 Margaret Cho was born Dec. 5, 1968 and raised in San Francisco. "It was different than any other place on Earth," she says. "I grew up and went to grammar school on Haight Street during the `70s. There were old hippies, ex-druggies, burnouts from the `60s, drag queens, and Chinese people. To say it was a melting pot - that's the least of it. It was a really confusing, enlightening, wonderful time." Her grandfather was a Methodist minister who ran an orphanage in Seoul during the Korean War. Ignoring the traditions of her patriarchal culture, her mother bravely resisted an arranged marriage in Korea and married Margaret's father who writes joke books - in Korean. "Books like 1001 Jokes for Public Speakers - real corny stuff," Cho says. "I guess we're in the same line of work. But we don't understand each other that way. I don't know why the things he says are funny and the same for him." Cho started performing stand-up at age 16 in a comedy club called The Rose & Thistle above a bookstore her parents ran. Soon after, she won a comedy contest where first prize was opening for Jerry Seinfeld. She moved to Los Angeles in the early '90s and lived in a house with several other young performers. Still in her early twenties, Margaret hit the college circuit, where she immediately became the most booked act in the market and garnered a nomination for Campus Comedian of The Year. She performed over 300 concerts within 2 years and subsequently won the American Comedy Award for Female Comedian in 1994. Arsenio Hall introduced her to late night audiences, Bob Hope put her on a prime time special and, seemingly overnight, Margaret Cho became a national celebrity. Her ground-breaking and controversial, yet short-lived ABC sitcom, All-American Girl, soon followed. Indeed, after the show was canceled, Margaret continued performing to sold-out audiences across the country in comedy clubs, theaters, and on college campuses. She was also a guest on every imaginable talk show (including Leno, Letterman, Rosie, Regis, and many others) and programs like Politically Incorrect, and NPR's Fresh Air, where intelligence, wit, and political savvy are required. Of her dozen films, John Woo's Face/Off with Nicolas Cage, and Rugrats, where she was the voice of the detective, probably brought her the most exposure. Margaret is touring her hit Off-Broadway show, I'm The One That I Want, as well as continuing to lecture about her experiences across the country. She's also writing a book and planning a feature film based on the show.
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