom: My favorite of my husband’s pieces is a decomposing skeleton. It’s made out of a plastic Halloween skeleton covered in pantyhose and buried in the ground for a year to replicate decomposition.

Fictional character she identifies with: Penny Lane, the groupie in the film “Almost Famous.” I feel most comfortable backstage at a rock show with a shearling jacket on and every musician in love with me. That’s my comfort zone.

Fantasy career: Veterinary medicine. I’ve had dogs for years. Being a veterinarian is an intuitive thing, because your patients can’t tell you what is wrong, and I think I have a natural affinity for that.

Favorite place to visit: Mexico City. It’s so crazy and beautiful and mysterious and fun and you feel like you are high because there is no oxygen in the air. It’s so trippy.

Favorite window: It’s the stained-glass one in the downstairs bedroom. The stained glass was designed by Dame Darcy, an incredible artist, and made by Judson Studios. I love how the light comes through.It’s amazing.

Obsolete item she can’t toss: I still have all of these old iGo power adapters for phones long dead. For some reason I am suspicious about the chargers ofthe future, which is ridiculous.

Always in fridge: Mochi ice cream and Coke Zero.

Body décor: I am doing tattoos all over my body as a tribute to an employee of my father’s named David Forbes, who was my unofficial nanny. He was tattooed all over.

Favorite tattoo: It’s a little garter going around my left thigh, and it has a derringer pistol with a pearl handle in it. I have never seen that in a tattoo.

Medical waste: My husband and I collect morbid stuff, like embalming supplies and weird medical stuff from days gone by.

Aesthetic: Steampunk. It’s taking Victoriana and bringing it into the future. A good example would be the film “Dune.”

Favorite Steampunk item: My husband made a big Victorian suit with a breathing apparatus attached. It is this button-down, Victorian tailoring with an iron lung attached to it.

Evening routine: I finish work around 5 p.m., argue with my husband about where we are going for dinner. Then we’ll come back and watch TV for 45 minutes, and we’re in bed by 10 p.m.

Always by bed: Water and books on yoga for menstruation, which is stupid, but for some reason I have had them by my bed for seven years.

Dream talent: To play the sitar really, really well.

Trophy case: I kind of think keeping that stuff around is tacky. I have a box of awards in the closet. I think it is weird to put them out. I might if I had an Emmy or Oscar, but I don’t.


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