60 SECONDS WITH MARGARET CHO

Got a minute? Stand-up comedian and actress Margaret Cho dishes about her inner exhibitionist and her new series, The Cho Show, which premieres August 21 on VH1.

Q: How would you describe your new show?

A: It's a sitcom starring real people. It's not really reality—because it's fake. We didn't script the dialogue, just the situations. There are things from my stand-up comedy and things I've wanted to write about. Anal bleaching. And I get a shot of collagen in my G-spot—it's supposed to give you amazing orgasms. It didn't, but at least I tried it.

Q: While working on All-American Girl in 1994, you were told you were too heavy and "not Asian enough." Why go back to TV after that?

A: I have control over it—I'm the suit, the executive. That's the difference. When I was doing television 15 years ago, after I did my first screen test I wore a little midriff shirt. The executives freaked out and said, "Please never show your stomach in public ever again." In the new show, I'm naked in every episode. People need to see what a 40-year-old body looks like—a normal woman who doesn't do botox, liposuction, or plastic surgery. I eat carbs all day and you can see it. And I don't give a shit.

Q: Will The Cho Show show teach your fans anything new about you?

A: I think they'll learn that the people I hang around are super-funny too, and that I'm the one laughing all the time. All I do is laugh at other people.

Q: You've always had a huge gay fan base. How have you kept up that relationship?

A: I got deputized to be a marriage commissioner in California, so now I can perform gay marriages. I plan on doing that for a while. I'm not charging anything, just asking for donations to charity. That's my gay thing right now.

Q: Your parents provide a lot of your stand-up material. What's it like having them on your new show?

A: It's trippy, but it's my favorite part of it. I'm able to give them a second life that they've never experienced. They're in their seventies and from Korea. I never even brought them to any kind of premiere. I love that I get to spend time with them and share this world with them.

Q: Were they reluctant to do the show?

A: No. I told them, "It's either this or assisted living." Ryan Wenzel