By Andrew Georgiou

How excited are you to be debuting your brand new shows for us during the Mardi Gras Festival?
I'm very excited and also extra excited that Cyndi Lauper will also be there. We are great friends and she is so much fun, although I'm gonna have to watch out cause she likes to party hard.

People respond to your honesty and your ability to own up to mistakes. How much of your performance is based on the person we don't see publicly?
A lot! I don't feel embarrassed to share personal information if it is funny or if it could possibly help someone else. I think that the worst thing is feeling alone or isolated about something, and sharing it is very healing and usually hilarious.

So you're all about sharing the intimate details?
I'm a very open person. I like to call up my friends and tell them that I just shat my pants... a little. I'm like " Hi, it's Margaret, I just farted and I shat my pants, juuuuust a little bit."

Women often want to define and claim you in their queer tribes, be they lesbian or bisexual. How do you define yourself?
I just want to be expansive. People think that queer is bi, but that's so limiting. I prefer to be called a tranny. It's a new term. I'm trans-amorous, or Trans-Am if you like. It's like being a fag hag, but kind of more. I've always had an enormous love and respect for transgender people, so it's a compliment.

Your new show, Beautiful, looks at the different elements of beauty. What makes you feel beautiful?
I am a dancer, which has been an incredible boost for my ego and my health. I love to move and I feel beautiful doing it!

Have you ever felt you overstepped the mark with any of your comedy? Have there been any repercussions, like a cranky queen giving you evils in a bar after a show?
I had a mean joke about Anna Nicole Smith's old, old, old, deceased husband where I said: "He doesn't make jizz - he makes GLUE!" and this older gay man got offended and I felt really bad!

You've had a love-hate relationship with the concept of fame throughout your career. Where are you at with it now?
I don't know. I don't really think about it much. I just love working and I love performing and travelling and having fun!

Do you think an obsession with fame can fundamentally stop closeted celebrities from coming out?
Does it bother you when they don't?
I feel bad for them when they don't. I know a few people who are like that and I don't want to pressure them or out them because it is hard. But personally I think it holds them back, that they could be so much more and that even their careers would be better if they came out. but ultimately it is their choice, not mine.

There was a media circus last year surrounding the supposed outing of Missy Higgins which got a little bit out of hand... Oh my God, I would totally snog Missy Higgins. She's so hot. Tell her that I'm coming. Can you hook me up?

Er, we'll have a word. What's the most outrageous thing you think you have ever said?
I think that saying "Laura Bush's pussy tastes like household disinfectant" was my favourite.

Do you know that from personal experience?
The Bush bush is strictly on the hush-hush.

Do you think that 'cunnilingus' is quite a harsh sounding word, considering it's something that so many women enjoy?
I know! It sounds like a luncheon meat or something. Short of being raised by the Village people, you couldn't have had a queerer upbringing growing up in San Francisco. What do you say to the likes of President Bush who think gays and lesbians shouldn't be parents? I don't get that. I feel that queers make better parents because they have to fight for the right to love. They have to fight for the right to be a family. If you have to fight for something, it makes that thing more precious to you.

How can we best prepare ourselves for the international debut of Beautiful?
Feel beautiful. Love yourself. Prepare to get blown away.

Margaret Cho debuts Beautiful, as part of the Mardi Gras Festival, Feb 27, 8pm and Feb 28, 8pm & 10pm. Sydney Theatre, 22 Hickson Rd, Walsh Bay 2000. $65. Bookings: 02 9250 1999

Quoteable Cho
1 "My boyfriend and I live together, which means we don't have sex - ever. Now that the milk is free, we've both become lactose intolerant"

2 "The first thing you lose on a diet is brain mass"

3 "Some people hated the idea of gay marriage so much, they actually voted for George Bush."

4 "I love drugs, but I hate hangovers, and the hatred of the hangover wins by a landslide every time."

5 "Growing up, I never saw Asian people on TV or in movies so my dreams were somewhat limited.
I thought maybe someday I could be an extra on M.A.S.H."