Comedian Margaret Cho is a Korean American, queer identified woman – not exactly your classic recipe for stardom.

But by playing with these attributes Cho's been hailed as one of the most talented comics in the world. From the beginning she caught the attention of big shots such as Jerry Seinfeld, which led to her being the first Asian American to have their own television show. These days she is a non-stop powerhouse, touring her comedy shows, starring in hit TV programs and she's even released a comedy musical album, Cho Dependent, which was nominated for a Grammy Award. Cho will be touring her show, based on the album, in Australia in September. In the meantime she spoke with Rachel Cook about her unstoppable career, her love of tattoos, and drag shows in ice-cream parlours.

"My parents owned a bookstore called Paperback Traffic on Polk and California, which was one of the gayborhoods of San Francisco," Cho says of her upbringing in San Francisco in the 70s and 80s.

"The staff was entirely made up of gay men and lesbians, mostly very tattooed and flamboyantly dressed. My father felt it was important for me to receive my cultural education from gay men. He thought that they were superior in every way. I think he really wanted me to be a gay man, now that I look back on it, and that is exactly what I became."

Cho grew up on the legendary Haight Street, which was the epicentre for alternative cultures. Among her best memories are seeing real 70s punk rockers and of course, the drag queens:

"I knew a lot of drag queens who would put on impromptu performances at coffee shops and ice-cream parlours. There were no real venues for underage drag queens so everything happened in candy shops and odd places like that. I remember seeing two fabulous drag queens taking over a Häagen-Dazs store. All the patrons were screaming and running out because they were shoving ice-cream bars up their asses. Those were the days!"

However, for all of San Francisco's wild ways, the city still had a strong conservative element. In 1978, Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California, was assassinated. Cho's differences made her a target for bigots too, which she says "pushed me into adulthood way too soon".

"[The bullying] was really awful," she says, "but what truly made me leave was the homophobia I felt from other students. I had a gay teacher who helped me a lot. He encouraged me to write in a journal, and we would pass it back and forth. He would write in the margins "never stop writing" and I really loved him. One day he did not come to school, and in another class some boys were laughing and I heard them say, 'That faggot got murdered.' I took my things and left the school and I never returned. I was so heartbroken, and I have never fully recovered from the loss of him and finding out about his death in such a horrible and sickening way."

Even though Cho's own sexuality has often been labelled as bisexual, she says the label is too limiting for her as it goes against her beliefs about gender.

"Gender has many more expressions than just male and female. I am often attracted and have been in relationships with transgendered people who fall all along the gender line. I think labels are important for some people as they define who we are, but they can also be just shorthand. I am more interested in telling the full story."

Part of telling that 'full story' is Cho's outspokenness and staunch support for LGBT rights. In 2008 she emceed the multi-artist True Colors Tour, created by Cyndi Lauper. The proceeds of the event go to benefit the LGBT community. That same year she was also chief of Sydney's Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. Last month she was awarded the Los Angeles Pride Lifetime Achievement Award.

While Cho admits "things are changing, in a good way" in Hollywood, with actors such as Anna Paquin, Evan Rachel Wood and Amber Heard coming out as bisexual in the past twelve months, she says it's still easier for women to come out than men.

"It's always been easier for women. This is a big double standard. It should be just as easy for men to come out and be accepted. If more men came out I think that things would change for the better."

Currently Cho is starring in the hit television series Drop Dead Diva. Filming takes place in Georgia, so Cho has moved to its capital, Atlanta. While she says Atlanta is "extremely queer, liberal, outlaw, progressive [and] beautiful", she says life changes pretty quickly not far from town.

"Get a few metres away from the city limits and it's insanely conservative and can be frightening," Cho says. "I work in the capital of the southern tea party! There are pro-life/Christian/anti-gay/anti-woman messages everywhere and you can't get away from it. I have nothing against the church, I grew up in a very religious home, but that doesn't mean people have a right to judge others, and they don't have the right to take away equality, which is what most conservative politics is about."

Her role in Drop Dead Diva comes after a long and successful career. Cho, who first started writing stand-up comedy after she saw Joan Rivers and Richard Pryor, says, "I think as soon as I understood what it was, I wanted to do it. I knew that I had the same spirit in me."

In 1994 she was offered her first television series, All American Girl, which was the first show to star an Asian American. While the show was a milestone for American television, Cho underwent considerable stress during the show's life. At different times during production Cho was told by the show's producers that she was "too Asian" and then that she was "not Asian enough". After the show was cancelled in 1995, Cho developed an addiction to drugs and alcohol. She says of the current state of television in the States:

"There are a few more Asian characters, as there are more gay and lesbian characters and there are also a lot more TV shows in general, so there's much more opportunities for ethnic and sexual minority casting. It's better, but I would of course like more and more representation out there for all of us."

Last year Cho released her album, Cho Dependent, which combines stand up with musical comedy. She says it was Cyndi Lauper who encouraged her to become a singer. The album was nominated for a Grammy and features duets with Ani Di Franco, Fiona Apple, Ben Lee and Tegan and Sara, to name a few. Among the songs are track titles such as 'My Puss', 'Eat Shit and Die' and 'Intervention' – her song with Tegan and Sara.

"I love making music and singing, and I wanted to make a comedy album that actually sounded like a real album and not just a novelty record. I knew that my voice would support it, and if I worked with my friends, very talented amazing musician friends, that they would guide me. ['Intervention'] is really a sad song, but also very celebratory, as an intervention can be. I adore Tegan and Sara. They are amazing artists and also such funny people too. We laughed a lot in the studio."

While Cho did struggle with addiction, she says she never underwent an actual intervention herself; although she says if she had it would have been "hilarious". And while her days with marijuana are over too, she says her only vices now are "cookies and chips – I still have the munchies!"

Her only obsession these days is tattoos: most of her body is covered in bright ink now.

"My love for tattoos comes from the people who raised me," Cho says. "All the gay men who worked for my family, who tried to convince my father to let me get tattooed, [however], I didn't get to do it until I was 35. I think I am done for now, I don't have space left!"

Cho's upcoming tour, Cho Dependent, will tour Australia in September. Her loyal band of Australian followers are sure to be stepping out in droves to experience Margaret Cho the musician and she seems to be quite fond of us too:

"I love Australia, it's both exotic and familiar at the same time," she says. "It's a new frontier and it's also incredibly ancient and timeless. It's America and Canada and England, but it's also Asia and the Pacific Rim! It's the world all in one place."

Cho Dependent
Sydney – Friday, September 2, show starts – 9.30pm, Sydney Opera House
Brisbane – Monday, September 5, show starts – 8.00pm, The Tivoli
Melbourne – Tuesday, September 6, show starts – 8.00pm, Forum Theatre