Margaret Cho was born in 1968 in San Francisco, California, as noted by The Scotsman. Her parents had moved there from South Korea, and together they established a bookstore that catered to the LGBTQ community. That bookstore helped keep food on the table. As Cho tells it, those early years had a profound impact on her development. "There were old hippies, ex-druggies, burnouts, drag queens, and Chinese people," she shared on her website. "It was a really confusing, enlightening, wonderful time."

Unfortunately, Cho dealt with a lot of abuse at the hands of exploitative men growing up, as she was molested by a family friend starting at age 5 and later raped as a teenager (via Billboard). She was also bullied in high school because of her ethnicity and body, but fortunately went on to heal from the trauma in her childhood. She now identifies as a survivor.

Cho started performing standup comedy at 14, and she knew right out of the gate that her livelihood would be tied to making people laugh. "I haven't always necessarily expressed it in that way, but I have always wanted to do this, and I knew very early on that this would be my career," she recalled in an interview with Feminist.com.

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).