“My dog thought I was a singer… because dogs don’t understand standup comedy.”

-Margaret Cho [20:40]

[Housekeeping update: The demand for my $5K Holiday Megabox exceeded expectations, so I’m opening up a few more slots. First come, first served, and deadline is 11:59pm PT today, November 11, 2014. Click here for more details.]

Margaret Cho is a polymath.

She is an internationally acclaimed comic, actress, author, fashion designer and singer-songwriter. Perhaps you’ve seen her on the big screen, or in TV series such as Sex and the City and 30 Rock.

But well before she was on Dancing with the Stars (yes, she’s done that, too), she decided on her comedy career… at the tender age of eight. The stage has been her constant companion ever since.

In this episode we delve into her comic influences and approaches, bisexuality, slow-carb adventures, and much more. Please indulge me as we dig deep into the lesser-known tricks of the Slow-Carb Diet. Margaret had a lot of detailed questions (she’s followed it for ~3 months), and the answers might help accelerate your own fat loss. (If you want more, here are several case studies — with pics — who’ve lost 100+ pounds.)

Enjoy!

You can find the transcript of this episode here. Transcripts of all episodes can be found here.

Ep 43: Margaret Cho on Comedy, Bisexuality, and The Slow-Carb Diet https://rss.art19.com/episodes/5e3792ad-44d0-4f82-9b03-8dcdc957b4de.mp3 Download

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Selected Links from the Episode

Explore Margaret Cho’s Writing:

I Have Chosen to Stay and Fight | I’m The One That I Want

Show Notes

What compels Margaret to perform stand-up comedy [3:30]

The early years of Margaret’s comedy career [4:50]

On the appeal of Joan Rivers and her immense gratitude [8:50]

Fearlessness and Margaret’s most fearful on-stage moments [11:30]

How to deal with hecklers [15:45]

Margaret’s inspirations [19:30]

Revealing intimate traits on stage and thoughts on female bisexuality [23:00]

The challenges of the isolated comedian lifestyle, and the potential for drug addiction [30:00]

Personality traits for those who gravitate towards stimulants vs. depressants [33:00]

The catalyzing moment when Margaret decided her prescription pill addiction needed to be fought [34:45]

Margaret Cho’s process for creating new material [40:30]

Why to hone an act (or product) internationally before bringing it to the USA – Note: Nike does this. [42:30]

“Successful” — who comes to mind? Does Margaret self-identify as successful? [48:00]

Clarifications on the Slow-Carb Diet and cheat day [50:30]

Hunger and human resilience [58:30]

Her death-row meal and why it’s changed since starting the SCD [1:10:30]

Margaret’s favorite curse word [1:11:45]

Stand-up pre-game rituals [1:13:45]

On Hollywood success and the types who aren’t tortured by it [1:16:10]

What attributes Dave Grohl exhibits, and why drummers tend to be positive people [1:17:30]

People Mentioned

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The Tim Ferriss Show is one of the most popular podcasts in the world with more than 500 million downloads. It has been selected for "Best of Apple Podcasts" three times, it is often the #1 interview podcast across all of Apple Podcasts, and it's been ranked #1 out of 400,000+ podcasts on many occasions. To listen to any of the past episodes for free, check out this page.