Margaret Cho
Q+A
BY PATTY LAMBERTI PHOTOS BY NABIL ELDERKIN
The comedian tells us her favorite joke and tries not
to dis the Tweety Bird tattoo on your hand.
Nothing about Margaret Cho made it look like she had a chance in hell in
Hollywood. Chubby, Korean, and bisexual (she admits to all three) in a business
that typically has a hard time swallowing that list, Cho’s rank as one of the
biggest female comedians on the planet is the result of a one-woman battle,
built from her fi rst stand-up comedy gigs in a club near her parents’ book store
in San Francisco to tours with Jerry Seinfeld and a showcase full of awards.
For a while, Hollywood won. After a failed TV show attempt, where suits told
her she was “too Asian” then hired a coach to train her to be “more Asian,”
Cho battled with an eating disorder and alcohol abuse. She returned with a
vengeance in 1999’s I’m the One That I Want, her fi rst truly hilarious special,
which savaged the suits she experienced in Hollywood. Her follow-up, 2002’s
Notorious C.H.O., spawned a best-selling book, DVD, and CD, as did follow-
ups Assassin and Revolution. Along the way, she dated Quentin Tarantino and
Chris Isaak, launched a clothing company, and took up belly dancing.
Over the last few years, the 39-year-old comedian has also become
increasingly linked with the world of ink. She sports original tattoo work by Ed
Hardy, LA Ink’s Kat Von D, and Chris O’Donnell. We chatted with Cho about
her tattoos (about 50 percent of her body is covered), her spring comedy
tour, Beautiful, the secrets of joke telling, and her theories on the proper way
to get trashed.INKED: Your new tour is called. What can we expect?
CHO: I got the idea for the show after a radio interview. The DJ asked me, ‘What
would you do if you woke up tomorrow and you were blonde, with blue eyes,
and 5’11” and you weighed 100 pounds and you were beautiful.’ I said, ‘Well, I
probably wouldn’t be able to get up because I’d be too weak to stand.’What an asshole.
I know. But I feel bad for him because that’s the only kind of person he thinks is
beautiful. If he doesn’t think I’m beautiful, he is fucking missing out. So the whole
show is about wanting to be taken seriously as a beauty. And tattoos are a part
of the show. A lot of women my age in Hollywood are getting plastic surgery.
But instead, I decided to get tattoos. I want my body to be completely covered
when I’m 70 so people won’t be looking at my wrinkles. They’ll be like, ‘Oh my
God. Look at her lizard tattoo.’When did you get your fi rst tattoo?
Just a few years ago. Ed Hardy did it. It covers most of my stomach, my back,
and my ribs. It was a huge, ambitious piece for a fi rst tattoo. Since I was a kid,
I wanted a Japanese body suit. A guy who worked for my dad has a body suit
from Ed. He’s the guy who put me in touch with Ed when I wanted my own.Are you good at getting tattooed?
I’m a really long sitter. I can sit for fi ve, six, seven hours because I’m really impatient
and I want it done. I don’t want to have to keep going back. But tattooing is so
hard on the artists’ eyes and their backs. Ed said that he didn’t want to tattoo any-
more because he absorbed the pain that people felt. He didn’t want to hurt any-
body anymore. It’s sad because he is the greatest, but you can understand that.When you’re getting tattooed, do you feel like you have to entertain
the artist by telling jokes?
Not at all. I try not to distract the artist in any way. I do my best to be quiet, and
HAIR, JOHN RUGGIERO FOR EXCLUSIVE ARTISTS USING BUMBLE AND BUMBLE; MAKEUP, AUTUMN MOULTRIE FOR EXCLUSIVE ARTISTS USING LAURA MERCIER COSMETICSavoid pulling away or wincing. That’s why I make crazy faces.APRIL 2008 | 63!"#$%&'()+&!"#,$--&./)0/)$1234&5675078"%%999:;!"#$%&'()+&!"#,$--&./)0/)$1234&5675078"%%999:; <=>?=+999>@>:@A>9'.<=>?=+999>@>:@A>9'.