After a short-lived ABC sitcom, “All-American Girl,” Cho took to the stage in 1999 for her one-woman off-Broadway show, “I’m the One That I Want.” The show was so critically acclaimed that it toured the country and became a film and best-selling book.

It is from I’m the One That I Want that some of the most quotable Cho moments come —especially her hilarious impersonations of her immigrant mother (that could never be effectively humorous in print) and ridiculous phrases like, “My name is Gwen. I’m here to wash your vagina.”

The film went on to break the record for the most money grossed per print in movie history.

Two years later, Cho launched a 37-city tour with Notorious C.H.O., the finale of which sold out Carnegie Hall. The next show, Revolution, toured in 2003, and both shows were also made into films.

When she’s not touring, Cho is working on production of her first narrative feature film, Bam Bam and Celeste, a comedy which she wrote and also stars in.

In the film Cho plays Celeste while friend and fellow comedian Bruce Daniels plays Bam Bam. The film is described by Cho as a “fag and fag hag Dumb and Dumber.” This should be no surprise, as Daniels, who has been opening for Cho for more than three years and appears in her Revolution film, has been dubbed the “main fag behind America’s number one hag” by Out magazine.

Daniels said he and Cho became friends approximately five years ago, when they worked together on the never released film Can’t Stop Dancing.

Since then, the two have been inseparable “partners in comedy,” Daniels said.

“I’m in contact with Margaret at least once a day,” he said. “We’re very much like brother and sister. There’s a lot of bickering too—but playfully.”

Originally from Chicago, Daniels attended Columbia for a short time as a journalism major. At that time, the late ’80s, his family wasn’t as supportive of him wanting to be a performer. He said he wanted to “go somewhere where there was a semblance of something creative going on.”

Now, however, his family is proud of his decision to stick with comedy. “Of course now that they see me on the DVDs, everything’s fine,” he said jokingly.

Later this year, his family will be able to see him in movie theaters as well, co-starring in what he calls a “really sweet buddy movie” centered on a goth girl and her gay friend from Dekalb, Ill.

“It’s about these two kids who leave home and go to New York to be on a reality show,” Cho said. “It’s a very fairytalelike story. We’re very freakish and misfits and get stuck in our adolescence for like 20 years, so we’re overgrown teens.”

Working on Bam Bam and Celeste consumes much of Cho’s time, but she’s unfazed. She said she’d like to continue doing films.

“It’s just a really lovely project,” she said. “I love doing this and hopefully this will be more of what I plan to do in the future.”

Daniels has no doubt Cho will continue to churn out films in the future.

“She loves doing this stuff,” he said. “Margaret just pumps things out so quickly, I don’t know how she does it. I’m not that way. It just flows out of her.”

But Bam Bam and Celeste isn’t the first film Cho has written. It’s just the first one to actually be produced.

“It’s exciting to have that kind of thing happen to you,” Cho said. “It’s such a huge production and it’s so amazing to make movies. It’s really fun. I love movies. I love making them and I want to continue.”

While Cho may make more films in the future, she is still best known for her live stand-up—something she has done for more than 20 years—and something she feels is very familiar with.

“It feels comfortable,” she said. “But also, it’s very hard.”

Since Cho got married (to a man) two years ago, it’s now more difficult for her to be on the road as much.

“It’s like I don’t know how to do it anymore,” she said. “I live so differently now. I have a home and I’m married and have dogs and I don’t want to go. So, it’s got to be worthwhile. It has to be a good enough show to want to do it and fortunately, this is. I’d like to stay home. I’d like to have children. I’d like to look to a home life that is secure.”

Since she’s been married, Cho has not only realized she’d like to spend more time at home, but feels more capable to speak out for gay marriage. As much of Cho’s fanbase is homosexual men, she’s been thrust into the ranks of gay iconolatry (along with others like Madonna and Cher). This undoubtedly led to her becoming an outspoken gay rights activist, even launching a website that supports marriage equality, loveisloveislove.com.

Now that she is actually married, Cho said she better understands the importance of marriage equality.

“Marriage didn’t seem important until I experienced being married and how different it was,” she said. “It made me want to be more of a gay activist because it was so profound. And being a gay activist, to me, does not really matter if you’re gay. It means equality for everyone.”

When The Assassin Tour wraps up at the end of July, Cho will get back to work on Bam Bam and Celeste, which just finished principal photography last week, and start working on another film. Also, she will publish a book of political and personal writings she’s penned over the last four years. The book, which is still untitled, will be out in the fall.

Aside from working incessantly, Cho said she’s focused on making the best of life given the current political atmosphere. Not only can she make us laugh, but she has great advice, too.

“I think the best thing to do is be positive and maintain a sense of humor about everything,” she said. “That’s the most vital thing we can do and the most hopeful thing we can do for people who are progressive and liberal and compassionate about the world. That’s what I plan on doing—just trying to be as positive as possible.”