Photograph: Cate Corbitt

Critic comparisons

Mike
“A cross between Sandra Bernhard and David Sedaris.” Also, Albo says, “Someone in Seattle compared me to Kathy Griffin, and then in some blog said, ‘He isn’t like Kathy Griffin at all!’ I felt like I had been slapped twice.”

Marga
“A lesbian Lenny Bruce,” “a Latina Lily Tomlin” and “a lesbian Larry the Cable Guy”

Tattoos

Mike
A tiny image of Saturn on his hip. “I got it when I was 19 in London from a man who had blue tattoo tears coming out of his eyes,” he recalls. “It cost nine pounds. It looks more like a hamburger.”

Marga
A Tabasco sauce bottle on her left shoulder blade, from Stephanie Tamez at New York Adorned in the East Village. “It’s for my deceased pet, Tabasco,” she explains.

Cross-dressing moments

Mike
He has frequently femmed out as a tutu-wearing Dazzle Dancer and as the cell-phone-screaming bikini-and-heels wearer in his comedic sketch “Amanda,” among other times.

Marga
In Single Wet Female, the butch pants-wearer played a blond femme fatale. “I had a French manicure for a month and several costume changes during the show—all skimpy outfits from Strawberry,” Gomez admits.

Yoga riff

Mike
(As his character, the Underminer) “You’re doing yoga now! That is so cool—and weird and great! You’re doing yoga. It’s just so great how yoga has spread its influence across the four corners of America, you know? Old people are doing it, fat people are doing it, retarded people are doing it.”

Marga
“These born-again Christian yoga classes are opening up all over the country, and the teachers are kind of adapting the classes so they don’t have anything that could offend born-again Christian sensibilities. You know, any references to Hinduism or nature worship or inner peace—or breathing.”

Take on their parents

Mike
Though he’s never done a show on them, “I should, because they are Republicans—but nice ones who are pro-choice and believe that gay people should live. At least I hope they think that.”

Marga
Solo shows focusing on her showbiz parents have included Memory Tricks, A Line Around the Block and Los Big Names. In one scene in the latter, Gomez portrays her mom and dad asking her, as a little girl, which parent she loves more. “If you want your father so much,” her mother threatens, “I can have another child!”

TV and film appearances

Mike
VH1’s Viva Diva, “The Underminder” film short on Logo, as “Arcadio” in telenovela Rosa Negra, voice of Billy in Todd Downing’s “Billy’s Hollywood Screen Trick” animated short

Marga
“Prisoner Number Three” on Guiding Light, computer expert “Jane Edmunds” in Sphere, “Dot” in The D Word, “Gata Muñoz” in telenovela Rosa Negra

Anthology contributions

Mike
Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys: True Tales of Love, Lust and Friendship Between Straight Women and Gay Men (Dutton), among others

Marga
Howl: A Collection of the Best Contemporary Dog Wit (Crown)

Memories of joint Philly show

Mike
“I remember thinking, ‘Wow, I can’t believe she is slumming with someone like me. I thought she was, like, a big deal.’ I was also relieved to know that she was a fellow Gemini.”

Marga
“We slept at Earl Dax’s. Mike had the couch and I slept with Earl in his bed—where there was also a huge palmetto bug. We were stoned and that just made me more panicked,” Gomez recalls. “But I believe Mike calmly squashed it with his sandal, which surprised me—even though I saw him eat a hot dog in Penn Station before we got on the train.”

Biggest change since then

Mike
“I don’t have to get as drunk to perform now. But sometimes I still do. Also, I lost my last shred of dignity somewhere around 2006, and I have zero shame now, so that’s different, too.”

Marga
“I’m probably more relaxed and less afraid. And I can squash my own bugs.”

“Mike & Marga” is at Joe’s Pub on Sun 21. See listings. See also mikealbo.com and margagomez.com.