Latest / I Choose Me with Jennie Garth / Margaret Cho CHOOSES Activism through Comedy

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Margaret Cho CHOOSES Activism through Comedy · I Choose Me with Jennie Garth

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  Speaker 1: You're listening to I Choose Me with Jenny Girl. Welcome
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  Speaker 1: to I Choose Me, the podcast about making choices, the
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  Speaker 1: ones that define us, the ones that surprise us, and
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  Speaker 1: sometimes the ones that take courage. I am joined by
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  Speaker 1: a true force of nature today. A comedian, actor, musician, activist,
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  Speaker 1: and someone who has spent decades unapologetically carving her own path.
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  Speaker 1: Margaret cho has made us laugh, she's made us think,
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  Speaker 1: and she's helped us feel seen, all while staying fiercely
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  Speaker 1: herself in an industry that often asks people to be
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  Speaker 1: anything but Margaret Choe. I am so happy you're here
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  Speaker 1: with me today.
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  Speaker 2: Today's dog party. It's a dog party.
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  Speaker 1: She's so cute. We have your beautiful Lucia in the house. Baby.
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  Speaker 2: She is a good girl. She just when she meets
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  Speaker 2: other dogs, she's gotta be like mean for a little bit.
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  Speaker 1: That's okay, that's okay, it's dog behavior. Dottie is very
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  Speaker 1: excited to meet her. I've been talking her up, Oh
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  Speaker 1: good all morning. So look she's she's ready.
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  Speaker 2: She's so cute. I love that she's like rubbing her
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  Speaker 2: little face on the carpet.
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  Speaker 1: Go ahead and have her own party over there and
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  Speaker 1: Lucia can watch so cute. Oh my gosh, it's great
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  Speaker 1: to meet you.
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  Speaker 2: You.
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  Speaker 1: We have been working our booties off since the late eighties.
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  Speaker 1: That's right alongside one another. That's right different arenas, Yes,
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  Speaker 1: and so I feel like we are I don't know,
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  Speaker 1: there's something incredible about both of us that we're here,
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  Speaker 1: we're still here. I love it.
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  Speaker 2: It's good. It's good, I mean, and I enjoy it.
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  Speaker 1: I enjoy it.
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  Speaker 2: Like it's just different, like we watched like show business
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  Speaker 2: change so much. Yeah, you know, and I enjoy it
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  Speaker 2: right now. I think it's really fun. I think it's
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  Speaker 2: really different. I couldn't even imagined what it, you know,
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  Speaker 2: would be calm, but it's very it's really interesting.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, yeah, no, no part of me could have
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  Speaker 1: imagined social media.
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  Speaker 2: Or the internet, like the Internet in general, I.
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  Speaker 1: Know, just so why the world at your fingertips? Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: it's everyone knows everyone. I love it. I know. It's
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  Speaker 1: really very connecting, yeah, and unifying and in the best
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  Speaker 1: all the best ways. But I love it. It's kind
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  Speaker 1: of gonna be rough, yes, But you've had so many
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  Speaker 1: chapters in this long career that you've had multiple decade
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  Speaker 1: career you've been obviously comedian, an actor, a musician, and activist.
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  Speaker 1: Which of those versions of Margaret do you think is
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  Speaker 1: the truest.
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  Speaker 2: Oh, comedian. It's the one thing that I do the most.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, it's the one thing that I have to
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  Speaker 2: do because you get if you don't do it for
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  Speaker 2: a long time, you get really unfamiliar with it.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's like to be a muscle.
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  Speaker 2: You have to seah, it's a muscle. It's just like
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  Speaker 2: you really have to stay fit. So you have to
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  Speaker 2: do it as much as you can. So you'll you'll
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  Speaker 2: see comedians like I have to have to work out
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  Speaker 2: every week.
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  Speaker 1: You'll go and like work stuff out.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, you do that. So Yeah, the comedy Store mostly.
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  Speaker 1: That's a good night if you just happened to be
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  Speaker 1: at the comedy Store and you stroll in.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's but it's everybody's good. Everybody. You know, you'll
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  Speaker 2: see everybody from like I usually do shows there with
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  Speaker 2: like Jay Leno or Bilberr. You know the these like
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  Speaker 2: everybody like Ali Wong or Whitney Cummings or you know,
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  Speaker 2: the people that are really really famous and that do
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  Speaker 2: this don't do it for a long long time. People
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  Speaker 2: like our Cineo hall. You know, you know it's like
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  Speaker 2: it's it's important because we have to keep doing it.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, if you don't use it, you'll lose it, yes.
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  Speaker 2: And quickly. So I I do it a little bit
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  Speaker 2: less than those guys because I live far. I feel
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  Speaker 2: like I live far. I lived by you. I'm actually
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  Speaker 2: bright here. Okay, it's actually as city. Yeah, so it's
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  Speaker 2: actually far to go into Hollywood.
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  Speaker 1: Yes, I understand. Yeah, and you don't really want to.
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  Speaker 2: It feels like a real like it's you know, if
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  Speaker 2: I lived in the Hollywood Hills, I think I would
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  Speaker 2: have an easier time of it, which a lot of
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  Speaker 2: those guys do you know they live right down the street.
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  Speaker 2: So I have to commute a little bit.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, you have to make an effort, like take a flight.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, it is almost like that, go to the airport.
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  Speaker 1: You've had ten stand up? Am I correct on that? Ten?
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  Speaker 1: Live just huge tours or.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think so about that, probably more, But I
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  Speaker 2: don't know. It's all one long, continuous tour in my mind,
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  Speaker 2: because there's never there's never been a stop, you know,
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  Speaker 2: because when one ends, another one starts right, so there's
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  Speaker 2: anover a real break. So that to me, it's all
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  Speaker 2: just one long thing, I.
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  Speaker 1: Think, one long career. Yeah, doing what you love, Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: which is incredible. It's good, it's incredible. You've also spent
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  Speaker 1: decades speaking your mind, even when it hasn't been easy,
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  Speaker 1: and even when it hasn't been popular. You were outspoken.
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  Speaker 1: I love that about you. Do you think that comes
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  Speaker 1: from a fearlessness that you have or does it come
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  Speaker 1: from something else?
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  Speaker 2: Well, it was my upbringing because when I was a
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  Speaker 2: really little kid, my parents owned a gay bookstore and.
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  Speaker 1: The the that's crazy.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. All the people that worked for in San Francisco
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  Speaker 2: and San Francisco, all the people that worked for them
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  Speaker 2: were early early followers of Harvey Milk, who was the
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  Speaker 2: first openly gay elected official in the in existence. So
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  Speaker 2: gay politics have always been a part of my life,
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  Speaker 2: you know, since I was a little little kid. So
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  Speaker 2: I think, you know, being from that, it's part of
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  Speaker 2: my destiny. It's like what I was always meant to do,
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  Speaker 2: you know. So you know, it went from you know,
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  Speaker 2: being from there to uh fundraising and helping people living
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  Speaker 2: and dying of AIDS, and then it was working towards
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  Speaker 2: equality for gay people, which is really really important. So
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  Speaker 2: you know, the trajectory of it is, I've I've been
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  Speaker 2: able to watch the queer community really rise in power politically,
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  Speaker 2: and so it's just been a part of my life.
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  Speaker 2: But yet I think it starts from my childhood from
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  Speaker 2: where I'm from.
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  Speaker 1: That's so interesting that you had that kind of community
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  Speaker 1: at such a young age. I think that a lot
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  Speaker 1: of people didn't know anything about at that time. Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: or we're afraid of right.
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  Speaker 2: It sort of started to rise in the eighties, Like
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  Speaker 2: it was really actually in the seventies when people recognizing
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  Speaker 2: that there was this mysterious disease that was seemingly killing
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  Speaker 2: gay men and they called it a gay cancer. And
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  Speaker 2: then throughout the eighties then we really started to see
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  Speaker 2: these men die in really devastating numbers. And then by
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  Speaker 2: the nineties it was a full on pandemic, know, and
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  Speaker 2: so I think like that's when we were focusing a
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  Speaker 2: lot on fundraising. That's when you saw a lot of
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  Speaker 2: people at the awards shows were the red ribbon on
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  Speaker 2: their lapel and then it became a cause for celebrities
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  Speaker 2: to get behind. I think the person who was really
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  Speaker 2: responsible for that is Elizabeth Taylor. You know, Elizabeth Taylor.
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  Speaker 2: I think after the death of Rock Hudson realized that
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  Speaker 2: all of her friends, which Elizabeth Taylor, who was pretty
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  Speaker 2: much like the quint essential or like the Queen of
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  Speaker 2: all hags, like she was the Hag of hags, and
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  Speaker 2: she was trying to trying to make sense of all
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  Speaker 2: of her people dying. So she realized that if I
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  Speaker 2: step in and make it a thing, make it cool or.
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  Speaker 3: Maybe a conversation, yeah, to support people with AIDS, support
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  Speaker 3: AIDS fundraising, and so she I think.
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  Speaker 2: Had a lot to do with the acceptance her and
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  Speaker 2: I think Princess Diana who was holding AIDS patients, like
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  Speaker 2: physically touching them, hugging them the time. We saw that, Yeah,
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  Speaker 2: going into these like hospice rooms and being with you know,
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  Speaker 2: with these patients who people were afraid to touch, right,
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  Speaker 2: So I think, yeah, both of them in conjunction with
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  Speaker 2: kind of people being more understanding of gay lifestyles, understanding
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  Speaker 2: that gay people are just like everybody else, you know,
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  Speaker 2: that that was Yeah, So that all sort of developed
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  Speaker 2: around eighties and nineties, and you know, there's still a
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  Speaker 2: lot of homophobia still very much.
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  Speaker 1: We've come so far, Yeah, we still have so far
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  Speaker 1: to go. Yes, I don't know. I feel optimistic because
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  Speaker 1: I have a very strong community of gay friends. My
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  Speaker 1: best friends are always gay. Yeah, because I don't know
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  Speaker 1: what it is. There's a realness there. There's like a
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  Speaker 1: connection that I don't feel from from most other people.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: Also, what's this when you have a connection and you
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  Speaker 1: don't let it go? Like a rooted and solid friendships
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  Speaker 1: made out of substance. Yes, you know, Yes, And I
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  Speaker 1: just I've always been an advocate and like just surround myself.
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  Speaker 1: And also they're the most fun people. Hello. Yeah, Like
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  Speaker 1: they're my favorite people to be around.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. So there there's like an artistic nature to the community.
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  Speaker 2: There's I mean, there's so much. But I think that
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  Speaker 2: what happens is that a lot of times gay men
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  Speaker 2: are really attracted to female strengths. Yeah, you know, and
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  Speaker 2: that's usually what it is. Is they're attracted to female strength,
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  Speaker 2: They're attracted to female beauty, they're attracted to female intelligence.
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  Speaker 2: You know, there's all these qualities that make for a
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  Speaker 2: good hag. But I think it's a very I think
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  Speaker 2: it's a it's a really important part of my life.
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  Speaker 2: I've always been connected to gay men and I'm gay myself.
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  Speaker 2: So that's part of it too, But I have an
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  Speaker 2: even tighter connection with gay man.
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  Speaker 1: Can you define hag for hag? Is it can sound bad?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's it's not a bad it's not a bad thing.
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  Speaker 2: It's it is it is a woman who hangs out
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  Speaker 2: with gay men and.
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  Speaker 1: He just loves surrounding herself with gay men.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, and who is often chosen by the gay man
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  Speaker 2: to be like you know, and that's like Madonna. Madonna
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  Speaker 2: is the ultimate hag. You know, there's nobody more beautiful,
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  Speaker 2: nobody more cool.
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  Speaker 1: Oh my god, wait your Madonna layout on Instagram that
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  Speaker 1: you recreated her life?
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  Speaker 2: Thank you? Oh yeah, I did her a healthy photo shoot.
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  Speaker 2: It was very fun. I'm so excited about it. Yeah,
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  Speaker 2: my friend put that together. He's a gay man, and
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  Speaker 2: it was his idea and he did the photographs. He
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  Speaker 2: did the look too, like he actually got the outfit
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  Speaker 2: together with the swatchwatch and every like. It was really
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  Speaker 2: like spot on as really incredible because gay men often
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: if they're in the arts, paved a lot of attention
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  Speaker 2: to detail. So he was very very meticulous about like
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  Speaker 2: curating the look and making it as perfect as he could.
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  Speaker 2: And so it was really really special.
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  Speaker 1: I love that characteristic in anybody, but yeah.
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  Speaker 2: I love better and it gave attention to detail because
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  Speaker 2: it's aesthetics and it's like it has to be right.
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  Speaker 2: It's powerful.
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  Speaker 1: Well, the one thing that was different about your picture
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  Speaker 1: of Donna's is you have this incredible body.
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  Speaker 2: Art all over you.
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  Speaker 1: Oh yes, and I am mesmerized. Like all they want
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  Speaker 1: to do is say what why do you have that
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  Speaker 1: tattoo right there? And what does that one mean to?
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  Speaker 1: We could talk for hours because yeah, just full body.
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  Speaker 2: I'm full body. They're like they don't have meaning as
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  Speaker 2: much as the meaning is really in the tattooer. Every
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  Speaker 2: art piece that I have is memorable because I had
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  Speaker 2: a relationship with the tattooer that was a deep friendship
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  Speaker 2: that sometimes was a love that sometimes was just an
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  Speaker 2: artistic connection. So right now now I'm actually getting tattooed
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  Speaker 2: this weekend. I get tattooed fairly infrequently nowadays, just because
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  Speaker 2: I have very little space left but on your body,
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  Speaker 2: on my body, but I mostly get Right now, I'm
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  Speaker 2: in relationship with Korean tattooers. Okay, so I'm working with
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  Speaker 2: this one right now that he's going to tattoo me
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  Speaker 2: this weekend, who's really really special and he you know,
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  Speaker 2: it's still like kind of illegal in Korea, and so
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  Speaker 2: they come to America, but they still have tattoos salons
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  Speaker 2: there and artists work there, but they have to have
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  Speaker 2: like medical licenses. They have to sort of be like
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  Speaker 2: categories under doctor in a way. It's really it's like
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  Speaker 2: a medical thing. Yeah, it's it's very strange. And you know,
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  Speaker 2: they have bath houses in Korea and they won't let
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  Speaker 2: you in with tattoos sometimes because a lot of people
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  Speaker 2: who are heavily tattooed were connected to like gang gang
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  Speaker 2: stuff and like organized crime.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, so it's very it's a stereotypic, it's very weird.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, so tattooing is not as accepted there, but for
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  Speaker 2: some reason, the artists are really really exceptional. For some reason,
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  Speaker 2: it's made the illegality of it has made them the
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  Speaker 2: best in the world. And you love body art, I
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  Speaker 2: do you love it? I do?
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  Speaker 1: I love it too.
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  Speaker 2: I think it's fun.
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  Speaker 1: It's just a form of self expression.
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  Speaker 2: Well, it's just I don't know, I'm just used to it.
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  Speaker 2: And all the people that worked for my father when
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  Speaker 2: I was growing up at the bookstore at the gay
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  Speaker 2: bookstore were all heavily tattooed, and so I knew that
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  Speaker 2: was going to be my destiny. Like I was, this
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  Speaker 2: is my family and where we're all going to be
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  Speaker 2: heavily tattooed, which is in the seventies was really unusual.
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  Speaker 2: So I kind of learned it from them, and I
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  Speaker 2: always knew that's what I would do. And my father
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  Speaker 2: would put photographs of like these men who were fully tattooed,
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  Speaker 2: would like he would put photographs of them naked on
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  Speaker 2: our refrigerator like some people would put like painting that
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  Speaker 2: the kids would do, or like a you know, a
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  Speaker 2: paper that you got an a on, or test that
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  Speaker 2: you raced. No, my father had pictures of these naked
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  Speaker 2: men with full body tattoos on our refrigerator, like under
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  Speaker 2: a magnet, So we would like that was our primary image.
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  Speaker 1: Would you put the magnet over the penis or.
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  Speaker 2: Did well, you didn't really see the penis the art.
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  Speaker 2: You would just see like the butt and like the
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  Speaker 2: It was more the focus of the pictures were more
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  Speaker 2: to get the tattoos.
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  Speaker 1: The beauty of the arts. Yeah, oh that's gorgeous though,
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  Speaker 1: but very unusual.
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  Speaker 2: Very usual, but there was one guy who had penises
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  Speaker 2: all in the arts. Okay, so then you did get
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: penis there.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, I wanted you to see the penis on the fridge.
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  Speaker 2: There were a lot of penises there.
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: Okay, good, Okay. You have helped so many people through
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  Speaker 1: your advocacy, so many people that you have made feel
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: seen and heard, which is so beautiful.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you.
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: Who is it that makes you feel seen or when
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: do you feel the most seen in her?
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  Speaker 2: I guess when I see other Asian American women doing comedy,
• 15:05
  Speaker 2: Like for me, it's really powerful to watch somebody like
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: Ali Wang. It's really special for me because it's like, oh,
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  Speaker 2: it's my that's my legacy, you know, that's like I
• 15:16
  Speaker 2: started that.
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  Speaker 1: Now you're number one.
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  Speaker 2: Now I get to sit back and enjoy what people
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: like otsco ok is doing. Like she's just phenomenal. I
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: haven't seen she's amazing. So she Otsko Okotska, Yeah, Otsko
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: is fabulous and she you've seen her, you know, you
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: see she's got the bowl haircut. She's the beautiful Asian
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: woman with the book.
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: That's a good look.
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: That's her. She's fabulous. So she is, you know, like
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: somebody that when I see her, I'm like, oh, it's
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: like watching my kids, you know, And so like when
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: I see Bowen Yang, it's like watching my son where
• 15:56
  Speaker 2: Joel Kim Booster he's my firstborn son.
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  Speaker 1: Oh my god, So you paved the way. Yeah, for
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: all these upcoming artists.
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  Speaker 2: These amazing Asian American comedians who are just doing such
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  Speaker 2: incredible work. So for me, it's like a just a
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  Speaker 2: powerful thing. So that makes me feel seen because I'm like, oh,
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  Speaker 2: this is like something that I started and they're continuing on.
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  Speaker 1: You must be so proud of them.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's great.
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  Speaker 1: That's a really good feeling, I know, because like I
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  Speaker 1: can really because of my girls, Like when I see them,
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  Speaker 1: you know, facing similar challenges that I did and overcoming them. Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: it's the same feeling of like I must have had
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  Speaker 1: a part in that, I must have done something right.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly. It's like a wonderful feeling of satisfaction. Like
• 16:43
  Speaker 2: I don't have children, but if.
• 16:45
  Speaker 3: I have children, I have like a lot of r children.
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: I have three cats too, so I have a lot
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: of animals. But I have a kind of a familial
• 16:55
  Speaker 2: feeling towards a lot of people in comedy that's nice.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. Do you feel like you have that maternal and sink,
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  Speaker 1: just that maternal energy in you?
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  Speaker 2: I think so. Also. I come from like the I
• 17:07
  Speaker 2: was mothered a lot in comedy by Joan Rivers, who
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: was really affectionate and warm and stood by me for years,
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  Speaker 2: you know, and she's just so supportive and so just
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  Speaker 2: incredibly giving. And I'm just I'm so lucky to have
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  Speaker 2: experienced that.
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: Yeah. I am so inspired by Margaret and her confidence.
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: Sometimes confidence comes from within, and sometimes what we choose
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: to wear can bring us even more confidence, and that
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: can start with something as simple as getting dressed in
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: the morning. That is why I created Me by Jenny
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: Garth with QBC. It's a collection designed to help women
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: feel confident and comfortable and effortlessly stylish, no matter what
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: stage of life you're in. Please check it out. Head
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: over to QBC dot com and explore my brand Me
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: by Jenny Garth. All of our newest collections are there,
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: and styling tips can also be found by following us
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: on Instagram at Me by Jenny Garth. We work so
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: hard at it, We love it so much and I
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: hope you do too.
• 18:19
  Speaker 4: Hey, there, Amy Robot and TJ Holmes here from the
• 18:22
  Speaker 4: Amy and TJ podcast, where we are doing the exact
• 18:24
  Speaker 4: opposite of taking a summer vacation. Yeah, I can't do that.
• 18:27
  Speaker 4: There's entirely too much going on in the world right
• 18:30
  Speaker 4: now to not be talking about all this stuff. Yes,
• 18:33
  Speaker 4: drama at the White House, drama at the World Cup,
• 18:35
  Speaker 4: drama about the Reflecting pool, and yes, drama at the
• 18:38
  Speaker 4: Villa pool on Love Island. All day, every day we
• 18:41
  Speaker 4: have you covered with the latest breaking news in the
• 18:43
  Speaker 4: stories everyone will be talking about. Listen to Amy and
• 18:46
  Speaker 4: TJ on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts or wherever you
• 18:50
  Speaker 4: listen to podcasts.
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: You have a new tour.
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: Yes, sooligarchy, it's like that. It's like oligarchy says we know,
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: you know, people have like these billionaires who are just
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: buying up everything and taking all the money and taking
• 19:06
  Speaker 2: all the resources. So I wanted to do my own.
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: I want to be the choligarchy where it's my nation,
• 19:12
  Speaker 2: it's your nation, it's you know, it's giving you the market.
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: I'm like the dictator and I want everybody to be
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: part of my country. And so that's what it is.
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: That's your jokes.
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: Yes, like and be on the ride. I love this. Yes,
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: that's like taking the bowl by the horns.
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's like, let's let's join my country for the
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: ninety minutes that we have and you know you'll be
• 19:33
  Speaker 2: transported to a new commonwealth.
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: Do you think that's like there are people that you
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: know because we grow as artists, as comedian, you grow
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: and things you're interested in talking about you're not interested
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: in now maybe, like do you think your audience holds
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: you to something that maybe maybe doesn't feel like what
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: you want to focus on right now in your career.
• 19:56
  Speaker 2: I don't know, Like I feel so invigorated by performing
• 20:02
  Speaker 2: and like kind of what my audience is telling me
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: what they want to talk about. Because when you're doing comedy,
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: like you really see where the country's at. You really
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: see what people are laughing at, what they want to
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: hear more about. Like, right right now, it is very politicized.
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: People are very angry, you know, they're really really frustrated
• 20:18
  Speaker 2: and what's happening. They're first frustrated to have much everything costs.
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: They're angry that we're at a war if they don't
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: understand why they're in there, frustrated at the stupidity of
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: what's going on daily, you know, in this administration. So
• 20:31
  Speaker 2: for me, it's it's a pleasure to write about that
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: and talk about that because I'm also frustrated.
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: I mean, everyone on both sides is frustrated with some
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: aspect of what's going on, Yes, for sure, So what
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: a great opportunity to bring levity to it. And yeah,
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: it's so polarizing, and so it's.
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: Crazy, it's really crazy. And I thought it was bad before,
• 20:54
  Speaker 2: Like I thought it was. I was really a very
• 20:57
  Speaker 2: very loud critic of the Bush administration, and now I
• 21:02
  Speaker 2: would have been campaigning for him for a third term.
• 21:05
  Speaker 2: Like I'm like I was, So we were so we
• 21:09
  Speaker 2: didn't know how good we had it.
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: Uh huh. So you've always done political comedy, you know
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: here and there. Yeah I love that because a lot
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: of people are afraid to do it.
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, but it's also what I find funny and
• 21:23
  Speaker 2: what I find interesting. So there's some people that are
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: really really great at it, and like, so I'm just
• 21:28
  Speaker 2: trying to figure out my place there, you know. So
• 21:31
  Speaker 2: my my focus right now is basically politics, but it's
• 21:36
  Speaker 2: also I like to go very high brow and also
• 21:38
  Speaker 2: very low brow. So it's as high minded as you
• 21:41
  Speaker 2: can get and as crass as you can get.
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: I heard you say that when something's bombing and you
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: can feel it, it makes you go harder. Yeah, like
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: you want it to bomb.
• 21:52
  Speaker 2: So bad, Like I'm my philosophy is like if you
• 21:56
  Speaker 2: don't like me, I'm going to make you hate me.
• 21:58
  Speaker 2: And that's really not a good attitude to have. But
• 22:01
  Speaker 2: it's also really funny because people get so mad. But
• 22:04
  Speaker 2: it's also that's just part of live performance. You just
• 22:08
  Speaker 2: have to put it all out there.
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: It sounds more interesting than feeling bad about yourself.
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: No, it's very combat it. It's very comb at it.
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: But also it's your standing up for you yourself.
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and it's just words, you know, it's just talking.
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: You have something like in your that you can remember
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: where that was like happening, and like what level it
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: got to.
• 22:31
  Speaker 2: Well, it's only gotten to a level now where it
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: was really bad, Like it's got really violent, Like there
• 22:37
  Speaker 2: was a woman who threatened to murder me, Like she
• 22:40
  Speaker 2: actually had to be removed from the show room. And
• 22:42
  Speaker 2: then I was trying to walk from one show. It
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: was a place that had two theaters and I'm trying
• 22:49
  Speaker 2: to walk to the other theater to do a show there,
• 22:51
  Speaker 2: and she grabbed me and she said that she was
• 22:53
  Speaker 2: going to pump my head full of bullets. And this
• 22:56
  Speaker 2: was really I mean, it was so crazy. And I
• 23:02
  Speaker 2: then she was removed by security, and they you know,
• 23:05
  Speaker 2: stayed with me, you know, they had like arm guards
• 23:08
  Speaker 2: stay with me all night, and they you know, put
• 23:10
  Speaker 2: me in my car at the end of the night.
• 23:11
  Speaker 2: But I was like, this is just over something that
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: is so stupid. It's not even like I don't even
• 23:19
  Speaker 2: know why she was so angry about it, but it
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: was like her her identity had been threatened, you know,
• 23:27
  Speaker 2: because I was talking about Donald Trump and talking about
• 23:29
  Speaker 2: mega and my feelings about it. Just the fact that
• 23:32
  Speaker 2: I was talking about it made her want to kill me.
• 23:35
  Speaker 2: And she had said that she was a gun owner.
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: She had said that she had a gun and she
• 23:38
  Speaker 2: could she could do that at any time, and that
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: it was going to happen. And so it was like,
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: you go, well, the reality of gun violence is really terrifying,
• 23:47
  Speaker 2: because that's the true thing. But I was making a
• 23:49
  Speaker 2: joke that wasn't even it could be a bipartisan joke
• 23:53
  Speaker 2: because it was about Trump having diarrhea, which he legitimately has,
• 23:57
  Speaker 2: and that's something that a Republican knows it's true.
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: How do you know he has diarrhea?
• 24:02
  Speaker 2: Well, I think that all of the audio captured from
• 24:08
  Speaker 2: the Oval Office, the amount of like wet farts that
• 24:12
  Speaker 2: you've heard that's been captured by you know, CNN or
• 24:18
  Speaker 2: even but any out any news outlet, would be happy
• 24:21
  Speaker 2: to provide you with any number. It's got to be
• 24:24
  Speaker 2: like outtakes, like a real yea of all far and
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: people holding their nose. It's like it's such a to me,
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: it's like totally a bipartisan issue, Like that's not even
• 24:32
  Speaker 2: I think Trump himself would admit to having.
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: Funny no matter who has that.
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: It's funny no matter who has them, and it's not
• 24:40
  Speaker 2: even really a political statement. But this woman felt like
• 24:42
  Speaker 2: it threatened her so much that she had to kill.
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: Me over a fart joke.
• 24:46
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's really haying. But it's like if I have
• 24:51
  Speaker 2: to die for that, I think that's I mean, I
• 24:54
  Speaker 2: guess that's all right. I don't know, like I think
• 24:57
  Speaker 2: it's really I think it's really sad, Becau because you
• 25:00
  Speaker 2: used there used to be Republicans and Democrats used to
• 25:03
  Speaker 2: be able to talk to each other like there used
• 25:05
  Speaker 2: to be debates. There used to be a kind of
• 25:08
  Speaker 2: cordial nature across the aisle that you know, we agree
• 25:11
  Speaker 2: to disagree, agreed to disagree, and just move on to
• 25:14
  Speaker 2: the next thing because we just want what's best for
• 25:17
  Speaker 2: the American people and that's all we want. And now
• 25:21
  Speaker 2: it's become something different. So yeah, it's very strange. But yeah,
• 25:26
  Speaker 2: that's that's what I'm still doing comedy for.
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: I hope you don't have an encounter with anyone like that.
• 25:33
  Speaker 2: I hope not. I hope not. It's not fun, but
• 25:36
  Speaker 2: it's also the reality of putting yourself out there, putting
• 25:40
  Speaker 2: yourself out there in the reality that there are a
• 25:42
  Speaker 2: lot of guns out there, which to me is really
• 25:45
  Speaker 2: I'm really scared about that. You know, guns in general, Yeah,
• 25:49
  Speaker 2: guns are final. Yeah, you know, I just don't want
• 25:54
  Speaker 2: I don't I don't want to have to be a
• 25:57
  Speaker 2: part of that. I really am scared of maths to
• 26:00
  Speaker 2: so I'm scared of the amount of guns that are
• 26:03
  Speaker 2: out there.
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: Scared of mass shootings.
• 26:05
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I've developed like a fear of going to the
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: grocery store, yeah, going to the movies.
• 26:10
  Speaker 2: Yeah, because we're not safe anywhere, you know, because it's
• 26:14
  Speaker 2: like our lives are just you know, there were I
• 26:18
  Speaker 2: think something like eight mass shootings in America on fourth
• 26:23
  Speaker 2: of July, and they don't cover it in the news.
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: They don't what, they didn't even mention those.
• 26:27
  Speaker 2: Yeah, they don't cover it in the news because it's
• 26:29
  Speaker 2: such a daily occurrence that it's almost like not newsworthy anymore.
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: Some people are scared. Some people are like, oh, when
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: it's your time, it's your time.
• 26:40
  Speaker 2: I don't, but I don't. I think it's so unnatural,
• 26:42
  Speaker 2: like it shouldn't be our time. Like it's like there's
• 26:44
  Speaker 2: so many other things that are going.
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: To kill you, you.
• 26:47
  Speaker 2: Know, like you there's so many, so many things that
• 26:52
  Speaker 2: but guns are just something that you could it could preventable.
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: Let's move on to something. You are playing a why
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: character in second season now of Disney Plus show called
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: Percy Jackson. Oh Yes, and the Olympics, and you play
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: a character called Wasp. I love it. Yes, you have
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: one eye or tooth.
• 27:11
  Speaker 2: We share an ee me and Sander Bernhard and Christian
• 27:13
  Speaker 2: Shawl share one eyeball and we pop it between. It's
• 27:18
  Speaker 2: it's such a fabulous, fantastical show. You know, I love
• 27:22
  Speaker 2: this rise of like fantasy. You know, we have so
• 27:25
  Speaker 2: much of this, you know, of course of like House
• 27:28
  Speaker 2: of the Dragon and Game of Thrones and now you
• 27:30
  Speaker 2: know Percy Jackson, which is so tremendous, and so it's
• 27:33
  Speaker 2: a beautiful. It's a beautiful world that they've created. And
• 27:35
  Speaker 2: the books are so people are such huge fans. So
• 27:38
  Speaker 2: we're from the books and yeah, we all share one eye.
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: Okay, it's really fun. It sounds fun. I've never seen it.
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: I've got to check it out because I like the movie. Yes,
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: and so now there's a series.
• 27:50
  Speaker 2: Yes, and the kids are so they're just beautiful and
• 27:53
  Speaker 2: they are it's just a very like exciting show. So
• 27:57
  Speaker 2: I love that it's so successful, and you know, there's
• 27:59
  Speaker 2: such a world around it, and there's such a fandom
• 28:02
  Speaker 2: that are just so excited about it.
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: I mean, you said Sandra Bernhardt. Yes, did the kids
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: know who's among them the queens of.
• 28:11
  Speaker 2: I mean I think they've been told. But of course,
• 28:15
  Speaker 2: I mean Sandra, I was always freaking out about Sandra
• 28:18
  Speaker 2: is my friend and I'm a Sandra Bernhardt ologist, So
• 28:22
  Speaker 2: she gets her ear talked off because I'm always asking
• 28:27
  Speaker 2: her a million questions about her career and her life.
• 28:29
  Speaker 2: You know, she's just, to me, just the pinnacle of cool.
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: Yeah, she's a cool lady. That is definitely for sure.
• 28:40
  Speaker 5: Welcome to the Orange Doesn't Fall Far the podcast where
• 28:43
  Speaker 5: Reality TV meets real life. I'm Tamra, Judge.
• 28:46
  Speaker 2: And I'm Sophia.
• 28:47
  Speaker 5: Each week we're spilling the tea on pop culture, relationships, motherhood, dating, drama,
• 28:53
  Speaker 5: and what it's really like growing up in the middle
• 28:55
  Speaker 5: of reality TV chaos.
• 28:57
  Speaker 2: One of us lived it.
• 28:58
  Speaker 5: One of us survived it. Listen to the Orange Doesn't
• 29:01
  Speaker 5: Fall Far. Available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, and
• 29:05
  Speaker 5: wherever you get your podcast.
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: You've lived in the world of fame for a long
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: time and it, you know, it has not always great.
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: What do you think do you think if you were
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: to do it over, would you choose fame again?
• 29:25
  Speaker 2: Well, I live in a very low level of it,
• 29:28
  Speaker 2: so you know. And also, comedians are like the work
• 29:30
  Speaker 2: courses of the entertainment industry. So nobody's that excited when
• 29:33
  Speaker 2: they see a comic. I mean not really. They're like
• 29:36
  Speaker 2: kind of cool. But also, I'm so non descript. There's
• 29:40
  Speaker 2: something about me. I never get recognized. It never it's
• 29:44
  Speaker 2: never an issue like I never had to you know, but.
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: You've had a lot of different iterations like your style,
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: and you've reinvented your look so many times.
• 29:53
  Speaker 2: But nobody's ever I've never felt like my privacy has
• 29:57
  Speaker 2: been invaded. I have a couple of friends who are
• 29:59
  Speaker 2: like super who when we went out, they would have
• 30:03
  Speaker 2: to wear a full like disguise because they just could
• 30:07
  Speaker 2: not be seen in public or would just never be
• 30:10
  Speaker 2: able to do anything, you know, And I find that
• 30:12
  Speaker 2: really suffocating and it was really hard for them. So
• 30:15
  Speaker 2: I've never approached that level. It might be fun to
• 30:18
  Speaker 2: do it, I don't know, it might be fun to
• 30:20
  Speaker 2: experience it, but I've never had that experience.
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: But there's still like, do you think that the pros
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: outweigh that.
• 30:26
  Speaker 2: Cons Yes, yes, yes for you.
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: I think your friends that have it on a different
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: level would say that.
• 30:32
  Speaker 2: I think so because it's like the I think the
• 30:35
  Speaker 2: benefit of being able to really like sort of stretch
• 30:40
  Speaker 2: out as an artist, you know, you know, they're like
• 30:42
  Speaker 2: really great actors, so that they've been able to do
• 30:45
  Speaker 2: so many things because of their fame too, because of
• 30:48
  Speaker 2: their notoriety. It's been very helpful. But then also it's
• 30:52
  Speaker 2: painful when it fades and then they're like what do I?
• 30:54
  Speaker 2: Who am I without that? That's really hard?
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, I mean I reach that point just as
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: a human when I was fifty, Like you're fifty seven,
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: I'm fifty four, But you reached that point. What was
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: it like for you? Because I can tell you what
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: it was like for me, but like, what was it
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: like for you as you entered your fifties and that
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: sort of new era of your life?
• 31:16
  Speaker 2: Well? I think for me, I mean, it was really
• 31:21
  Speaker 2: it was great not to have a period. I love menopause,
• 31:25
  Speaker 2: Like it was great not to bleed Like that was
• 31:28
  Speaker 2: so awesome.
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: I know, because it's torturous. Yes, we've endored it long enough.
• 31:33
  Speaker 2: For so long, and it was really physically like like
• 31:37
  Speaker 2: menopause for me was physically really easy because I got
• 31:41
  Speaker 2: into hormone replacements therapy super early and so I found
• 31:46
  Speaker 2: the right combination of things that I needed and worked
• 31:50
  Speaker 2: with that easily. Yeah, so that it was easy. But yeah,
• 31:55
  Speaker 2: like because I was never an angeneu, I've never been
• 31:59
  Speaker 2: like a pretty girl. I've never been like sort of
• 32:02
  Speaker 2: held up to any kind of beauty standard. So I've
• 32:05
  Speaker 2: always felt like kind of the same all the way,
• 32:08
  Speaker 2: and there's some ease to that because when you're old
• 32:11
  Speaker 2: then it doesn't really matter. He just kind of like
• 32:16
  Speaker 2: it's like you.
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: People are more accepting.
• 32:18
  Speaker 2: People are totally accepting because I don't have a legendary
• 32:22
  Speaker 2: beauty that faded, like there was nothing that sort of
• 32:27
  Speaker 2: set me apart that way. I was always funny, So
• 32:30
  Speaker 2: that was to me, like my strength or my beauty
• 32:32
  Speaker 2: was in the fact that I was funny, not in
• 32:34
  Speaker 2: anything else. So it was very easy to age.
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: What about the time for the show All American Girl,
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: they asked you to lose weight?
• 32:42
  Speaker 2: Right, Yes, well they forced me. It wasn't an ass
• 32:45
  Speaker 2: It was like, you have to lose weight or else
• 32:47
  Speaker 2: we're not going to be able to do the show.
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: Were you overweight? It wasn't something that I saw as
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: an issue.
• 32:53
  Speaker 2: No, But for television I was. I mean I wasn't
• 32:56
  Speaker 2: a physically I didn't feel that physically large. But for television,
• 33:00
  Speaker 2: I mean, in nineteen ninety.
• 33:01
  Speaker 1: Four, they weren't concerned about your health.
• 33:03
  Speaker 2: No, but I was like a book fifty one hundred
• 33:06
  Speaker 2: and fifty pounds. That's like monstrous in TV, you know,
• 33:10
  Speaker 2: I mean, that is like to be one hundred and
• 33:13
  Speaker 2: fifty pounds on television in the nineties for a woman
• 33:19
  Speaker 2: was like, not, that's not happening, like never seen before, right,
• 33:23
  Speaker 2: I mean I think, well, for maybe Rosanne could have
• 33:27
  Speaker 2: gotten away with it, but she was like she was
• 33:31
  Speaker 2: so castigated for her body, but she was maybe one
• 33:35
  Speaker 2: sixty you know, like she was not that large. But
• 33:40
  Speaker 2: there was such a around the nineties and around women's bodies.
• 33:44
  Speaker 2: Then there was such a yeah stereotype that you had
• 33:48
  Speaker 2: to be really really.
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: Think that was the heroin chic yeah era.
• 33:52
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and even even like it went outside of like
• 33:57
  Speaker 2: culture and fashion sort for me the world, and then
• 34:01
  Speaker 2: I think in a lot of ways it got worse
• 34:03
  Speaker 2: and like y t U K and the early part
• 34:06
  Speaker 2: of the two thousands, you know where we saw a
• 34:10
  Speaker 2: real like just a need to control women's bodies, but
• 34:16
  Speaker 2: shaming you know, people's bodies. And you know when they
• 34:19
  Speaker 2: were saying like Jessica Simpson was like overweight and she
• 34:22
  Speaker 2: was not she at all.
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: Maybe she was just bloated that day, like her.
• 34:26
  Speaker 2: Bodies do thing, but she looked great. And it's just
• 34:29
  Speaker 2: when you look back at like how we shamed women
• 34:32
  Speaker 2: so much for just having bodies that I'm like shocked
• 34:36
  Speaker 2: by all of that. But yeah, for me, it was
• 34:39
  Speaker 2: the same. You know that there was so much a
• 34:41
  Speaker 2: scrutiny put on us, but also because we were the
• 34:44
  Speaker 2: first Asian American family on television, so and there was
• 34:48
  Speaker 2: a stereotype about Asian American women that were not Asian
• 34:51
  Speaker 2: American women, but Asian women in general, that were like
• 34:53
  Speaker 2: petite and like you know, delicate, and I was not.
• 34:57
  Speaker 2: So that was very difficult. So yeah, I lost a
• 35:00
  Speaker 2: lot of weight in a very short period of time,
• 35:02
  Speaker 2: and I think I never quite got over it. I
• 35:05
  Speaker 2: think it gave me a very legitimate eating disorder, which
• 35:08
  Speaker 2: I still kind of struggle with. Like when you have
• 35:10
  Speaker 2: that in your history, you know that you're yeah, but
• 35:14
  Speaker 2: you're told to be too fat to exist, then you're
• 35:19
  Speaker 2: it's really shattering.
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: So and it sticks with you.
• 35:22
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it sticks with you your whole life.
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: How do you manage it? Now?
• 35:27
  Speaker 2: I think now I'm so like I'm just over it,
• 35:30
  Speaker 2: Like I don't care, I don't care, I don't care.
• 35:32
  Speaker 2: But it also like and also now I'm at a
• 35:36
  Speaker 2: weight that I consider safe, You're healthiest, healthy, and also manageable,
• 35:43
  Speaker 2: like because I'm not dieting to get to this weight,
• 35:45
  Speaker 2: I don't do anything. Like it's kind of like for me,
• 35:47
  Speaker 2: it's it's just freedom. But it's also a kind of
• 35:52
  Speaker 2: maturity that you get to your like, oh I don't
• 35:54
  Speaker 2: care anymore. It doesn't really make a difference.
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: So you think about longevity now at your age, and
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: like you alter your diets and your exercise and like
• 36:04
  Speaker 1: how you take care of yourself.
• 36:05
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm mostly concerned with dementia, like you're mostly concerned.
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: About like brain health.
• 36:11
  Speaker 2: Yeah, brain health, and like I'm like, cognitive decline is
• 36:14
  Speaker 2: my biggest fear, so you know, and then in order
• 36:18
  Speaker 2: to stave off that, you have to have a good diet,
• 36:20
  Speaker 2: you have to have exercise, you have to move in order.
• 36:23
  Speaker 2: It's not just one part of the body, you know,
• 36:25
  Speaker 2: it's like everything works together. But yeah, that's what keeps me.
• 36:30
  Speaker 2: Like I play music and I'm a multi instrumentalist, so
• 36:33
  Speaker 2: I play a lot of different instruments just to keep
• 36:38
  Speaker 2: my brain kind of functioning and learning because that's where
• 36:41
  Speaker 2: I get really nervous.
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Same, It's something we're talking about more and more now.
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: I mean, first we're talking about cardiac health. Now we're
• 36:49
  Speaker 1: talking about brain health, which I'm the Yeah, I'm definitely
• 36:54
  Speaker 1: on your same page about that. Because you want to
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: be able to remember things. I think I need your
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: memory to be a comedian.
• 37:03
  Speaker 2: Right, So it's very important, Like, yeah.
• 37:06
  Speaker 1: You don't want to lose your just your grasp.
• 37:09
  Speaker 2: On things, right. And also you want to be able
• 37:12
  Speaker 2: to still be adaptable and still be able to Like
• 37:16
  Speaker 2: what's so great about youth is that you like adaptable
• 37:19
  Speaker 2: to you able to take on new ideas and understand
• 37:23
  Speaker 2: things from other perspectives and you're not so rigid. And
• 37:26
  Speaker 2: so I want to keep my mind youthful.
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: It's so important. What do you think it is that
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: keeps you grounded in life?
• 37:34
  Speaker 2: Well, my animals, so I have to, like, you know,
• 37:38
  Speaker 2: when you have cats, it's like you you're at their
• 37:41
  Speaker 2: beck and call twenty more seven. So I have to
• 37:44
  Speaker 2: make sure that they're doing okay. I have to have
• 37:46
  Speaker 2: to groom them a lot. I do clean a lot
• 37:48
  Speaker 2: of ears. I cut about seventy two nails a week
• 37:52
  Speaker 2: because I have, you know, four animals, So I have
• 37:55
  Speaker 2: to cut all their nails a little bit, just a
• 37:57
  Speaker 2: little bit, because I don't want to have a big deal,
• 37:59
  Speaker 2: So I just cut them a little bit. I do
• 38:01
  Speaker 2: all the stuff. Oh my god, I love you.
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: I cut my dog's hairs too, Yeah, my hairs. I
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: cut their hair. I don't want to send them out.
• 38:08
  Speaker 1: I don't think they enjoy that.
• 38:10
  Speaker 2: They don't like that. I mean, I don't like I
• 38:12
  Speaker 2: had a van come around and they would do the
• 38:14
  Speaker 2: grooming in the van, but they don't like that either.
• 38:17
  Speaker 2: So I just do it all myself. And then it's
• 38:19
  Speaker 2: just a little bit at a time. But it keeps
• 38:21
  Speaker 2: you grounded because it's like you're just like.
• 38:23
  Speaker 1: You're taking care of something.
• 38:24
  Speaker 2: It's like gardening, but with an animal. I garden also
• 38:27
  Speaker 2: do a little bit. I mean a lot of my
• 38:29
  Speaker 2: pants die, but I'm very I like to buy them.
• 38:32
  Speaker 2: It's really fun to buy.
• 38:33
  Speaker 1: Play and they look so pretty when you buy them.
• 38:35
  Speaker 2: They're so pretty when you buy them, and they're pretty
• 38:37
  Speaker 2: if they last. You know, some cactuses are thriving.
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: You're doing you're doing good with Yeah, they're really good
• 38:43
  Speaker 1: cactus forever. What is what is something that you've experienced
• 38:47
  Speaker 1: in your career? Let was a setback in the moment
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: that you now, with this new perspective of age and
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: wisdom see differently.
• 38:56
  Speaker 2: Well, I think like doing my television show All American
• 38:59
  Speaker 2: Girl was canceled out after one season, and it was
• 39:01
  Speaker 2: so devastating, and I realized that if I had continue
• 39:06
  Speaker 2: with the show, if it had been able to go
• 39:08
  Speaker 2: on for years, maybe I would be disinterested now in comedy,
• 39:12
  Speaker 2: Like I wouldn't be as good of a comedian because
• 39:14
  Speaker 2: because I wasn't wasn't able to succeed as a television star,
• 39:17
  Speaker 2: it made me really focused on being a comedian, and
• 39:20
  Speaker 2: I worked really hard to get to a place of
• 39:22
  Speaker 2: like doing it, and I learned to like really be
• 39:25
  Speaker 2: obsessed with it and really love it, and I do
• 39:28
  Speaker 2: it daily now, So I may not be as interested
• 39:32
  Speaker 2: of like all those things. Like I think if I'd
• 39:35
  Speaker 2: been a success as a television star, I might just
• 39:39
  Speaker 2: you know, have you know, huge estate in Santa Barbara
• 39:43
  Speaker 2: and never leave. Like I might have a golf tournament
• 39:46
  Speaker 2: like every year as just one and have like all
• 39:49
  Speaker 2: the famous and then that's it. Like I might be
• 39:52
  Speaker 2: selling jam you know, giving Megan Markle a run for
• 39:57
  Speaker 2: her Jammy money. Like you know, there was like a
• 40:00
  Speaker 2: hunger that I have as an artist that I don't
• 40:03
  Speaker 2: think I would have had if I had been able
• 40:05
  Speaker 2: to sort of make that trajectory as a television star.
• 40:08
  Speaker 2: So I don't know.
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: It makes sense. What is it that motivates you now
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: more than when you were younger? Like was your motivation
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: younger to work to survive?
• 40:19
  Speaker 2: Yes, all those things all?
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: Or was it for the art?
• 40:22
  Speaker 2: It is all of those things. It's all like just
• 40:24
  Speaker 2: to be better, to be good, to understand who I
• 40:28
  Speaker 2: am as a comedian, to understand how to be a
• 40:30
  Speaker 2: good actor too. Like acting is just this mystery that
• 40:33
  Speaker 2: I still like, I can't get my head around, Like
• 40:36
  Speaker 2: how do people do this? And you know, like it's
• 40:40
  Speaker 2: just a miracle thing, like you between those words action
• 40:44
  Speaker 2: and cut, you get to be somebody else for those
• 40:47
  Speaker 2: like few sacred minutes and like what is that about?
• 40:50
  Speaker 2: And I'm still trying to figure out that mystery.
• 40:53
  Speaker 1: It's addictive. Yeah, that moment And I always talk about
• 40:57
  Speaker 1: that too, because there's so much about the business and
• 40:59
  Speaker 1: the industry that I don't enjoy, but it's that moment
• 41:02
  Speaker 1: between action and cut. Yeah, that's something magical happens, and
• 41:06
  Speaker 1: it's like it just turns something on inside of you.
• 41:09
  Speaker 2: Yeah, And it's this rare thing that nobody in the
• 41:12
  Speaker 2: world gets to experience except actors.
• 41:15
  Speaker 1: Yes, you know, being outside of your life.
• 41:17
  Speaker 2: Yeah, for this moment, you're not you. You're this person
• 41:21
  Speaker 2: and that person is that is that person, and we're
• 41:23
  Speaker 2: not us, but we're something else and we're creating a
• 41:27
  Speaker 2: reality so that people can watch and feel something. It's powerful.
• 41:32
  Speaker 2: So I still find it such a divine mystery, and
• 41:37
  Speaker 2: I'm so curious about all of these other people and
• 41:39
  Speaker 2: their ways of doing it. So way. I love working
• 41:42
  Speaker 2: with people who are really into it, you know, actors
• 41:45
  Speaker 2: who are really into it that can show me new
• 41:47
  Speaker 2: ways of doing this. You know, it's powerful.
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: What do you ask them?
• 41:52
  Speaker 2: Well, Like, the thing that I was really impressed with
• 41:55
  Speaker 2: recently is I did a movie with Patrick Wilson. He's great,
• 41:58
  Speaker 2: He's such a beautiful actor. And so it's a movie
• 42:01
  Speaker 2: about a school shooting and he plays a teacher who
• 42:04
  Speaker 2: was shot and I'm like a principal who comes in
• 42:07
  Speaker 2: and I'm trying to like boss everybody around. I'm like
• 42:11
  Speaker 2: the bad guy, and he's like a hero in the school.
• 42:13
  Speaker 2: But he and I were fighting in scenes and his arm,
• 42:17
  Speaker 2: his character's arm is like not working anymore because it
• 42:21
  Speaker 2: was shot and he hid it from me. In the scenes,
• 42:27
  Speaker 2: so I as a as a person like me, I
• 42:30
  Speaker 2: didn't even notice that he had that weakness. I didn't
• 42:34
  Speaker 2: notice it until we watched it on the big screen
• 42:37
  Speaker 2: and I was watching him hiding his arm and I
• 42:41
  Speaker 2: was like, that is so interesting because that frailty was
• 42:45
  Speaker 2: not perceptible to me in the moment, but on the
• 42:50
  Speaker 2: screen it was so profound. And I was asking him.
• 42:53
  Speaker 2: I was like, you're hiding your arm that whole time.
• 42:55
  Speaker 2: He's like, yeah, yeah, I was, And I was like
• 42:57
  Speaker 2: I didn't even know. And it's just so cool to
• 43:02
  Speaker 2: see an actor who believes in it and carries through
• 43:05
  Speaker 2: and commits for that that right, that that like thing
• 43:09
  Speaker 2: where like his character is this and he's going to
• 43:11
  Speaker 2: do things that you may not understand and just because
• 43:14
  Speaker 2: you're in a scene together doesn't mean you're gonna know
• 43:16
  Speaker 2: what he's doing. And I just love that, Like.
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: It's just seeing, like to look at other actors' choices.
• 43:22
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, I was just so moved and so like
• 43:25
  Speaker 2: I was really honored, Like Wow, this is a truth.
• 43:27
  Speaker 2: This is the truth. This is like, you know, I'm
• 43:30
  Speaker 2: not sure about like the method acting that people talk about,
• 43:32
  Speaker 2: whether they're in like character the whole day and that's
• 43:35
  Speaker 2: super weird. I've seen that too, and that's really weird.
• 43:38
  Speaker 2: But for somebody like you know Patrick, who's just a
• 43:41
  Speaker 2: master and can do everything, Like he can sing, he
• 43:45
  Speaker 2: can dance, he's like a Broadway musical theater person. But
• 43:48
  Speaker 2: he's also this like incredible like dramatic actor. It's just
• 43:52
  Speaker 2: it's just powerful. So I just love watching people's process.
• 43:56
  Speaker 1: That's that's what motivates you. I love that is there
• 43:59
  Speaker 1: part of your story that you think there's still so
• 44:03
  Speaker 1: much more to explore.
• 44:06
  Speaker 2: Well, I just want to be like one of the
• 44:08
  Speaker 2: I would really love to be like an old lady
• 44:11
  Speaker 2: murder mystery lady, Like I want to be like Angela
• 44:15
  Speaker 2: Lansbury like a murder She wrote, I love an old
• 44:18
  Speaker 2: lady crime solver. Oh yeah, like that's my favorite, like
• 44:21
  Speaker 2: a Helen Mirren in Prime Suspect, Like I love like
• 44:24
  Speaker 2: a British crime show, So.
• 44:27
  Speaker 1: That you could think that that's for you in the future.
• 44:29
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I want to be like an old lady crime solver.
• 44:32
  Speaker 2: That's to me so fun and so cool when like,
• 44:36
  Speaker 2: because an old lady's going to know exactly what's going on.
• 44:38
  Speaker 1: Oh yeah, she's seen it all.
• 44:39
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so she's gonna she's gonna be like the best
• 44:41
  Speaker 2: crime solver. So for me, that's like, yeah, old lady sleuth,
• 44:45
  Speaker 2: old lady like detective. That's the best.
• 44:49
  Speaker 1: It really is. I did not expect that, Yeah, but
• 44:52
  Speaker 1: I kind of like it. Yeah you need a hat,
• 44:54
  Speaker 1: you need a.
• 44:55
  Speaker 2: Hat, you need like afternoon tea. You need like a
• 44:57
  Speaker 2: little Maltese dog. Yeah, you know, some she can work out.
• 45:01
  Speaker 2: She can work it out. She would be really good.
• 45:03
  Speaker 2: Maybe she could have extensions, okay, and she could be
• 45:07
  Speaker 2: a Maltese. But yeah, I love crime shows. So I
• 45:11
  Speaker 2: work on a really amazing crime show called Will Trent.
• 45:14
  Speaker 2: So exciting and so crazy, so I love I love
• 45:18
  Speaker 2: the genre of it. So you know, for me, it's
• 45:22
  Speaker 2: a special Dirney to keep on doing. Like I got
• 45:24
  Speaker 2: to do a Law and Order once and it was
• 45:26
  Speaker 2: so exciting, you know, to just be like there, you know,
• 45:30
  Speaker 2: in that girl Lushka and like to do sees with her,
• 45:33
  Speaker 2: and like I was just so enthralled with it all.
• 45:37
  Speaker 1: It is fascinating and it's going on right now, like
• 45:39
  Speaker 1: people are out there doing that right now. Yes, while
• 45:41
  Speaker 1: we're talking.
• 45:42
  Speaker 2: Yes, I love it so cool.
• 45:44
  Speaker 1: It has been so much fun to talk to.
• 45:46
  Speaker 2: You and thank you.
• 45:48
  Speaker 1: Visit me. I've loved it all.
• 45:49
  Speaker 2: And Dottie fell asleep.
• 45:51
  Speaker 1: Yeah, we put her to sleep. But before I let
• 45:53
  Speaker 1: you go, Margaret Choe, what was your last I choose
• 45:56
  Speaker 1: me moment?
• 45:57
  Speaker 2: My last I choose me moment? I think was put
• 46:00
  Speaker 2: on this slipstick because I know it's unflattering, but I
• 46:02
  Speaker 2: like it.
• 46:02
  Speaker 1: What is it?
• 46:03
  Speaker 2: It's kind of a bone, it's a bone.
• 46:07
  Speaker 1: It's of spice.
• 46:09
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's spice. It's not spice, but it is like
• 46:11
  Speaker 2: a spice. It's like a stone, but it's grate. It's
• 46:15
  Speaker 2: ninety s grae. I like it, Thank you.
• 46:17
  Speaker 1: I opted to go with a brighter one pretty just
• 46:20
  Speaker 1: to pep things. Oh, I like it. So we balance
• 46:23
  Speaker 1: each other out.
• 46:23
  Speaker 2: I love that warm and cool.
• 46:25
  Speaker 1: Oh my gosh. Everybody find Margaret's tour stops that are
• 46:30
  Speaker 1: closest to you, or maybe just take a trip and
• 46:32
  Speaker 1: see her. It's so work them. Go to Margaret show
• 46:34
  Speaker 1: dot com and check out the dates because you are
• 46:37
  Speaker 1: on the road. Yes, goot it, guys, Okay, love it.
• 46:41
  Speaker 1: Thank you, so thank you.