2011 Edinburgh Fringe

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Revered for her crass in-your-face style and taboo-busting material, Margaret Cho is one of the most prolific and critically acclaimed comedians in America. She brings her unique one-woman show Cho Dependent to the newly created Dans Paleis for the Assembly Rooms at George Square.

After finishing a stint on Dancing with the Stars alongside David Hasselhoff, Bristol Palin & Jennifer Grey, and wrapping a third season on the TV show Drop Dead Diva, Cho is back at the Edinburgh Festival for the first time in 10 years with new stand-up and comedy songs from her 2011 double Grammy-nominated and debut comedy album. The album featured artists from Tegan and Sara, Fiona Apple, Grant Lee Phillips & Brendan Benson (The Raconteurs) amongst others. Last year San Francisco born Cho did an extensive nationwide US tour. The lyrics on the album, which tackle issues of sex, drugs, rock & roll - and lice is 100% laugh-inducing. After My Puss, a hilarious rap parody Cho recorded impromptu-style with friends, became a surprise YouTube hit, Cho began to integrate more comedy music into her live stand-up shows.

Her grandfather was a Methodist minister who ran an orphanage in Seoul during the Korean War. Ignoring the traditions of her patriarchal culture, her mother bravely resisted an arranged marriage in Korea and married Margaret's father who writes joke books - in Korean. When Margaret raced toward adulthood to escape bullying, she began writing jokes for stand up at 14 and professionally performing at age 16. Getting picked on, and feeling disenfranchised, is a subject that's very near to Margaret's heart. She has become a sort of 'Patron Saint' for Outsiders, speaking for them when they are not able to speak for themselves. "Being bullied influenced my adult life because I grew up too fast. I was in such a hurry to escape that I cheated myself out of a childhood. I didn't want to go to school any more, didn't want to be around those people any more. I want to use what happened to me to help other kids."

Soon after starting her stand-up career, Margaret won a comedy contest where first prize was opening for Jerry Seinfeld. She moved to Los Angeles in the early '90s and, still in her early twenties, hit the college circuit, where she immediately became the most booked act in the market and garnered a nomination for Campus Comedian of The Year. She performed over 300 concerts within two years. Arsenio Hall introduced her to late night audiences, Bob Hope put her on a prime time special and, seemingly overnight, Margaret Cho became a national celebrity.

Her groundbreaking, controversial, and short-lived ABC sitcom, All-American Girl (1994) soon followed. Oddly, while chosen because of who she was - a non-conformist Korean American woman with liberal views - the powers-that-be then decided they wanted her to "tone it down" for the show. Challenging Margaret's feelings for both who she was and how she looked, she soon realised that though she was an Executive Producer, it was a battle she would not win. "For fear of being too 'ethnic', the show got so watered down for television that by the end, it was completely lacking in the essence of what I am and what I do." The experience was a traumatic one, bringing up unresolved feelings left over from childhood, and Margaret developed an eating disorder as a response to criticism about her body. She was so obsessive in her goal to try to be what she thought others wanted, she landed in the hospital with kidney failure. Through out a period of self-abuse, Margaret continued performing to sold-out audiences across the country in comedy clubs, theatres, and on college campuses, working to channel her anger in to something more positive.

In 1999, her groundbreaking, off Broadway one-woman show, I'm The One That I Want, toured the country to national acclaim and was made into a best-selling book and feature film of the same name. After her experience with All-American Girl, Margaret wanted to make sure she would only have to answer to herself, making sure she was responsible for the distribution and sales of her film. The concert film, which garnered incredible reviews, broke records for most money grossed per print in movie history. In 2001, after the success of her first tour, Cho launched Notorious C.H.O., a smash-hit 37-city national tour that culminated in a sold-out concert at Carnegie Hall. Notorious C.H.O. was recorded and released as a feature film, hailed by the New York Times as "Brilliant!" Both films were acquired by Showtime Cable Networks, and produced by Margaret's production company, a testament to the success of Margaret's bold business model.

Margaret hit the road again this time with Cyndi Lauper, Debbie Harry and Erasure in 2007 to host the True Colors Tour, benefiting the Human Rights Campaign. A true entertainment pioneer, she returned to TV in 2008 on the VH1 series, The Cho Show. Describing it as a 'reality sitcom' the crew followed Margaret, her real parents, and her eccentric entourage through a series of irreverent and outrageous experiences, shaped by Margaret's 'anything goes' brand of stand-up. The aptly titled Beautiful came next, exploring the good, bad and ugly in beauty, and the unattractive politicians and marketers who shape our world. The concert premiered in Australia at The Sydney Theatre, marking the first time Margaret debuted a tour abroad.