the comic's comic

Margaret Cho's limited-time offer for a "sexting bundle" of her CD and unreleased songs: Pay what you want!

Earlier today, Margaret Cho kicked off a 72-hour "pay what you want" sale of her Grammy-nominated album, Cho Dependent, that includes two unreleased songs of hers, with 20 percent of the proceeds donated to Immediate Justice, a charity devoted to empowering young women and gay people of color.

The 72-hour window began at noon July 12, 2011.

As it's pay what you want, the person who pays/donates the most will earn a role as an extra in Cho's music video for "Asian Adjacent," to be filmed in L.A. on July 24. You'll meet Cho and Grant Lee Phillips in addition to appearing in the video. Note: This reward does not include travel/lodging. The number-two donor will receive a prize package that includes a Cho Dependent tote bag, CHO HO tank top, album poster featuring photos with the musicians and a personalized/autographed copy of the album.

If Cho can get 500 people to pitch in, everyone also will receive the brand-new song, "Sexting," by Sherry Vine featuring Cho.

Of course, this video snippet also explains it if you want a taste. Roll it!

 

 

Margaret Cho as Kim Jong-Il on "30 Rock"

In case you missed it amid the hoopla surrounding Steve Carell's goodbye on The Office or the royal wedding in Britain, there was something oddly familiar last night about the portrayal of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il on NBC's 30 Rock, and that something oddly familiar was the fact that he was played by a she, in the form of comedian Margaret Cho.

Here are a couple of pictures of Margaret Cho playing Kim Jong-Il. Enjoy!

And from the "movie" that Kim Jong-Il produced with Tracy Jordan, which was not a sequel to Cop Out...

Bristol Palin's ghostwriter makes lesbian joke about Margaret Cho, which Cho laughed off on her birthday

I don't know if you watched Dancing With The Stars this season, but comedian Margaret Cho was in the competition, as was 20-year-old single mother Bristol Palin, who you may know better as a daughter of would-be political leader Sarah Palin.

In a post called "Pistol Whipped" on her blog on Nov. 29, Cho wrote about the Palins, saying very favorable things about Bristol and her performance, but not-so nice things about mama Palin, accusing Sarah Palin of forcing Bristol to do the show and blaming Bristol for the 2008 loss of McCain/Palin. Ahem. Cho went on to write:

Although I don’t agree with the family’s politics at all, I really like Bristol as a person. She’s warm and incredibly supportive, and I think that she looks beautiful out on the dance floor. It’s heartbreaking that people are so awful to her about her weight. I think she looks fantastic, and why does everybody think they have a right to comment on our bodies? What are young girls going to take away from that? If people call her fat what kind of impact does that have on women who have similar body types – which is most of us??!! Still, it is a dance competition, and so I am sure that people feel they have the right to judge bodies and not just ability. That’s just wrong.

So how did Bristol respond? Better question: How did Bristol's ghostwriter respond? If you read the notes on Bristol Palin's official Facebook page -- and if you've also heard Bristol speak either on DWTS or on the Palin family's TLC show -- then you know that she is not the kind of 20-year-old who would ever use the word "calculus" or "canard," or likely have the inclination to find out what those words mean. And this is how Bristol's response to Cho on Saturday night ended:

To my friend Margaret Cho, if you ever have a question, call me girlfriend.  Don't ever rely on "sources" who claim to know me or my family.  You will be taken every time. And we need to talk.  You say you "don't agree with the family's politics at all" but I say, if you understood that commonsense conservative values supports the right of individuals like you, like all of us, to live our lives with less government interference and more independence, you would embrace us faster than KD Lang at an Indigo Girls concert.

P.S. If you want to baby-sit Tripp, I could use a night off.

Using kd lang and the Indigo Girls as your go-to references for a lesbian joke in 2010 is pretty mediocre for a 20-year-old. You have so many other topical choices, Bristol! Go for it if you're going to go for the zinger!

Cho, who celebrated her 42nd birthday on Sunday, laughed it all off in a series of messages on her Twitter feed, first calling it "Best birthday gift," then adding: "Must write song "embrace me" with kd lang and indigo girls. Must!!!!!!!" and finally: "The only reason bristol is so freaked out and everyone is asking me to retract what I said is because they know its true."

Watch 1990s clips of Dave Chappelle, Margaret Cho and Lewis Black from A&E's "Caroline's Comedy Hour"

My friends over at Caroline's have been unearthing some old clips from their 1990s series on A&E, Caroline's Comedy Hour, and the treasure chest already includes footage of Dave Chappelle, Margaret Cho and Lewis Black at a younger age. Remember when comedy boomed before and busted? Remember when audience members still dressed up to be on TV, too?

Before you see any of the people I mentioned in the headline, here's something to make your head spin. It's the opening to a 1990 episode, hosted by Colin Quinn, and featuring his writing staff: Jon Stewart, Susie Essman, Dave Attell and Louis CK. Yeah. So here's that!

 

Here is Dave Chappelle talking about the time his brother talked him into experiencing the inside of a drying machine.

 

If you're missing Margaret Cho since she left Dancing with the Stars, just think about how she felt about being on TV back in 1992. Much different time. So fewer tattoos. Roll it!

Comedians on Dancing with the Stars or Celebrity Apprentice don't have a serious chance, do they?

No offense to Margaret Cho, who was named to the cast of competitors for the 11th edition of ABC's Dancing with the Stars, which kicks off in September 2010, but unless she decides to take this seriously, I'm not holding out much hope for her to actually win or come close to winning.

Comedians have a dreadful track record on both Dancing with the Stars and Celebrity Apprentice, with the notable exception of Joan Rivers, who won over Donald Trump. Maybe that's because Rivers focused more on winning than she did on appealing to the viewers through comedy. Or whatever some of the past comedians on these televised competitions have been doing.

Because while Rivers won the second edition of Celebrity Apprentice, Andrew "Dice" Clay was busy finishing last, while Tom Green quickly followed him out the door two weeks later. Neither one of these guys could outlast Dennis Rodman? Or Khloe Kardashian?!?

This spring's third edition of Celebrity Apprentice was equally bleak, as Carol Leifer and Sinbard were the first two celebrities to hear Donald Trump say "You're fired!" Nice work, clowns.

On DWTS, meanwhile, comedians didn't make the roster until season six in spring 2008. Of the 12 couples, two featured star comedians: Penn Jillette, who was eliminated first in last place; and Adam Carolla, who only made it two weeks further in the contest.

Season seven that fall? Even rougher, as Jeffrey Ross finished unlucky 13th out of 13, and injured his eye during rehearsals. Cloris Leachman at least lasted a month with her hijinx and finished seventh, although most people looked at her performances more for her ribald post-dance comments than the dancing.

Season eight? Not so great. David Alan Grier had a lot to say, but finished 9th out of 13 couples, followed the next week by a Jackass in Steve-O.

Season nine? Ashley Hamilton, son of George, we were told was a comedian. He finished last out of 16 couples.

This spring, Niecy Nash fared perhaps best so far among comedians, coming in fifth out of 11 couples, helped in part by some truly awful competition.

So maybe there's hope for Cho yet. As long as she works hard at it. Here's what she wrote last night after the announcement:

I’m so excited to be doing Dancing With The Stars, but I’ve got a lot to learn. I’ve got some mean stripper moves and I can pick up a dollar with my butt, however the Viennese Waltz is all new for me! I’ve been training with my partner for three days now and I can’t believe how much my body hurts! I’m trying to embrace the pain.

Although, what's this, Mediaite's Steve Krakauer just called Cho the least famous of the group? Ouch! How long do you think it'll take for the show to share a clip of this little gem of a film Cho starred in with several other comedians you may like (and a good portion of the cast of ER?) called Can't Stop Dancing? Roll it.

Here is more evidence of Cho dancing, although I'm not sure burlesque is an option for the celebrities. Judges, please?

Attack of the Show offers glimpse of inaugural Laughing Skull Comedy Fest

Thanks to Steve Hofstetter, one of the comedians who helped put together the inaugural Laughing Skull Comedy Festival in Atlanta earlier this month, G4's Attack of the Show aired scenes from the festival's stand-up competition. Margaret Cho was there. I saw fest winner Josh Gondelman there, too, as well as Carmen Lynch, Seaton Smith, Karl Hess, Michael Palascak.

Roll the clip!

Margaret Cho is "Gettin' Wet" with Sara Benincasa

Sara Benincasa used to have a chat show called "Tub Talk." Well, Benincasa is back in batheland, and in her new show, "Gettin' Wet," she chats up Margaret Cho about how Cyndi Lauper talked her into exploring her musical side, things you may not already know about Cho's mother, and Cho's new variety show. Tiny bubbles!

Preview: The Cho Show, on VH1

After spending last year off-Broadway exploring her Vaudevillian side, Margaret Cho returned to stand-up this year, and also is returning to TV with her own "reality" program, The Cho Show, debuting Aug. 21 on VH1. Here is the "supertrailer" for it:

• VH1 TV Shows
• Music Videos
• Celebrity Photos
• News & Gossip

Related: Margaret Cho talked about her career, body issues and more, earlier this week with the jezebels at Jezebel.

Margaret Cho gets VH1 show

VH1 has ordered seven episodes of The Cho Show, which follows the life of comedian Margaret Cho. Now you know.