Margaret Cho reveals she is residing in a sober-living house
"I bring the real me and my truth to my work. It's not perfect, it's not manufactured, it's real," outspoken comedian Margaret Cho has said. She did just that on The Comedy Store stage Nov. 3, revealing that she has been in a sober-living facility for five months post-rehab after an intervention by friends.
Cho — sharing the marquee with comics Lachlan Patterson, Iliza Shlesinger, Moshe Kasher and host Joe Praino — joked that she brought wine to her intervention thinking she was going to a friend's party. She got drunk anyway, and has been in living in the sober facility since, she noted at the event.
Despite its heavy subject matter, the 47-year-old San Francisco native's set was very well-received and included jokes about subjects Cho has mined many times in her act, from race to being a rape survivor. She detailed on Thursday night how she was raped by her uncle from age 5-12, and she defended her decision to bring it up. "If we can shine a light on what happens to us, we have a shot at making rape obsolete," she said. "That's my dream."
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Four of her five shows over Easter weekend in March at the Stress Factor in New Brunswick, N.J., played like a dream too, but it was the final one that ended like of a comic's worst nightmare. More than half the audience walked out in protest while a smattering of fights broke out as Cho leaned against a wall and refused to give refunds or close her set despite the poor reception of jokes about rape and other heavy subjects.
Cho faced much scrutiny from media outlets and multiple audience members that questioned her sobriety. At the time, Cho, a longtime marijuana advocate who at one time was developing a pot-based TV dramedy, chalked it up to not being at her best following the death of her "hero" Garry Shandling.
"Everyone has a bad day at work," she said at the time in a post on Stress Factory's Facebook page. Cho mentioned that final New Jersey set on Thursday without going into too much detail.
On a lighter note, the comedian also delivered a number of jokes about presidential candidate Donald Trump, mentioning everything from his vulgar pussy grab comment to how he once said that his daughter Ivanka Trump is attractive. "Who does he think he is? Woody Allen?" she said. "No, he thinks he's Bill Cosby."
She also called Trump "f—ing dumb." "He can't even blend his under-eye concealer," she quipped. "You don't even know how to use a makeup sponge?"
Cho can next be seen at Helium Comedy Club in Portland, Ore., for three shows Nov. 10-12.
Her rep said he could not "confirm or deny" Cho's comments.
A version of this story first appeared in the Nov. 18 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
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