Whether you play in the world of big business, sports, or entertainment, it’s wise to subscribe to the notion that fame may be fleeting. Smart and successful members of these somewhat exclusive clans have always benefited from Mom’s advice to have a fall back plan if, or more likely when, the primary juice dries up.

Margaret Cho is certainly a classic example of a celebrity who has followed that advice. Although her creative comedic juices are flowing better than ever these days, she has never shied away from diversifying.

Over the span of around 15 years, this American born daughter of Korean immigrants has risen to the top of her game, outdistancing many competitors to become one of the leading female comedians of our time.

But Cho has also enjoyed success in television, as an author of two books, acting on the big screen, working behind the scenes in motion pictures as producer, writer, and costumer, as an award-winning social and political activist, a consummate blogger, a fashion designer and marketer, an aficionado on body art as well as classic porn, and, most recently, as a board member for Good Vibrations, an erotic products company that has been "promoting sexual health and pleasure since 1977."

Cho took a few minutes recently to sit down with EDGE correspondent John Voket to talk about an upcoming three-night run of comedy shows at Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut, where she was working out new material for a subsequent headline stint on RSVP’s Trans Atlantic Crossing of the Queen Mary II, and as MC for Cyndi Lauper’s "True Colors" tour supporting the Human Rights Campaign for gay, lesbian, bi and transgender communities.

EDGE: My internet quote of the day today is a Buddhist saying that reads: Laughter is the language of the Gods. Presuming this is true, it’s great to have a few minutes to chat with one of the world’s goddesses of comedy.

Margaret Cho: That’s so nice!

EDGE: I remember seeing you on a variety show in the early ’90s, maybe you first commercial TV appearance on a Bob Hope special or something like that - and I want to ask you about the business of standup comedy. Based on what I am reading in some recent interviews it seems although while you’ve transcended to a certain professional status among your peers, you still have some of the same issues and complaints about the stand-up business that you had since the very beginning of your career. Am I getting that right?

Margaret Cho: Absolutely. Things just don’t change overnight. There is certainly a huge degree of racism, sexism and homophobia still out there making things difficult. I think things are changing. Last night I went to the Asian Excellence Awards where I received an award for my work in comedy. It was incredible because there were other comedians there who are like my children, they sort of grew up with me in the business. I see now there is more happening for them. I try and nurture young comics, especially queer comics. That’s the main focus of my mentoring because it’s really important. There’s more visibility there today, and change happening, but it’s changing really gradually.

EDGE: Do you see a growing demographic of non-queer consumers of queer comedy and comedians?

Margaret Cho: Absolutely. Audiences are sick and tired of the same boring homophobic stuff they have been seeing in comedy clubs. They are seeking better entertainment and they can always find it in the queer community. It’s traditional for people to seek out what’s happening in the queer community, in art, in fashion, what’s exciting, and it’s no different with comedy. It’s always been there, and straight people always feel dangerous when they are hanging out with gay people. And it’s so much fun!

EDGE: Is that where it all started for you?

Margaret Cho: Yeah. When I was young hanging out in the gay clubs was dangerous and edgy and totally fun and exciting and bad. It was like a dirty thing I wasn’t supposed to do, but that’s what I wanted to do. And it helped me make decisions in my life, it has helped me kind of go where I wanted to be in my career, and I got my start in gay clubs talking about gay experiences with gay audiences, which is primarily what I wanted to do.

EDGE: Any artist has a style of preparing for and constructing their artistic output. There’s the cliché about comedians who say they cobble together their acts from bits and pieces of jokes they scribble on cocktail napkins, and others schedule days or weeks of time to hunker down and craft their routines - and do little else until they come out with a nearly finished product. How do you decide on material, and go about constructing your comedy set?

Margaret Cho: It’s a cross between the two. I certainly cobble bits and pieces together from things I’ve written down all over the place. I actually get up and force myself to write a new joke every day no matter what. I can’t let myself have breakfast, have my green tea, make phone calls or do anything social until I’ve written one joke. It can be good, or be totally not a joke or it can suck, but I have to make the attempt. Sometimes it’s really hard because your mind just doesn’t work that way, and other times it’s easy when I can do four or five. That’s when I stockpile them and maybe take a little vacation from it. It’s a great way to force yourself to think about stand up comedy which is different from anything else. That’s something I’ve done for awhile, and after I’ve amassed a certain amount I take all my ideas out there and do shows. Even them I’m still refining and editing and changing to see what works. It’s a daily process for me and it seems to have worked well for me.

EDGE: You are among a very exclusive set of individuals, those of Asian decent who have enjoyed commercial success in show business. I’ve read that you basically believe it is because Asians as an overall ethnic demographic are still among, or the most racially victimized in our society. Without necessarily naming names, do you draw that observation based on discussions with other aspiring or established Asian artists, or do your feelings come from more from personal exposure or observations?

Margaret Cho: I think it comes more from personal observations, and hanging out with Asian-Americans in this industry. We talk about it, bitch about it and discuss what we can do about it. It’s because so much of our culture in American society is invisible. Bringing these people to light as artists, and seeing more of them is hard.

EDGE: I see you as one of the most visible advocates and supporters for equal rights for Lesbian, Gay, Bi and trans-gendered individuals. Tell me about where this strong sense of advocacy comes from?

Margaret Cho: I’m a member of the queer community. I define myself as queer and I feel really connected to this community. I’m political in this community, all my best relationships are basically here, so this is where I belong. This is really vital. Even though in a lot of ways I’m perceived as heterosexual-I’m married to a man and we’re happy together in a pretty conventional life-the queerness doesn’t go away. Queerness is really about who you are and your politics. So the issues that face the queer community like anti-gay legislation and finding ways to make sure people who commit hate crimes are punished, gay marriage... these issues are so important in terms of realizing what democracy is. These are the things that are important to me.

EDGE: You’re coming to Connecticut next week, which has seen a same sex marriage initiative go about as far legislatively as anyplace in the entire country. When you want to talk about bias, the legal provisions against same-sex marriage have to be among the most unjust, and most blatantly and overtly prejudicial behaviors promoted domestically by our states and federal governments. From your perspective, why do people have such a hard time with this?

Margaret Cho: I’m not sure--it’s a strange thing. Like, why do they care. Anybody who is against gay marriage probably doesn’t even know gay people who would get married. They would never know if a wedding was between gay people. It’s this weird thing about controlling people’s gender, sexuality, their lives...it’s these busybodies who don’t have anything to do with it anyway.

EDGE: Do you think it’s because they just can’t find enough difference between marriage as a spiritual or religious rite and marriage as a legal statutory institution?

Margaret Cho: I have no idea what it is, which makes it even more troubling and really confusing. Marriage in most cases is a financial agreement. In most cases it can be seen as a sacred bond, but it’s about money and who gets what, the way things are divided, how the kids are factored in from a legal and social perspective. I don’t see that it’s anybody’s business at all except the people who are immediately involved.

EDGE: This may be rhetorical, but you don’t strike me as someone who will compromise her art for the sole purpose of achieving greater commercial exposure or acceptance. Do you think, or have you been told directly that either the graphic sexual nature, or the direct and hard-hitting nature of the political and social observations in your material have affected the scope of your commercial success?

Margaret Cho: I don’t know. I think my observations and my honesty are why I’ve achieved any commercial success. It’s the whole point of it. There are different things we can do in this business and to me this is most satisfying and what I’m best at. So I couldn’t imagine compromising that because that’s the reason why people want to hear it, and buy it, and why they are into it. I don’t know what it would be like to do anything else or to be any other way.

EDGE: Have there been any well-meaning suggestions have been made to you about any or all of your creative projects that you have simply rejected because it would mean changing or somehow editing exactly what you think needs to be said or done?

Margaret Cho: I’ve had a lot of weird advice, fearful but well-intentioned advice, like ’I don’t care what you do in your private life, but you have to appear as heterosexual as you possibly can.’

EDGE: Like, wear more culottes?

Margaret Cho: (Laughing) Yeah that’s always a good idea. That kind of advice, asking me to change my lifestyle, be thinner, be more of what we expect from Asian women. It’s an impossible game. I don’t know how to be like that and I’d never want to be like that.

EDGE: The next few months may be a period of almost unprecedented exposure for Margaret Cho. First, you’ll be the MC for Cyndi Lauper’s True Colors Tour. Are you working on specific material and how that will be worked into the multi-act format of a rock concert?

Margaret Cho: I’m working on it, but I’m not sure how to do it because I’ve never done this before. I’m doing a bit of music, which is funny, and just a ton of new amazing things for me. It will be a fun project.

EDGE: Will our audiences at your upcoming appearance at Mohegan Sun next weekend get to hear you working out some of that material?

Margaret Cho: Yes, lots of new material and lots of fun things. I’m still working out a new show and I’m planning to go out on tour next year with another new show myself.

EDGE: You are so lucky to be able to hang with such unique new artists as the Dresden Dolls, and The Gossip - along with long-established artists like Deborah Harry, Cyndi Lauper and Erasure for a long time. Do you get a different kind of vibe when you are hanging out with musicians versus movie, comedy or people from other areas of the entertainment business?

Margaret Cho: I find musicians are always ready to play, they’re always willing to collaborate and do lots of fun things. Actors, I find, are more conservative, image conscious, but musicians are always willing to throw down and do anything. I’m going to be doing a song, I think, with the Dresden Dolls so that will be pretty exciting.

EDGE: You have created a motion picture coming out this fall. Can you talk about the extent of your creative involvement in that project, and a bit about the story?

Margaret Cho: It’s called Bam Bam and Celest, which I wrote produced and star in. It’s a fag and fag hag love story that stars a young comedian named Bruce Daniels, also Alan Cumming, Jane Lynch. I made it a couple of years ago and it’s finally coming out and I’m really glad about that.

EDGE: I’ve interviewed a lot of people but I’m certain I’ve never touched on any of these subjects before. Let’s talk about three quick things. One: your affinity for body art

Margaret Cho: Oh I love tattooing. Women my age in Los Angeles typically start their overhaul of plastic surgery. For me it’s sort of the same impulse, but when I’m old I want to be entirely covered in tattoos -= face, arms, hands everything. I think it’s better than all this weird plastic surgery that all these people are getting here.

EDGE: Two: your line of belly dancing accessories.
Margaret Cho: It started as something I made for dancers. I really love dancers and it’s been really fun. It’s available on suhaila.com.

EDGE: And, three: your partnership with Good Vibrations.

Margaret Cho: That really just started, but I’m on the board of directors. We’re going to see where that takes us.

EDGE: I saw in an interview where you’re described as a lover of classic 1970s San Francisco porn. What is it that draws you to this unique period and genre of filmmaking?

Margaret Cho: I like to see the architecture, and it’s really fun to see how things have changed. I love the clothing and they were actually shot on film. They have really great production values and many of those porn films of the time are really great