In spite of all her accomplishments as a forward-thinking comedienne and successful writer (as well as earning a one-time Grammy nod), Margaret Cho still believes the U.S. is deeply sexist despite the Equal Rights Movement of the 70s and is outspoken about equal rights for both women and GLBTI populations, in which she garnered the First Amendment Award from American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Southern California, along with the Intrepid Award from the National Organization for Women (NOW).

Far from the bra-burning lunatic of her predecessors, Cho, 33, has proven herself to be quite sane and is in fact happily, and monogamously, married to an old friend for five years now. Her artist husband even supports her cause and is helping by building her website. More a radical political activist than a hellion in the sack, SexHerald found in Cho a sweet, polite, poised, somewhat reticent young lady that belie the demons of her past simmering underneath the surface.

SexHerald: You recently joined the board of directors of Good Vibrations, the adult novelty store that’s based out of California. What is your exact title?

Margaret Cho: I don’t know exactly. I’m just kind of on the board of directors, so I’m not really sure what that entails yet because I haven’t really started. I haven’t done anything yet.

SH: When do you officially start?

Cho: I guess I’m starting around now. It’s one of those things where I’m not sure what I’m going to do or how I’m going to add to it but it’s nice to be involved in it.

SH: How did you get the position? What were the circumstances that led you there?

Cho: Around 20 years ago, I used to work for a company called Stormy Leather, which was a similar kind of situation in San Francisco, similar sort of a woman’s sex toy collective. So they were kind of “friends” with Good Vibrations and it was a sister store there [in San Francisco]. This just seemed like a fun thing to do… I really liked my job when I worked at Stormy Leather. It was different, of course. I wasn’t on the board of directors there. Good Vibrations asked me to do this and I thought this was a great thing.

SH: They didn’t give you a job description?

Cho: It was more like I was going to kind of reside and talk about what different things would be good for the company. So, I don’t exactly know what that means. I’ve never been involved with anything corporate. It’s sort of all new to me.

SH: Moving on, you’ve taken belly dancing lessons and started a belly dancing/burlesque comedy show called “The Sensuous Woman” in spring 2006. What inspired you to create the show?

Cho: I’ve been taking belly dancing lessons for quite a few years. It’s been a hobby of mine for many years. I wanted to have a showcase where I could dance with other people and also involve comedy and music… something to do on the side other than comedy—a venue to put my other works. That’s why I put the show together.

SH: Are you as good as Shakira?

Cho: I’m way better.

SH: [laughs] How do you know?

Cho: I know!

SH: That’s quite a statement. I’ve got to see that. Why did you decide to take belly dancing lessons?

Cho: I wanted to be around women. Because comedy is such a male-dominated industry I didn’t really have any female friends. I wanted to find a place where I could make friends and hang out with other women and enjoy dancing; belly dancing is such a great world for that. All these different women hanging out in different ages, in different sizes, in different cultures, in different backgrounds, in different races—it’s so cool.

SH: How about yoga?

Cho: Yoga’s good, too, but there are no costumes. I love the costumes. All of mine come from Egypt. I go to Egypt to buy them. I’ve also made them in the past; not so much these days because I get so busy.

SH: Where in Egypt do you buy the costumes?

Cho: In Cairo. There’s a department store called Mamuts and it’s four stories high and it’s ALL belly dancing clothes and it’s amazing.

SH: You mentioned that comedy is a male-dominated industry. As a woman, did you personally feel it was hard to break into the scene?

Cho: Yeah, but it’s hard for everybody. It’s especially hard for women, and even harder if you’re different. But if you just don’t really care about it then it helps. I just really love doing it so it didn’t really matter that it was hard.

SH: Is comedy what you’ve always wanted to do?

Cho: Yeah. I always knew this was going to be my job, my profession and I always knew that this is exactly the right thing for me.

SH: In your books (I’m the One that I Want, I Have Chosen to Stay and Fight) and all your stand-up comedy routines, you’ve always been politically and sexually charged. I know you’re openly bisexual. Is that where your comedy is drawn from?

Cho: I think that some of it is from that. I think sexuality is a big part of life. Everybody that is alive have something to do with it [sex]. But, I think that other than that my motivation comes from anything that interests me but sex has a lot to do with it.

SH: Among the shows you’ve done so far (I’m the One that I Want, Notorious C.H.O, Revolution, Assassin), which one was your favorite?

Cho: I love them all. I don’t know if I have a favorite. I think they’re all really strong and have their own nerve. I enjoyed doing them all. I just like I have a body of work that I can go back and look to and say, ‘I did all this stuff. Cool!’

SH: In the 90s, you had a sitcom on ABC called All-American Girl which was canceled after a year. Initially, they loved the idea of an “ethnic” show but later on pressured you to be “less ethnic” and to lose weight, which you did. You lost 30 lbs in two weeks, which resulted in kidney failure. How are your kidneys today? Are you healthy now?

Cho: I’m healthy now, I’m much better now.

SH: What was the process you underwent to regain your health?

Cho: Just being healthy and eating properly and not worrying too much about weight and not being concerned about all those things… you know, the disgusted and gaudy issues that I had. I belly dance, so now I’m healthy. I’m really fit from that. I’m not inclined to be super skinny or anything like that.

SH: Do you have a special regimen or a special diet, like not eating any carbs?

Cho: No, nothing like that. I just dance.

SH: So, you grew up in San Francisco with traditional Korean parents. What was it like growing up in a gay epicenter and coming home to a conservative household?

Cho: My parents were there, too. They had a bookstore in the middle of everything. They were kind of involved in that, too. Even though they were traditional, they still had gay friends and were kind of in the mix in San Francisco. There’s a combination of a lot of influences that I had.

SH: Your father is a Korean comic book writer and you wrote in your blog that you don’t understand why his comics are considered funny and he doesn’t understand why your brand of humor is funny. Can you explain that?

Cho: Comedy is culturally specific, so it’s very hard to take things out of a cultural context. So things that are funny in Korean may not necessarily be funny in America. You can’t take it out of context and when you do, you tend to explain a lot and that ruins the comedy, I think.

SH: You’re a very open-minded individual and open-minded about GLBTI cultures and sex. Much of the material you write and perform reflects that. If you grew up somewhere else, like say Texas, do you think your inspiration would be the same?

Cho: I think so. I don’t know how different I would be. I think the way I write and who I am are very organic. I don’t know who I would be exactly if I was from a different place or coming from a different mindset.

SH: You’ve named Richard Pryor as an inspiration, even Madonna…

Cho: Yeah, there are people that I love, like Paula Poundstone and Whoopi Goldberg. There’s Roseanne, Chris Rock, Wanda Sykes… these are people I’m really inspired by today.

SH: You’re outspoken, which really goes against the whole quiet Asian, “model minority” and assumed heterosexual formula. Do your parents even know you’re bisexual?

Cho: I think so. I think they have an idea of it but they don’t really ask me questions about everything.

SH: Do they understand your comedy?

Cho: They don’t really get it. They’re supportive and love what I do but they don’t really listen. We just don’t talk about it.

SH: I understand you’re married now. [Cho: Yes.] Is it an open relationship? What about your love for women?

Cho: It’s something that exists in me. To me, my politics are clear and my lifestyle is very clear. It’s always going to exist, and my relationship is always going to be kind of traditional.

SH: Do you have any children? [Cho: No.] Do you want any children? [Cho: No.] Why is that?

Cho: I don’t really think that’s my path.

SH: What’s it like in a day in the life of Margaret Cho?

Cho: Today, I’m late. I’m going to go edit my film, going to try to buy some ballroom dancing shoes on the way. I directed a belly dancing film and I’m editing it right now. It’s called Two Sisters, and it stars Yunjin Kim and Tamlyn Tomita and Kathy Najimy. It’s in the editing process. I’m not sure when the film is actually coming out. It’s a short film; that’s my job today. I’ve wanted to do a belly dancing film for a long time and this came together finally.

SH: Tell me more about Two Sisters.

Cho: It stars these great women and it’s about two sisters; one is a belly dancer and one isn’t. One who is tries to get the other to belly dance. It’s very fun, and it’s really sad and beautiful.

SH: Lastly, what do you see yourself doing in 10 years?

Cho: I don’t know. Hopefully, I’ll be directing more. I want to write more, I want to do more comedy… so everything.