Episode 043 Margaret Cho

Summary

• Margaret Cho is a celebrated standup comic, fashion designer, singer, songwriter, and actor.
• She has been in feature films, TV series, and Dancing with the Stars.
• She identifies as a standup comedian and is compelled to do comedy to be heard, make people laugh, and express what needs to be said.
• She has had this impulse since she was 8 years old and started performing professionally at 14.
• She has an equivalent of morning pages in standup comedy, as she performs almost every day and it helps her burn off ideas and meditate.
• Margaret Cho was inspired by Joan Rivers as a role model in her early years of comedy.
• Joan Rivers taught Margaret Cho the importance of gratitude for her career.
• Margaret Cho has experienced fear on stage, such as losing her voice and being in physical danger.
• Margaret Cho takes risks in her performances, which can lead to higher crash and burn potential.
• Margaret Cho's approach to hecklers is to try to understand why they are disrupting the performance and to create a show around them.
• Margaret Cho uses a variety of techniques to handle hecklers in her standup comedy, such as asking them why they are yelling, asking their partner about why they are like that, and talking to other people around them.
• She draws inspiration from female rock singers, Bjork, and Janis Joplin.
• Tim Ferriss used his friend's Chihuahuas as a test audience to develop his material for his first Keynote.
• Margaret Cho was scared to reveal her bisexuality for the first ten years of her career, but eventually came out publicly in 1995 or 1996.
• She is currently working on a show about mental illness and addiction, and finds it difficult to disclose her own experiences with prescription pill addiction.
• Margaret Cho is a standup comic who has struggled with prescription drug addiction.
• She is addicted to opiates such as Percocet, sizzurp, morphine, and methadone.
• She finds that the drugs do not make her feel high, but instead keep her from feeling sick.
• She believes that standup comics are prone to selfdestructive behavior due to the solitary lifestyle and the need to obsess over topics.
• Writers and standup comics with ADD are more likely to be addicted to stimulants, while those who are depressed are more likely to be addicted to depressants.
• Margaret Cho threw out all her medication and made her addiction public in order to resolve the situation.
• Margaret Cho talks about her process for developing material for her comedy performances.
• She starts by going to small clubs in San Francisco and working out her material from notes she has.
• She then takes her material internationally to refine it before debuting it in the US.
• She finds that international audiences are more forgiving and appreciative of her performances.
• Italy and Spain are difficult markets for her because of the language and cultural attitudes towards women talking about sex.
• Countries that respond best to her brash sex talk are Sweden, France, Germany, Finland, Norway, Denmark, and other Scandinavian countries.
• Margaret Cho considers Steve Jobs to be the first person to come to mind when she thinks of the word "successful" due to his visionary nature and ability to cross the line from business to art.
• Margaret Cho feels successful and is grateful for her achievements.
• Margaret Cho is doing the 4Hour Body diet and dreads her cheat day due to digestive issues.
• Tim Ferriss explains that the cheat day is designed to contain the damage of cheating and prevent a decrease in metabolism.
• Tim Ferriss suggests avoiding gluten, having a slowcarb compliant meal, and using grapefruit juice and caffeine to help minimize discomfort during cheat day.
• Margaret Cho notes that she no longer has cravings for certain foods since starting the diet.
• Slow Carb Diet is designed to have the highest compliance rate possible
• Diet is a gateway drug to eliminate garbage food
• People realize snacking is a compulsive, habitual behavior, not because they are hungry
• Cheat day can be modified to be more rewarding and less disgusting
• Cheat day food should be high quality and delicious
• People can become selfsufficient and not experience hunger in the same way
• Diet can help people become liberated from obsessing about food
• Behavioral change systems have low success rates, so a graduated approach is better
• Cheat day can be used to achieve a similar psychological effect
• Women may not see dramatic weight change on the scale in the first 1014 days due to increased protein intake and muscle gain
• Margaret Cho does not weigh herself, instead she looks at how her clothes fit and how she looks to gauge her progress.
• She eats healthy, avoiding breading and sauces with flour, but allows herself to be lazy and eat beef jerky or premade food.
• Tim Ferriss suggests that everyone is on a diet, and to rig the game in the beginning to win.
• Margaret Cho's last meal would be penne alla vodka with salmon and vodka, and a bread dish.
• Her favorite curse word is "fuck" and she finds it to be userfriendly and romantic.
• Before a performance, Margaret Cho likes to have a nice meal and sometimes a glass of red wine.
• She reads biographies, particularly of movie stars, and finds them fascinating.
• Dave Grohl is the most welladjusted, successful, and famous person she has met.
• Margaret Cho believes that drummers tend to be very positive people due to the physical activity and high intensity interval training of drumming.
• Tim Ferriss has experienced the stark difference between days with and without drumming.
• Margaret Cho can be found online at margaretcho.com, Twitter @MargaretCho, Facebook @MargaretCho, and Instagram Margaret_Cho.
• Margaret Cho has experienced physical and mental benefits from following Tim Ferriss' advice.
• Tim Ferriss and Margaret Cho plan to meet up for a meal or drink in the future.