Margaret Cho has racked up five Grammy Award nominations and performed stand-up for more than four decades, but there’s still one stage on her wish list.

“I would like to do something high-stakes like a show that takes place before they sent gladiators to fight at the Colosseum,” she joked when asked during a phone interview what epoch she’d pick to perform in. “Maybe that wouldn’t be the best for my health, but I would ask for a guarantee that I could leave before getting eaten by an animal.”

Cho missed her shot to perform for Roman emperors by a millennium or two, but she will be onstage for the Belly Laughs Comedy and Food Festival. She’ll be joined by more than 30 stand-up Asian comedians, including Hasan Minhaj, Kumail Nanjiani, a surprise guest and two recent additions: Bobby Lee and Vickie Wang.

The event, billed as a celebration of Asian American culture, will take place at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on Saturday and July 13. In addition to providing laughs, the fest will showcase more than 20 of L.A.’s Asian restaurants at Peacock Place and Chick Hearn Plaza — the newly renovated space that connects Crypto.com Arena to L.A. Live.“I think the festival is a special idea,” she said. “I love all of the different Asian food options, especially those we have in Los Angeles. We’re fortunate to have so many great Asian restaurants. There are also so many great Asian comedians that are going to be there, and it’s all my favorites and friends, so we’re going to have a great time.”

Cho has long championed the representation of Asians and Pacific Islanders in media dating back to the beginning of her career. The comedian and actor starred in “All American Girl” in the mid-’90s, the first network sitcom that centered on an Asian American family, loosely based on Cho’s own experiences.

While the series was ambitious, it also drew criticism from East Asians concerned about stereotyping, and show producers often made remarks about Cho’s character either being too Asian or not Asian enough. After its 21-episode run, poor reviews and low ratings, the show was canceled. However, Cho’s ambitious vision for a sitcom centered on Asian Americans inspired other TV shows, such as “Fresh off the Boat” and “Kim’s Convenience.”

“It’s so different now because we had no representation at all back then,” Cho said.

“There was this misunderstanding or fallacy that we somehow didn’t want to be seen or didn’t have any interest in being portrayed in television or movies,” she said, adding that it was bizarre that society mistook the lack of visibility as a decision the Asain American community was making, rather than the other way around.

“I’m grateful that we now have a little more representation. It’s not a lot, but it’s more, which is really good, but we still need more. We’re really represented in comedy, which is really exciting because it’s my industry. I’m really proud that I was able to inspire so many people to do this, too.”

Cho added that she’s seen more aspects of Asian cultures, such as music and food, become more widely accepted. She recalled being a kid, pulling out her packed lunch at a mostly White school and drawing side-eyes over foods like squid.

“It’s so weird how much society now really embraces Asian food as exciting, delicious and sought-after because back then, it was just weird and something that others didn’t want a part of,” she said.

The comedian grew up near the Ocean Beach neighborhood in San Francisco, which she described as racially diverse and a hub for the LGBTQ+ community. She credits her parents for teaching her that no matter how different people are, they are stronger when united. It was among the reasons she and her family sought to live alongside Black, Latino and other Asian minorities wherever they moved.

“There is an idea that a minority is somehow less than, and we have to conquer those myths, even when they reside within ourselves,” Cho said.

“Right now, with the current administration, there’s this big push away from DEI to sort of denote that it’s some handout, which really is not true. People who are different work harder and often better, because anybody who has to deal with challenges is going to find a way to persevere.”

Cho has generally used stand-up comedy in an effort to empower minority groups fighting oppression and has advocated for body acceptance, LGBTQ rights, feminist issues and racial equality. More recently, though, she’s used a different medium: music.

The stand-up comic has long written music, singing from the age of 5 and into her teens. Although it’s a significant part of her life, she mostly keeps it to herself, utilizing it to relax and stimulate different parts of her brain. Some songs are more comedic, including ones from the perspective of her pets, but others are written with love and affection for the people closest to her.

In February, Cho released “Lucky Gift,” her first album in eight years, via her Clownery Records label. The 11-song album, which features a dash of ’90s and ’60s vibes, showcases Cho’s musical abilities while offering some of her trademark advocacy. The song “Funny Man” pays tribute to the late Robin Williams and was written around the time of his death in 2014. It explores the perils of comedians who are laughing but are struggling on the inside.

Amid the national political tone, Cho leans on her sense of humor to cope and often finds comfort in shows that contextualize the news with a bit of humor including “The Daily Show” and “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,” while also rewatching sketch comedy shows “Key & Peele” and “Kroll Show.”

“This is a horrible time where we have a government that’s just really against the people,” Cho said.

“It’s against everything that makes us American, and so it’s really terrifying, but humor is the one place where we can have some kind of comfort. These are the richest people in the world, but the one thing they can’t afford is a joke at their expense, and that is hilarious.”