But in the was a straight up dike, and it was different then. I mean, we didn't have queer eyed, you know, we didn't have anything like that, you know, and it was dangerous to be gay, and it was very hard. It was like the. Was like, I'm gay.

I'm gay.

I had, like, really heavy boots and, like, cargo pants with lots of shit in the pockets, like carabiner and drings and measuring tape. Lesbians just, like to hook shit on other shit. It starts with a fucking friendship bracelet. And then just hooking one thing into another thing, and then it's a u haul.

On this episode of the commercial break.

Were you dominatrix for a while also?

Yeah.

But I am, like, a better raw chef than I am. I'm, like, really bad dominatrix. Like, I'm really like, what do they want?

Really?

I'm so indecisive, and I'm really like. I have no conviction. That's the worst. I'm, like, a real. Okay. I just don't have what it takes to be a good dog.

The next episode of the commercial break starts now. Green this is the minister of justice, Kristen joy. Holy. Best to you, Kristen, and best to you out there in the podcast universe. My microphone just did a hiccup. I don't know what happened there.

Has it been drinking?

Studio is now falling apart. We got it all together just in time for two weeks of perfectness, and now it's all going to start falling apart. We don't have the money to recover, so we may be doing. I don't know.

We'll go back to the basics.

Go back to the basic. Maybe my microphone stand is breaking, and I'll take my flashlight and I'll just hang it from here, and we'll stick the microphone in the vagina if it'll fit. The great Margaret Cho is here today. What an honor to have. I know someone named.

She's a legend.

Named one of the top 50 stand up comics of all time by Rolling Stone, if you know, you know, it's hard not to know Margaret Cho, the notorious ch o. And I'm so just starstruck a little bit, if I'm being honest about having.

Margaret Cho, to have her for sure. And she's been in the business 40 years.

Yeah.

And she's still going strong.

I've been in the business 40 years, too, only I just got a microphone four years ago. I had to save up all my allowance. Yeah. I'm so happy to have her on. So Margaret show coming up in just a few minutes. But first, Chrissy, let me share with you little story that I read, and I think it's about time. I think it's about, you know, all these states, after Roe was overturned, now all these states are taking extreme measures to make sure know women don't have rights over their body. And you just need to be a casual listener of the commercial break to understand that that's not the way we swing. I don't believe in one bit of it. I just think it's all horseshit. It's all horse cocky. But if we're going to do what's fair, fair is fair. And Kentucky, one of the states that I believe is passing these incredibly restrictive abortion laws, Kentucky has now passed a bill that makes it legal for mothers to collect child support from the moment of conception, which according to most of the people who would like to see abortion outlawed in any way, shape, or form.

Conception is the second, you jizz, essentially. That's it. Right. So now a mother has the right to go collect child support from the moment they get done making love.

All right.

Amen. Raise the stakes for everybody, why don't we, right. Make you think twice about, have you been watching love is blind or you watch love is blind?

Yes.

That guy, Jeremiah, or whatever his name is. Jeremy with an a. How do you spell that? I have no idea. That guy didn't know how a dick worked. Did you see that? He was like, I didn't know that all women weren't on birth control. What are you, a fucking moron?

He's like, I didn't know the ins and outs of birth control.

You don't know the ins and outs of.

Somebody was like, what about just a condom?

Yeah.

He's like, I don't know. Everybody's always taking care of it.

To be honest, I never really had to worry about. You never had to worry about it? Yeah, that's right. You never had to worry about it, Jeremy, I got to say, good for them. They're in love and everything seems to be going well for them. Yes.

They're expecting.

They are? Yeah. Really?

I think so.

Are you serious?

I think so.

Oh, my God. Well, that's how sex works, Jeremy. Congratulations. They're trying.

Yeah.

I thought the whole thing was he didn't want to try. The whole thing was they weren't having sex because he didn't want to be inconvenienced by birth control. I mean, what a nudnick thing to say. Fred Flintstone said smarter stuff. Do you know what I'm saying? Barney rubble had more brains in his head, and his name was Barney Rubble. I mean, come on, man. Come on, dude.

Good for Kentucky, by the way.

Listen, I'm down with this. What's good for the goose is good for the gander, as we learned 70 episodes ago, when we spent an entire episode wondering what good for the goose, good for the gander meant.

I forgot about the.

We had so many people write in and be like, that's a nice saying, but I don't think a gander has anything to do with geese. Isn't it a gander of geese?

We're not going to go through it again.

Okay. Yeah.

But I agree with this 1000%, because if someone's going to have to deal with the consequences, and it takes two to tango, then let two people deal with the consequences. That's how it should go.

Yeah. In it together.

Especially if we're going to outlaw some of the choices that were otherwise there to. Listen. I don't want to go through a big political speech here. I just want my women friends, you and my wife, and everybody else to know that it is not my place to make that decision, and it never will be. Unfortunately, God did not equip me with the uterus, actually, fortunately, God did not equip me with a uterus, so I'd say, hey, yay. Let's go.

Yeah. You should have the choice for a safe alternative, if that's the choice that you make.

Oh, yeah. Let's not even get into the.

I know. I was just watching a documentary, actually, yesterday about this guy in Hollywood, Scotty, and I can't remember his last name, but it was pretty crazy. I guess he wrote a book a few years ago about all the dalliances that happened in the. When people weren't able to be gay or anything or bi or anything else other than just straight. So he wrote this tell all, but they were talking about his daughter. His daughter died at 23 from having an abortion that was unsafe.

Unbelievable. Yeah, unbelievable. Welcome to the 1940s, kids.

I know.

It's crazy. That's why it excites me that Margaret Cho is here today. Let me explain a little bit. Not only is Margaret Cho one of the best stand up comedians of comedians, period. Of all time, and I agree with that, actually. But she has also been a big flag waver for the fetish community, the kink community, the be what you be. Do what you do community.

Ubu.

Ubu community. And I can't think of another famous person that probably has been so out there on a lot of these issues.

Yes.

And so early, like, back in the 90s, we were just talking about it, I think the first time, and I want to talk to her about this. I think the first time that I saw Margaret Cho was probably her Arsenio hall appearance.

That's right.

Back in the early 90s. That dates me, but it dates her, too, so the both of us are fucked as far as age is concerned. We're all on the backside. We just don't give a shit anymore. Exactly. But back in the early 90s, when I'm telling you something, there certainly weren't a lot of comedians that were talking about LGBTQ issues. Fetish, kink. I mean, just, like, so many stereotypes and so many walls broken by Margaret Cho. And it'll be exciting to talk to.

Her about all that.

Yeah, maybe we'll talk to her about Kentucky, too, because good for Kentucky. Good for Kentucky. Okay, you want to do this? Why don't we take a short break? Do you want to do this? We already know what we're going to do. Do you want to do this?

Let's do it.

I've only said that. Twelve episodes, twelve interviews in a row. Do you want to do this? Do you want to take a break? And then after the break, we'll actually have the guest here in a move of podcast magic. We'll just port her in live while we're on the commercial break.

I would like to do that.

You would like to do that? Okay, then let's do that. And we'll also change outfits just in case you're watching this on YouTube. All right, we'll take a short break. We'll be back with Margaret show.

Well, thank the baby Jesus. Brian took a breath. And now I will use this opportunity to let you know that we've got a brand new phone number. That's right. It's 212433 TCB. And you can text us anytime you want. Or you can call and leave us a voicemail and we might just use your message on the show once Brian gets through all the messages he missed last year.

Of course.

Anyway, you can also find and dm us on instagram at the commercial break and on TikTok at TCB podcast. And of course, all of our audio and video is easily found on tcbpodcast.com. Now, I'm going to thank g one more time that we have sponsors. So thank G. And here they are.

This episode is sponsored by Betterhelp.

If you've been listening to the show for the last six to nine months, then, you know, Chrissy and I have both had life events that have been.

Very difficult for us, but that's the way it goes.

Sometimes life takes unexpected turns. Chrissy and I both use therapy as.

A way to learn coping skills for.

Those big life events, but also for.

The day to day difficulties that we all experience.

Therapy isn't just for people who've experienced major trauma. I've found that it can help in.

The best of times, the worst of.

Times, and everything in between.

Therapy really is a part of my health routine.

I actually look forward to therapy appointments now. But if you're like me also, you.

Probably have a very busy schedule.

Betterhelp is designed to make that process.

A little bit more flexible, a little.

Bit more convenience, and suited to your schedule. It's entirely online.

All you have to do is fill.

Out a brief questionnaire, and then you get matched with a licensed therapist. And by the way, you can change therapists at any time, no additional cost. Learn to make time for what makes.

You happy with Betterhelp.

Go visit betterhelp.com commercial today to get 10% off your first month. That's betterhelp he lp.com commercial.

It only works if you work it, as they say.

And taking the first step is as easy as going to betterhelp he lp comcommercial. Then you'll get 10% off your first month. And if you're anything like me, you'll start to look forward to the therapy appointments. And we want to thank betterhelp again for being a sponsor of the commercial break.

It's after bedtime. The kids are asleep, and the moms are out to play. We're Dina and Kristen, the duo behind the Instagram account big little feelings. I'm Dina. I'm a child therapist and mom of two who nerds out on all things neurobiology and psychology. And Kristen is a parent coach who wrangles three kids on a daily basis here to give it to us like it is. We weren't meant to do this parenting thing alone. Consider after bedtime, your village. Follow after bedtime with big little feelings on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts.

And we're here with Margaret right now. Hi, Margaret. Thanks for joining us today. We really appreciate it.

Thank you, Margaret.

Margaret, inquiring minds want to know, and Chrissy and I were talking about this right before you appeared magically on our screen here. What is the worst thing that you have ever tasted, drank, or tasted like the worst thing?

I guess, eaten or.

Yeah, you've eaten.

Okay, so I was studying to be a raw vegan chef.

Okay.

And this was at the turn of the century. So this is 2000. Okay, the year is 2000, and this is before. I mean, Arowan existed, but we didn't have the Arowan that we have now. I mean, we didn't really have the whole foods that we have now. It was very different. All those things existed, but that was not to the extent of raw vegan.

They were like collectives and little markets here and there. They weren't, like, mass produced, beautifully quality food.

Right, got you.

No. So a lot of trial and error. So one time I tried to sprout soybeans and then make my own tofu.

Okay.

And I did it wrong, but it looked so beautiful. It looked like Duncan Hines yellow cake batter mix.

Oh, wow.

You know, that beautiful golden color and that creamy consistency. And it looks so good. But I ate some, and I threw up immediately because the taste was so awful. Like, it was bitter and acrid. And I ate a big bunch, and it was just like the worst. I mean, the worst things I've eaten are by my own hands. Sometimes I'm a chef in general, sometimes I'm real terrible because I do things that are not really, you shouldn't do. Don't do that. Don't do that. Don't do that. Don't sprout it. And then, yeah, don't do that. Because I just don't have the capacity. Made myself sick multiple times just because I just don't have a handle. But I also know what to serve people and what to not serve. Serve people. Yeah. My experimental kitchen is my own doing, but, yeah, the worst thing that. And then I tried to make something with soursop, and I did it wrong.

What is soursop?

Soursop is a kind of a fruit. It's sort of an exotic fruit. I think it's kind of more of a caribbean fruit from that region of the world. A little bit tropical and really not good.

Not good.

Cheromoya, same thing. Not good, not good. I made some puddings out of not. I shouldn't have done it. Don't do that.

My wife is from Venezuela, and she's always trying to get me to try stink fruit. Do you know what stink fruit is?

Oh, I have not.

Okay.

I have not.

There is no smell on earth, and I've never smelled a decomposing body because I keep them under the house like most people should. And so I've never smelled anything quite.

As terrible as stink fruit.

And I'm sure that's not the actual name. I think it's like the proverbial name that they give it. It's stink fruit, but it smells so bad. How could you ever want to put it in your mouth? That's just my opinion, personally.

Well, sometimes the smell is not related to the taste. Like Durian.

Yeah.

Durian is a very off putting smell. It smells like dirty laundry or like feet or like a decomposing body. That's also kind of what it's compared to. But in taste, it's quite like mango. I think it's similar to. Oh, wow, that's a very ripe papaya. There's a delicious unctuousness to it that's similar to those fruits, but the smell is somewhat off putting and unrelated.

I felt that way about certain kinds of rogue for cheese, like blue cheeses.

And stuff like that.

I felt that way for a long time in my early 20s until I actually tasted it. And then I was like, oh, this is delicious. I cannot believe I've been missing out on this all my life because it was so good. Do you remain vegan today?

No. Okay. I eat everything. But at that time, I was trying to accomplish something. I don't even know what. Me too.

I did vegetarian for, like, six days. And I was just trying to be a better human, I guess is like the best way to explain, like, do something good for myself and maybe the earth and the poor animals and all this other stuff. But I don't know. It didn't sit with me. Yeah, it didn't take six days.

Wasn't. Yeah. Well, I went to a camp with Liza Minnelli and Ben Verine in. I so wanted to be like this raw vegan. It was this very amazing. It was this amazing health place where a lot of people went to when they had these life threatening illnesses and they didn't have anywhere to turn. So they would go to this one place that was like this healing camp, whatever. And you learned how to become a raw vegan chef, and they kind of showed you. And I took all these classes, but that I did not apply that knowledge in my own kitchen.

Bring on the bacon.

I think it was the bacon that.

I couldn't stay away from, let's be honest.

Bacon is good. Bacon is good. It's hard to replicate. I mean, I know that there's lots of different kinds of, like, they do it with tempeh. They do it with all sorts of different things. You could do it with jackfruit, I believe.

Sure.

But I've had it. Yeah. It's really its own thing. It's not the same. There's something about the flesh of an.

I guess, and I'm sorry, little piggies, but you're just so delicious, Margaret, you're such a legendary comic, and to me, at least from my point of view, you seemingly have broke every stereotype and possible prejudice to just become so successful. And then, I don't know, kind of clear a path for others behind you. Do you still love the joke? Do you still love the art of comedy? Are you still in love with getting up there and making people laugh after all these years?

Well, thank you. And yes, it's a mystery, because comedy is an ever evolving mystery that you'll never quite figure out, and your notoriety will only really buy you about ten or 15 seconds of grace out there. You have to always deliver and always be funny, no matter who you are. The most famous, illustrious comedians bomb. Because you don't have the time. No, you don't have the luxury of time. It's our job description. It's just, it has to be satisfied all the time. That's the best thing about it and the worst thing about it. Continually work on it.

Do you still bomb? Do you still have bad nights?

Yeah, also, I do a lot of nights.

So, yeah, you're working all the time, right? I mean, you're just like, how many nights a week do you work still up on stage?

I guess I would say three to four to five. It depends, because I sort of divide my time amongst other types of things, too, and also other kinds of live performance that I'm trying to work on as well. So it's the majority of what I go out for, the farmers market or the comedy club. What are the other. So it's like that kind of thing.

When you were young, I have asked this question of a few comedians that I hold in high regard, and I do you also, what is the first thing you remember being funny?

Well, we had a really old school VCR. My parents had one. It had wood on the side.

The wood paneling. Oh, yeah, wood paneling. Yeah, I remember, yeah.

And I mimicked the grain of the television. So it was like these wood sided, old technology, but we had an old VCR, and my dad really loved stand up comedy. So we would get to watch old concert comedy films that we would rent at the video store. So we rented, like, buddy Hackett in concert, which was so funny and ridiculous. And also Richard Pryor. All of Richard Pryor's comedy shows were on video. It was a really big deal. And also very adult, like a lot of things I didn't even understand was what was happening, as I was really too young to even know what these jokes were about. Exactly.

Sure.

But the fact that he was so animated and just engaging to watch, he was just quite a mimic and really just so kind of majestic in this way. He's kind of like this king. I really took to that. And then, of course, I think Eddie Murphy's delirious. When I was a little bit older, that had a huge impact because you saw that comedy now sort of branched into this rock star kind of thing, which I think Eddie Murphy was really kind of the first to do that. And then I think the person that really clinched it for me was Joan Rivers. When I saw her, I was really like, oh, this is what I will grow up to be.

Yeah. Something about those Chris Rock, you know, later on, they stalk the stage.

They stalk the stage.

They make you pay attention. Your eyes can't leave them. The rhythmic, it's almost musical in a way. And that always got me about some of my favorite stand up comics, is that there was a musicality to it, but there was also a very commanding presence about it. Joan was like that, too. She had a very, like, she absolutely. You couldn't take your eyes off her if she was in the room. I remember watching her in my grandma's guest bedroom on the Johnny Carson show, because I think she would guest host there sometimes, I believe.

Yeah.

And that was, like, my first exposure with Joan.

And you guys got to be friends, too, and know each, right?

Yes.

Yeah. Yes. We were very good friends, and she had a very musical quality. It was like a staccato.

Yeah.

That's kind of like the way that you would hear her voice in your head. It was, it was this know, and it is very musical. But Joan was really a good friend and a mentor, and certainly later in life, as I got older, and she was just so important, so I really miss her. It's be ten years now. It's hard to believe. Yeah, it's a long time. But also her presence is so enormous. And as I get older, I think, oh, Joan would like this. Joan would get a kick out of this, and she would have laughed or she would have enjoyed it.

As you get older, does your impact on comedy? Does that become more important? Is it something that you think about your own impact on?

Well, I know that what's great is that I got to encourage a lot of asian american comedians to think, oh, I can do this. So a lot of asian american comedians look to me as being their major influence, and that's a really great. To me, that's the best legacy. I'm really proud of that. And I'm always hitting them up for jobs. I'm always hitting up, like, Bonyang Ali Wong. Like, you better get me, because I just really want to ride their coattails all the way. But I'm really grateful to have had a hand in their development, and they're so amazing.

Yeah, for sure. It's full circle. Children eat their young eventually, you know what I'm saying?

I love it.

You ride my coattails, and I'll ride.

Yours a little bit later.

I love it.

You had a really interesting upbringing. Your parents owned a gay bookstore. So by gay bookstore, when you refer to this, and we've seen this a number of times in podcasts and interviews, is it just mainly gay material that your parents were selling inside of the bookstore, or was it like a community center, like a place to congregate and hang out?

Both. I mean, it also sold, like, mainstream literature. Mainstream books, know, whatever. That's like, photography books, which is also kind of gay art, any kind of literature. We would have book signings. People would do readings. It was like an old school independent bookstore. I mean, at that time, it wasn't considered independent because Amazon and stuff like that didn't exist. But it would be like an independent bookseller, like today. Right. And the focus was on gay literature, but also everybody else. And we had a very large section for magazines. We had a lot of tattoo magazines. And that's where I met Don Ed Hardy, who was selling his own tattoo time, these specialized books that he would make and curate showing tattooing from all over the world. So he would bring them in, and we would sell them on consignment, and he would tattoo a lot of the people at the bookstore. Wow, cool. And he ended up tattooing me later in the early 2000s. So I think it was just sort of a bookstore that was an art center, but mostly for the gay community.

And how did they get into.

Yeah, that's a great question.

Well, I don't really know exactly. I think they just liked the idea of having a bookstore. It was like this thing that my dad wanted to do. My dad was also a writer, so he just liked the sort of literary pursuit of being sort of this bookseller, and he wanted to curate window displays and things, like having one time, we had sort of a big manger, so for Christmas, and you had all of the figures reading books like Mary's reading.

I love that.

Like Simone de Beauvoir, like feminist stuff and Jesus is reading, like, a children's book. It's just stuff like that that's sort of very barely irreverent, but also kind of alludes to literature. And it was, like, just a touch.

Satirical, if you knew what he was going for.

Yeah, it's cute. And I think. So he wanted to have also, like, a community center, I think. Yeah, they just wanted something that was there. And that particular bookstore had come up.

For sale, so that's why I wonder. I wish I had Europe. I know it seems like, so open minded. I mean, we're not talking about your parents having bought this bookstore in 2020. This is back in the right.

Yeah, this was in 1978.

So the world was such a different place back then. How far we've come and how not far we've come over the last couple of decades. But your parents are so open minded. I imagine that had a big influence on who you became because they were just wide open.

Hey, I didn't have access to all of that.

Yes, it's really lucky. And I think also because in San Francisco in that era was also very progressive in its own way, and they were electing Harvey Milk to public office. He was the first gay public official, a politician in elected office. There was political movements happening, and so getting to grow up around that was incredibly, an incredible education. And my first gay pride was in 1978. So that's an amazing thing to grow up next to and around. And also the heartbreaking thing of having to grow up alongside AIDS. Right. Which was a horrifying. I mean, you can't even imagine the desperation that the community felt at that time. And to return from that is also really triumphant.

The kind of exposure I grew up in the. So the AIDS epidemic was just national news for years and years and years. And I never forget my mom, I think maybe watching an Oprah episode and bawling her eyes out about how people didn't want to touch people that had HIV or AIDS and how she told us, these people, they're not pariahs. Like, they're not lepers. And I'm, like, eight years old, so I'm like, I don't even really understand what's going on, but I just remember my mom being so emotionally affected by this. But this is as far as it went. I grew up in a suburban Chicago area, so I wasn't in San Francisco, where it was kind of ground zero for this. And I bet that must have been greatly affecting as such a young person whose parents owned this bookstore that became a community center, and how devastating and like you said, a sense of desperation that went on there. And I bet there was a lot of sadness and a lot of heartbreak that went on there over those years. Also people passing away and getting sick and all that stuff.

It was so dark and traumatic. And then also the people who didn't die. We had a lot of survivors guilt as well. So you had a sense of this community collapse, and then our business collapsed underneath all of that as well. The entire infrastructure of that neighborhood collapsed. So in a sense, that there was a couple of gay neighborhoods in San Francisco that were really very big. I mean, the whole city is very gay, but it was kind of centralized into two huge neighborhoods. And then our neighborhood, the Polk district, completely collapsed and the Castro remained. And I think that's still true to this day. It's really sort of.

It never came.

Castro that remains, but the Polk district never came back.

Oh, that's very interesting and so sad. And you don't think about that when you think about the AIDS epidemic. You don't think about the survivors guilt and then the businesses, the people who were going to work every day who one day just weren't there.

Right.

And all these other things. And the people that frequented the businesses that catered to the lgbt community, and then all of a sudden, they're just not there or they're too devastated or they move away because it's too sad. We all think about COVID as the most recent devastating health issue that happened. But I think that when we were going through that or when the country was going through that, I do remember that being just so sad and just the way that I remember my mom being affected by that visually striking sobbing in the family room. I knew that it was sad. Right? It must have been something sad. Did that also, I think, spur on your. I see you as a champion of all things fetish and Kink and LGBTQ. You're so damn open minded. I wish everybody was like you. Do you think that empathy, that being in the middle of that, that helped you kind of form this deep well of love and affection and wanting to champion these causes? Because I think you've been very out there on these causes. You're not a shrinking violet when it comes to.

Well, thank you.

You're welcome.

Well, I think Kink was a direct reaction to the way that we were learning as a community to heal and also to find ways to have sex without fluid bonding.

Very interesting.

So Kink became a way to look at this idea of sex being still risky but not actually risky. So how do we do it without doing it. Yeah. Find a way to do it that doesn't necessarily involve exchanging fluids, yet at the same time is immersive and transgressive. So kink was almost this outside idea that became, oh, wow. We could actually do something that is really transformative and incredibly cathartic. But we don't have to put our lives at risk when we're living with HIV. So it's a very specific kind of thing that I was drawn to BDSM because it was sort of like the time period. And also those sorts of businesses around the gay community were really booming in that era. In the 90s, when we're talking about the worst part of the AIDS epidemic pandemic, you had the kink community emerging really triumphant. Because here's an alternative way where we can kind of get busy with ourselves and each other without putting anybody in harm's way.

Oh, that's very interesting.

I never even thought about it like that. Were you dominatrix for a while also?

Yeah. But I am like, a better raw chef than I am. I'm like, really bad dominatrix. I'm really like, what do they want?

Really?

I'm so indecisive and I'm really like. I have no conviction. That's the worst. I'm like a real. Okay. I just don't have what it takes to be a good dominator. I do, like, every so often, I'll go back. So before the pandemic, I was doing this thing with my friends where we were going to be rope doms. So we're going to do suspension bondage and with all the japanese ties and the Shibari shabari stuff. So I started doing that, and then we had to stop doing them in person because of the lockdown, and it never quite came back. And there's something about it when you do it online, it's really hard to figure out because everything's reversed, right? I'm like, you have to get behind me. I don't know what I'm doing. So it's like, I'm much better off if I do it in person. But those classes haven't come back yet. When they do, I'm definitely into it, but it's really hard to do it.

Know? Listen, I am, you know, a straight white guy from Chicago, right? But I have met a few women who have been into some bdsm type stuff. And I'm like, you? I just don't have a conviction. I'm like, I don't want to hurt you.

Really.

I mean, is that really what you want? I don't. For me, that particular thing is not for me. But I also feel like sometimes kink is a little performative also. And that part of it I can get into. Sometimes there's kinks that I feel are performative, and that can be fun in the bedroom, because I feel you're much more of an expert at this than the commercial break. But what is, like, the kinkiest kink you've heard of? Been a part of? Seen, like, the most out there?

Oh, the weirdest, weirdest show. What is, like, latex beds where they're, like, compressed and then. So, you know when you vacuum seal food.

Yeah.

They'll vacuum seal themselves into, like, a latex bed.

Wow.

To me, I'm like, okay, I don't know what turns them on.

Yeah.

But any kind of, like a vacuum thing. But one guy that really took the cake was this guy who. Really nice guy. And he rigged a veterinary, like a medical machine that usually is used in veterinary medicine, and it's like a suction thing to pull out body fluids. So he rigged it to use it on his penis, and he would hook it onto his penis for up to, like, 48 hours so that his penis would swell to the size of a basketball. So it looked like he was holding a basketball in his lap, but it was actually his penis penis. And he would just sit around like that for hours. And after taking out the sort of the suction thing, and he described it as being. He would high off the sensation and.

Blood left his head.

Yeah. I couldn't figure out. He wasn't really either a top or a bottom. It had no sort of power dynamic involved.

Okay.

It wasn't like somebody was forcing him to do that. He wasn't using it because it was just like a marshmallow, so it couldn't be inserted into anything.

So it wasn't necessarily about, like, I'm sure that it's a kink. So I'm sure there was some kind of pleasure involved for him, whether that was maybe the blood leaving his head and enlarging it.

Yeah, maybe it's the body modification that he was excited by, because he would show up to these play parties at all these dungeons. Sometimes dungeons will hold these parties where they sort of have lots of different types of people come and use the facility to play, and then it's almost very performative. So he would have his own room where he would do that, and he would pay for the most exp. Very wealthy. He would pay for the most expensive. He had, like, yachts and stuff. He was this really rich guy. But also.

You couldn't figure it out.

Yeah, I can't figure it out either. But, I mean, that's the wonderful thing I think about. Kink, when you think about it, is that if you want to do it, you can do it. As long as you're not, without consent, hurting somebody else, then do it.

Whatever.

It's all good. You want to dress up like a furry.

Cool.

You want to blow your penis up.

To the size of a basketball. Cool.

Or suck it up to the size of a basketball. I've seen that done on vaginas. I've seen that in certain videos. I've seen people suck those, put those suctions on their vaginas. And I'm sure that also probably brings some kink. Were you a phone sex worker one time, too?

Yeah, when I was really young.

How young?

I was, like, 15.

Holy.

I was doing it like 15, but I didn't talk to anybody. I was doing recorded messages. I sort of got. Tried to talk to people, but then it wasn't working, so they would have us. So my friend and I would write these kind of messages, and then we would read them. And it was this thing called Hot Girls USA, where we were doing phone sex for people who were just learning English. So it was a very simple sentence structure. And my name is Mary. I have large breasts. And you would just go through these very simple sentences so people learning English could get an understanding of. I guess they were, like, learning English.

Yeah, it's like Duolingo for horny people.

So this is all sort of before apps and before Rosetta stone or any of those things. So you had another way. But actually, we made a lot of money doing that.

Yeah.

So it was really great.

Those services made a lot of money.

Yeah. My dad can tell you they did. He paid quite a few of those bills, those 9761 900 numbers. And we've done episodes on this before, but there were these companies that were making millions and millions of dollars a week, bringing in people that wanted to talk sex on the phone. And I can imagine sex and the psychics. The sex and the psychics, those two.

Like Miss Cleo.

Yeah, Miss Cleo. There's a version of Miss Cleo that's back. I think there's like, you know, California psychics or something like that. I just don't think they can make the promises that Miss Cleo did, because I hear she got in trouble.

So interesting.

I know you, over your career, have worked with so many people. You've done so many things, television, film, comedy. Can you pinpoint your favorite comedian that you've worked with that you've worked with? Not a favorite comedian that you've seen, but a favorite comedian or two that you have worked with?

Well, I really love working with Wanda Sykes because we just. And we have a good know, we do karaoke, and she loves to sing some Jeffrey Osborne.

Oh, really?

And she's just very good. She's such a good person to hang out with and just, like, laugh. I also laugh a ton with Amy Schumer. We really get along. We really get along.

You're in life and.

Just.

We just have a good. She and I have the same sense of humor, so we really laugh. And I really appreciate her in so many ways.

One of our producers would like you to know her name is Christina. One of our producers, she's such a huge fan of yours, and she would like you to know that her dream, Obgyn, is you.

Thank you. Thank you. I agree. I think I would be good at. I. That's the one thing that I would be able to do very easily.

I love that show. I haven't gotten to your specific episode yet because I did binging it, but, yeah, it's a great show. I love the first season, too. Yeah, I love it.

And I do have to tell you, even though I think it's a total of five full minutes in the entire series, I think your turn on 30 Rock was so fucking hilarious.

I just think it was so good.

Did you enjoy working on that show?

Oh, I loved it. I loved Tina, too. Tina is just really an incredible person, and I've done quite a few things with her, things that haven't made it on the air, unfortunately. I've done pilots with her, and she always puts me in things. She's always thinking of me, and I'm just so grateful to her for that. But I also just enjoy her comedy, her perspective, and she's awesome.

She seems like one of those human beings that was just born a fucking badass, you know what I'm saying? In my opinion, she seems like she can do no wrong comedically when she acts. I'm assuming when she's writing, when she hosts those shows, she's just so good every time.

Seems like a great person.

Seems like a good human being, too. So you're on tour right now, as I'm sure that is the constant in your life. You're always on tour? Well, I mean, not during the pandemic, but I'm sure has been the constant in your life? And is this all new material that you're doing now, or are you?

Yes.

I think it's also comedians in general. My theory is that we're all just telling the same joke, but we're telling it in a million different ways.

It's like music.

Yeah. You have sort of your style and your way of being, and then you present that in a million different ways.

Do you ever revisit bits, segments, jokes? Do you ever say, chrissy and I were just watching the Arsenio hall where I think I first saw you back in 1993, and there's some funny stuff in there, and you're referring to being a child of the 80s. All this other stuff. Do you ever go back, look and go, hey, I think I could retool that, massage it a little bit and bring it forward?

Yeah. Like the greatest.

All the time. All the time. All the time. You know who does that is so great at doing that is Brian Regan. Oh, I love Brian. Isn't he the best?

I interviewed him on Clubhouse and I just loved him.

I thought he was. Yeah, yeah, I love him. I love him.

He's so underrated, but I love Brian.

I mean, he's very famous, but I.

Just don't think he gets the credit he deserves. No, he doesn't. And he really is so special. But at the end of his shows now for the encore, he asks for requests. So audience members get to yell out their favorite and they'll do them. And it's always different. You just never know. It's so great.

That is such a good idea.

You should start that in your show.

Well, yeah, you have to go back and brush up on it. I mean, everything. And. Yeah, I've thought about doing that, but I think it's just like you can kind of go back and revisit things and people really appreciate it also, if you have a new take on it, because we're always different, changing.

Are you a student of comedy? Do you feel like you're a student of comedy? And do you write everything down, or.

Is it just, I take, you make.

Bullet points and then go from there. What's your process when it comes to writing?

The thing is that with certain things in stand up comedy, I will have a photographic memory. If something works, then I'll always, oh, I know it works like that. Yeah, that's what it does. And then I just file it away. I do write a lot down, but I don't write it word for word how it is, because I kind of will remember it. Sure. But also, it's all kind of captured in all different ways. So I just have a sense of like, oh, this worked this way. And for some reason, memory really works my favor when it comes to stand up comedy. Not necessarily anything else.

Me neither.

Comedy is good.

I was telling Chrissy this. I don't know, we do so many episodes of the show. Who knows? But I was telling her this a couple of months ago. I said, I'm a guy of a certain age. I have very young children. They occupy a ton of space in my head, as does all the normal stress. And so my memory does not work in my favor 70% of the time. But when I get in this studio, if I hear a clip from one of our episodes, I know exactly what I was thinking during that moment and.

What I thought I thought I should say.

It just takes me back to that moment. Instantaneous. Like, the only thing that my memory is good for is remembering the one thing it should not be good for. But it is kind of crazy, and I kind of understand. Do you ever go up on stage? You have your set, you know where you're generally going to go with it, and then the crowd demeanor, the energy, it makes you kind of shape shift a joke in a certain way.

Like, oh, this crowd is a little.

Extra hype, so let me put an extra pregnant pause here, or let me tell this joke in a different way, or, I'm such a fan of how this all works. So I'm curious.

Yeah, because it's like, stand up comedy is so alive. You have to be alive with it, so you have to adapt to whatever's happening in the moment and what you're doing and also the way that things started. Also, if you're performing on a show where there's, like, significant people before you, you have to sort of bring them into it as well.

Got you.

Or the energy of what's happening as well. So you have to be alive with the jokes as well. You're not sort of tell them on the same way every time. You need to sort of tell them the same way, but you also have to be alive to what is the different thing that's going on.

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Are you taking anybody on tour with you this time?

Yes. On tour with me right now is a wonderful comedian named Daniel Webb. He is so hilarious, and we've been working together now for four years, and I'm really enamored with him. I think he's really special. And I'm really lucky because everybody that's opened for me now plays stadiums. Like, the people who open for me, it's pretty incredible. Like Jim Gaffigan, Otsko Okatska, all of these people who are like Mark Burbiglia, Russell Peters, everybody who's open to me is now Jonathan Van S. They all go into this very stratosphere. It's really like this incredible thing. So I'm a good judge of character always. Yeah, I'm really good at it.

It's also not like you're playing like you do go, and I'm sure, like a lot of comics, you go to the comedy store, but that's a legendary room to play in itself. But you're also not playing some cafe somewhere either.

You're doing right for yourself. No, but it's really amazing. Like, all the people that I've had open for me have really gone on to this incredible success. So Daniel is really great.

And so have you named one of Rolling Stone's top 50 comics of all time. What an amazing. And I have to agree with them. Margaret Cho, you are a legend. I don't know how or why you got on this show, but we are better for it. We love you. You are the best. I hope that someday you will come back and say hello to us again, because there are 7 million things I want to talk to you about.

I know. I have a whole list.

We only got to six. Ask one more question. We have a couple more minutes.

Well, how's Lucia for one? I love your job.

She's been sitting right here.

So adorable.

Right on my thigh.

The most adorable.

Look at that.

Look in her.

She's so good. Do you take her on tired? Yes, of course. Yes. She goes everywhere. And today, we were in the studio all day today, so she's really tired because there was another dog there. She was running around there.

Excitement.

With a brindle, a little brindle dog.

Look at her.

She's extremely tired. And so she was sitting right here this whole time.

You've been so good this year.

She's so good.

I need to get me one of those. That dog makes. No, that dog didn't bark once. I have a dog, and she has appeared on every episode of the commercial break by way of barking the entire time. She's a Yorkie, though.

Oh, cute.

God bless her soul. She was born like that. Tickets available now for Margaret Stewart life and Beth. We're going to put all of the information available in the show notes. Margaret show, the notorious Cho. Thank you so much for spending time. We are just very grateful for it.

Thank you.

Well, thank the baby Jesus. Brian took a breath. And now I will use this opportunity to let you know that we've got a brand new phone number. That's right, it's 212433 TCB. And you can text us anytime you want, or you can call and leave us a voicemail and we might just use your message on the show once Brian gets through all the messages he missed last year.

Of course.

Anyway, you can also find and dm us on Instagram at the commercial break and on TikTok at TCB podcast. And of course, all of our audio and video is easily found on tcbpodcast.com. Now, I'm going to thank g one more time that we have sponsors. So thank G. And here they are.

Oh, my gosh.

Margaret fucking show kids.

I mean, I just love her so much. What? Just a refreshing take on the world that she has and I think so unique with her upbringing and what all she's done throughout her whole life. It's amazing. And I love her.

Kids got a story to tell. That's for sure. Kids got a story to tell. I did not have a penis balloon on my bingo card for 2024. But I did ask the question, so I got the answer exactly.

As she was talking about it. I was picturing it. You can't help it.

What was it? She said it was the size of a bowling ball.

Yeah, that was large.

And she said he was like a billionaire, didn't she? Like, he's a billionaire?

Yes, he was very wealthy.

Yeah, I guess when you have that much money and you can literally have anything you want, you have to go to extreme.

You find new ways to entertain.

Just have to do it. Yeah. Me, I stay awake by just stressing about money. The billionaire, he stays awake wondering how to spend it all. Well, I guess I could blow my penis up like a bowling ball. That's interesting. That's got to do something to your junk, don't you think?

Yeah.

Something not healthy. Yeah, but you're a billionaire. You just get a new one. A penis transplant. Oh, Lord. Margaret Cho, the great Margaret Cho is on tour now. So go to Margaret Cho.com. Backslash tour. If you want tour tickets, you can go there. You can see everything about her. She's got a big old, nice, very nice website. So do that and go see her because she is incredible. Chrissy and I took some time. We watched a lot of the stand up videos that she's had from the first television appearance that she had to the most recent YouTube videos that she's put out. The lady is still fucking funny.

She still got it.

Like, she's still, like, the art of the joke is still in her head.

It's so interesting, too. I've noticed, because we've talked to quite a few more mature comedians. That's a nice way to put it. Yeah. And some younger ones and their different takes on how their processes and what they do is interesting.

It's very interesting. And I think one of the things that I think I didn't expect, but I liked, was she shared with us that you have 15 seconds, right? You got a minute. You got a minute with the crowd. And you think someone like Margaret Cho, after so many years, so much success, and selling out venues time after time again, being up in comedy clubs four or five nights a week, that you just would, I guess, not kill every time, but you wouldn't expect to have a bad night at the bad day at the office. But she still says, I only got a few minutes with my audience, and if they're not there with me, they're not there with me. And she still says she bombs. And that makes me feel good because that lets me know that every four episodes that we do, three and a half of them are bombs. And I'm still. I also know that I have 15 seconds. Yeah, good old Elton.

Well, another thing that she was mentioning, and it makes me want to go check out this other guy, too, that she's on tour with Daniel Webb.

Yeah.

Because she was mentioning, and it's so true, everybody that she brings out with her blows out stadiums, ends up going crazy, and that's a testament to her eye.

And then she says, know, hey, when am I going to sell out stadiums? I mean, yeah, I guess that's the way you feel. No matter where you're at, you always want more success. That's how successful people get successful. That's why we're not, is because they're hungry for more. We're happy with less. Right.

We like being mediocre.

Yeah, we like being mediocre. I don't want to be at the top of the pack or the bottom of the pack. I just want to be right in the middle. I'm okay with that. But one of the things that, I guess it just is indicative of someone that is hungry for success, that they want to play bigger stadiums, they want to make funnier jokes, they want to whatever. They want to be the best at their art that they can possibly be. But what a fucking life. What a fucking life. And she's so right. Aquafina all these people, all the comics who have come from Asia or are of asian descent, she kind of broke the barriers for them. That must be an interesting feeling to go to sleep at night and know that you were the first. And everybody came by, like, rushing in behind you. But you were the first at something. I'd like to be the first at anything. I'm not the first at anything. I don't know. For me, that feels like such an accomplishment.

Absolutely.

And had I done the same thing, I probably would have just slept the rest of my life. You know what I'm saying? Break down the barriers and then take a nap until you die. I mean, seriously, one good think about it. In your own personal life. When have you been the first, the best, the fastest, had the most audience member? When have you ever been so few people can say that about anything unless we're talking about, like, stupid Guinness book of World Records shit. Like, I don't know, most keys on a keyboard or something. Keyboard, 3000 keys. Who cares? Gives a fuck? I'm talking about really important stuff like breaking down stereotypes and prejudices and using.

Her voice and her platform to then not only break down as a comedian barriers, but then to also be talking about all of the other things too, to do with gay, bisexual. Again, you be you. Whatever you're into you do you?

Do you. She didn't say this in this interview, but she said it in other interviews that her mom doesn't believe in bisexual. So she says, just be gay.

Yeah, just pick one.

Just pick one. And then the other thing she says is bisexual is not necessarily like a pc term right now, I guess. I don't know. I can't keep up with everything. But I saw her in another interview say that it's not necessarily pc to say bisexual, but I like it because it's kind of 70s, right?

Yeah.

She was saying pansexual is more of the term pansexual. Yeah.

Hey, listen, I'm into it if you're into it. That's all I got to say. So the great Margaret show, margaretchow.com. Go get your tickets for her tour right now, please and thank you. I sure as shit hope that she comes back because, I mean, I say this after every single guest, but I think I've meant it on most of them. I wish we had had more time.

Yeah.

And we probably do, but I don't want to burn them out on the commercial break. You know what I'm saying? Right. I want to give us a small opportunity, a small window of opportunity to invite some of these people back with the hopes that they may actually say yes. And if I spend 2 hours with them now, they're going to be like, that's way too much. Commercial break in my lifetime, right?

Yeah.

I spent 120 minutes with them. That's 119 more than I needed to spend with them. But we are very grateful for Margaret coming on the show, and good luck with the tour. She's not coming to Atlanta. I wish she was, because I'd go see her with you.

I know she might be adding stuff.

I'd go get my penis pump and.

Be there in the front row, right.

There with my big bowling ball. I did it, Margaret. I did it.

I tried that.

I tried it. It worked. I can't feel my lower body, but it's awesome. I'm high as a kite. Okie Dokie. You know what to do. Go to tcbpodcast.com. More information about the show. Chrissy and I, you can read all the show notes, get all the links to all of our guests information. If you want tickets, if you want to check them out, all that stuff is available on the show notes of that particular episode. And you can get your free piggy frontin sticker by hitting the contact us button.

Give us your physical address.

Piggy frontin. Frontin. Well, I thought I'd throw a little twang in there since last time we saw Teresa. She was at that whatever it was.

The hot dog shack or something.

I don't know. I don't know. It's a terrible show, by the way. It is terrible.

Yeah.

All right, but onward and upward. So go get your piggy front and sticker. Give us your address, we'll send it off. 212433 TCB. 121-2433 tcb. Questions, comments, concerns, content, ideas? Ask TCB. Ask Brian's mom. But more importantly, we want you to join us on the show. All you have to do is text us, let us know you have a story. You want advice, you want to ask us something? Whatever it is, we're opening up the phone lines. But since you don't know when we record, you got to text us so we can set it up. 212433 TCB. Do it now. We're going to start doing that soon at the commercial break on Instagram, TCB podcast on TikTok and YouTube.com. Slash the commercial break. All right, Chrissy, I guess that's all.

I can do for.

So I love you.

I love you. Best to you.

And best to you out there in the podcast universe. Until next time, Chrissy. And I will stay. We do stay. And we must stay. Good.

I get asked close.