Comedian. Author. Burlesque performer. Recovering drug addict. Failed sitcom star. Fashion designer. Political activist. Screenwriter.

Margaret Cho defies singularity. Most notably however, she is a comedic tour–de–force, the unrivaled empress of off–the–radar comics. And she earned her crown, for worse and for better, by just being herself in her work. “People don’t always appreciate honesty. I don’t have the imagination to lie, so my act is pretty fucked. But I don’t care. It’s just me and the audience and the truth is what they came for.”

Born Moran Cho to Korean immigrants in the colourful confines of San Francisco in the late 1960s, Margaret felt an affinity for the arts from a tender age. Her father, a writer of corny Korean joke books, ran a bookstore with her mother. Noting the raucous community filled with addicts, drag queens and artists as a source of top drawer material for a career in comedy, Cho maintains the craft was a true calling: “I always wanted to be a comic,” says Cho. “I dreamt of it as a child and I knew that was what I would become.”

By her mid–20s, Cho’s career in comedy was surging forward. She secured opening slots with the big comedy kahunas of the day, won an American Comedy Award and was a coveted act on late night talk shows and the college circuit. Predictably, the suits in network television took notice of Cho, and saw dollar signs. In 1994, ABC signed Cho to star in “All American Girl,” a sitcom based on her act.

Unsurprisingly, Cho couldn’t deliver what the network wanted her to sell with a smile. The show, based on her family and upbringing, summarily tanked. First, the producers thought she wasn’t “Asian enough.” Then she was “too Asian.” And too fat. Additionally, the show’s hooks were cheap, corny and mostly rooted in racist and homophobic stereotyping; it simply didn’t work. Cho is willing to shoulder of the blame, as she detailed in an interview soon after the show’s demise: “I was willing to say anything because I was sick of going on the road, going from gig to gig and bombing. Then I’d come home to L.A. and go on auditions, and I would never get a job anywhere. That’s why I said yes to everything.”

It was official: Cho had flopped. The next couple of years weren’t pretty – Cho’s personal life hit the skids and she fell unceremoniously into an Amy Winehouse–like, substance–soused tilt–a–whirl. At performances, she would become so polluted she would hold on to the mic stand for dear life. She dipped into the insalubrious underworld of sex and drugs (as per an oft–quoted bit: “So there I was getting fisted by a midget butch lesbian. Then things started to get really weird.”). Most observers thought Cho was through, herself included.

Cho rose above, however, and triumphantly (cue the “E! Hollywood Story” theme). The next few years saw her embark on several successful projects, including two books, an independent film, several sold–out comedy tours and, interestingly enough, a burlesque variety show in 2007. Entitled “The Sensuous Woman,” the show was a bawdy throwback to vaudevillian variety shows. “I love women getting up there and celebrating their bodies,” says Cho, “It’s healing and incredible.”

Overcoming and reveling in one’s personal and political battles is at the guts Cho’s work and life, most notably in the vein of queer rights (Cho identifies as bisexual) and anti–racism. Cho inserts heady helpings of political commentary into her act. Cho’s fans don’t clasp hands and break into a misty–eyed rendering of “We Shall Overcome” at a performance; this is of the riotously brash, foul–mouthed stripe. For example, Cho recently made headlines due to her blog’s mention of Sarah Palin. Like how she’s the worst thing to happen to America since 9–11. Oh, and how she wants to “really steam up [Palin’s] glasses and show her what a pit bull with lipstick really needs,” if you know what I mean. Does she go too far? Nah, says Cho, “I’ve made lots of enemies. I’ve likely been hurt in ways I will never know. You never go too far – I’m just a comic.”

One is wont to wonder if Cho, always with several projects on the go, puts her finger in too many pies. Maybe, says Cho, but that’s okay by her: “I love doing lots of different things. I know Final Cut Pro and I can edit a film. I can also make a period– accurate dress on an old Singer sewing machine. And what makes a joke really cool. And how to raise money to keep gay marriage legal,” says Cho, “I’m badass.”

Now 40, Cho is currently basking in the success of her new reality sitcom, “The Cho Show,” as well as her current “Beautiful” tour – a collage of Cho’s signature raucous diatribes and meditations on subject matter you only whisper about with your nearest and dearest. Like keen political analysis regarding the upcoming election, for example. And her batty family. Or her adventures with anus bleaching. And Jesus’ safe word. Bless her.