‘You Don’t Even Know You’re Invisible’: Margaret Cho Forces A Generation To Be Seen

Margaret Cho, an elder stateswoman in comedy, began touring the
stand up circuit as a teenager. She dropped out of school and, at
age 23, launched the very first TV sitcom about an Asian-American
family, All American Girl. The show bombed. And in the immediate
aftermath, she looked in the mirror (literally) and blamed the
failure on her inability to lose weight. Years later, she realized
she was missing the historical context of the era and the
“invisibility” that Asian-Americans were dealing with. Today, Cho
is host of The Margaret Cho, a podcast on the EARIOS network, where
she dedicated a season to discussing anti-Asian violence. Cho talks
with Art of Power about her mistakes, including how she mistakenly
looked up to a white male leader who was later convicted of
voluntary manslaughter in the death of his wife. She also gives a
mini-master class on what makes a joke funny (in case you wanted
tips).