I was given the opportunity to interview Margaret Cho during her recent Assassin tour. I was excited to interview her as I've seen several of her other shows and was going to see her upcoming one.

The maturity, worldliness and wit of the Assassin show took me by surprise, as this was the first time I saw her as a mature female performer. Before I had always felt she had a more jocular, raunchy tone and while this show was as irreverent as her others, there was something different about her this time around.

Her candor was still there and her ardor and wit were still there, but this time I could really see and feel her fearlessness in sending out her message and delivering her opinions. I felt vicariously free as I watched her show. She crossed all cultural, sexual, political and racial boundaries in a refreshing and candid way, without coming off as bitter or angry in a negative way. It's tough to describe and even tougher to pull off, but somehow her show maintained a positive, upbeat and funny mood even as she described her anger towards issues such as the social system, the media's portrayal of beauty, and the Bush administration.

Here are the highlights of my interview with Margaret Cho; a glimpse and peak at what she's like off-stage.

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Could you touch upon some of the different themes each of your past shows versus your currentAssassin tour, and how this represented your own personal evolvement and stage of life you were in?

This tour is largely based on current events, mostly political such as gay marriage, working through the system, control by the media, the way we vote. It's critical of the Bush administration, it advocates religious rates. The show's very diverse, reflects changes through where I am, where we're (society is) going, and what's happening in the news for it. I shot a special that will be on TV in September in DC. It's great, exciting, hard work. The show's evidence of getting better and growing up as an artist.

How much autonomy do you get with your shows? Do you incorporate other's feedback like your manager, producers, etc. or is it up to you?

They're all my own things, what I want to say, I work on my own - it's been that way for years. It's fulfilling to do things on my own.

Your show seems to have many aspects to it. What are some of the toughest and rewarding aspects of it?

Some of the challenging aspects are physical touring, going place to place, moving around - it gets harder as I get older and more settled in my life. I wasn't built to be a jetsetter, but I go all over the world. Another challenge - I don't have much time for a life.

[The rewarding aspect,] being way evolved as a person. I care so much more about the world than documenting personal journeys. I'm older and at a stopping point for now regarding personal development.

Could you talk about your upcoming book and film?

Bam Bam & Celeste (the film) focuses on identity and feeling good about yourself in an oppressive world. They undergo a makeover, and it touches on the idea of beauty and who they are. I wrote the script and produced it.

As for the book, I have chosen to stay and fight about politics, same way the show is political. The book covers broader territory, takes collected writings from over a couple of years. It took a while. I took some stuff from my blog too.

More Asian women are beginning to become popular in the media - Lucy Liu, Zhang Ziyi, and Sandra Oh to name a few. How do you view this more widespread presence and the roles Asian women play in terms of progress, the representation of Asians in America.

I think it's great, I love what they do. I'm so excited every time I see them. It's remarkable, challenging work. Asian American film stars are so rare. Parts for women - it's hard to get something. The whole reason women are in film is to be sex objects, men's fantasies. We have to deal with it more than in any other way. Everyone has to deal because we have such a sexist society - we can still do a lot of greater things above that.

You're a real maverick in a sense - you haven't had a direct Asian Female role model yet you've managed to become the first female Asian-American comedian in the US, and really broke through on your own. How did you pave your own way, who provided you with the support you needed, and did you have any role models?

By giving myself permission to do whatever and not trying to be like someone else. It comes from being such an outcast in my own childhood. I was so dorky and a misfit, it was hard to get along. I figured I'm going to be this eternal loser, so I had no one to answer to, I didn't care who I pleased. I was able to ignore and reject all the rejection I got in the beginning, and it put me at a great advantage. I didn't care. When you don't care you really enjoy yourself.

My family is supportive, but there's a lot they don't understand - there's a great divide. They don't have anything they can say or offer advice about it. They're great support, outside of specifics, supportive in a broad way. In terms of giving support about the future, they can't really give advice.

Influences outside of comedy - film, Herzog, PT Anderson, whom I adore. Writers, directors - I can look to history of what I'm about.

How would you define what beauty and weight represent to society, women, and power, and what are your own thoughts on this? What is your definition of beauty after your own life experiences?

It's really hard, the thing we have to first stop doing is reading magazines. That's a huge part of where people get their low self-esteem. We have to re-define beauty for ourselves. There's a narrow window where people can feel beautiful. Providing you're white, beautiful, it's this weird privilege that's been bestowed.

Late 30's, 40's, 50's and beyond, ideally I'd like to see a culture that embraces and treasures older women - finding a place where you feel exalted. It's our own responsibility. Society doesn't benefit from us feeling good about ourselves, what would we buy then?

Asian concept - being too Asian or not Asian enough, how has the Korean community responded to you as a comedian and how do you feel about that? How did it relate to your show?

It was difficult in the beginning. All American Girl was really hard. I was still insecure as a performer. When I was doing TV, I had to answer to someone, I didn't have the freedom to not care - I had to care about the network. To me the show was bland, I wasn't able to do anything inspiring. They were critical about certain things I didn't understand. I was the only Korean actor though it was about a Korean family. That sort of specificity is so limiting. While people can cross racial/ethnic boundaries all the time, for some reason we were held up to that standard.

Now it's interesting, having spent so much time in entertainment. I'm now accepted by default because of long-term experience, because I never gave up. Now I have a lot of respect in the Asian community. It's been a difficult journey but there are a lot of people who like what I do and grew up with me.

What was your first real failure or major failure, how did it tie into your show and career, what you learned from it?

Just feeling like I could affect the system by working within it. I would get frustrated. My actress friends were working constantly, were surpassing me, but none of them work now. Value was so high for them for a few years, and now they're not valued at all. My own value grew as I got older, being jealous that I couldn't be a girlfriend in movies became an advantage. Society throws away women - they get discarded and burned through. Men can survive in Hollywood into their 70's. You don't see women in their 30's.

When you were younger did you always know you'd be different - that you were called to do something non-conventional in the Asian definition?

Yeah, I couldn't see myself working at a bank or office. The future seemed mysterious to me - came as it went, but I did know it wasn't anything my family was doing.

Regarding identity - your persona can fit in all groups - Asian, minority, transexual, etc. how do you juggle all of it? Is it tiring being caught up in everyone's issues and a part of various group "definitions"?

To me it's all one group, everyone's the same in a lot of ways. We feel left out of society and not included, it's a very general feeling. I speak to my own sense of isolation. To be critical of society is empowering. My hate mail boils down to one thing - who do I think I am, because I'm not some old white man. Most people who feel like outsiders, we have the right to comment.

No, all feelings are associated with different clans and tribes. That's not tiring and [I don't feel] pulled apart - I enjoy that. To me it is a positive aspect that I can touch a lot of different people.

Would you say how you are on stage is reflective of how you are in your personal life? i.e. your candor, directness.

Yeah, I think so, to an extent a lot of what I do, in light of how I feel, in a performance light.

Your life seems to lead in interesting directions, seems when one door closes another opens. Can you comment on that, and what have you learned from your different career directions and experiences?

True, I've had to endure a lot of things being an actress and being jealous. Every opportunity that had been denied before opened up. That's really helped a lot. Being a part of this business has paid off.

If you could do everything all over again, would you do it differently and if so how?

I wouldn't do anything differently. That's the most important thing you can say about every decision, that you can accept what you're doing, even the bad stuff. We're conscious of our choices, always action instead of inaction. It's important to emphasize life with no regret. I like to live life without a regret.