When comedian Leanne Morgan steps on stage, she doesn’t just deliver a sidesplitting comedy routine, she has an open and honest conversation with her audience about every aspect of her life.
It’s that authenticity that has made her one of the hottest comedians in the business. Well, that and the fact that she delivers clean comedy, suitable for the masses.
“I’ve been told by people that I was funny from the time I was little,” says Morgan, who will be performing three shows at Altria Theater on August 6 and 7.
Growing up, Morgan’s family owned the only grocery store in town, and that served as her first stage.
“My mama thought I was funny, and she’s funny. She would sit me on top of where you check out for your groceries, and I would stay up there and talk like a nut,” says Morgan, who describes herself as “always the class clown.”
Her comedic talent didn’t go unnoticed. The staff at her high school asked her to do the school announcements and to serve as emcee at events. Teachers in her drama and speech classes predicted she would go into show business one day.
“From about the age of 9 or 10, I thought I was going to Hollywood,” she says.
It didn’t dawn on her to do an open mic night for a comedy club in Knoxville where she lived. It wasn’t until prior to her marriage, she and her now husband, Chuck Morgan, visited Los Angeles and went to the famous The Comedy Store. That’s when her aha moment occurred.
“I got to go to a comedy club for the first time, and I remember my heart beating out of my body, thinking I could do this,” she says. “This is what I am supposed to be doing.”
Family Comes First
But there was one thing she wanted to do before she would even think about a career in comedy and that was to get married and have babies.
“That was the most important thing,” she says.
A while later, after Chuck Morgan (Leanne always refers to her husband as Chuck Morgan), moved the family to the foothills of the Appalachia Mountains, Morgan decided to sell jewelry at women’s home parties.
“I wanted to stay home with my baby, but I wanted a little money, a side hustle,” she says, noting she still harbored her dream of going to Hollywood.
She began doing stand-up in the homes she visited as a salesperson. “I was doing jokes and women thought I was funny. They booked me a year in advance,” she says.
The company she worked for noticed and began hiring her to speak at their big sales rallies.
“And, that’s how I started in stand-up,” she says. “The women at those rallies said ‘you really need to do stand-up.’ That gave me the courage to do it.”
Taking the Stage
Her first open mic night was an eye opener for her.
“It almost killed me,” she says. “I thought I was going to throw up. Once I got through that and started doing stuff at the club all the time, it really felt like I was at home. I loved it. I was tickled to do it.”
Morgan credits her children and her husband for providing her with wonderful material for her show.
“I wish I could tell you I was as brilliant as Jerry Seinfeld and I could talk about a dirty cotton ball, but I talk about what has happened,” she says. “I am so lucky that I have this full life. I’m a mama and a grandmama. My elderly parents are still living, and I help take care of them. I have all this material. It’s what people live every day, and they can relate to it.”
Working in comedy clubs for 20-plus years has helped Morgan hone her timing and delivery — something she says is both natural and learned.
“My mama, Lucille, who is 83, has wonderful comedy timing. Her mother was funny. I’ve had a lot of funny people in my life. Now, my baby, who is 28 years old, has unbelievable comedy timing. Jerry Seinfeld told me ‘Leanne, I think it’s hereditary.’ It’s a little of both,” she says.
Her love for comedy dates back to watching shows like Comedy Central as well as individual comedians, everyone from Jay Leno to Benny Hill.
“I loved Richard Lewis. Before he died, he reached out to me on social media and said he was a fan. That meant so much to me,” she says, adding she’s been a fan of sitcoms, comedy and comedic movies all of her life.
Morgan enjoys the diversity in her career — her sitcom, Leanne, on Netflix, her roles in movies such as You’re Cordially Invited with Reese Witherspoon and Will Ferrell — but she always goes back to her first love, stand-up.
“I like the connection with the audience. Stand-up is my favorite,” she says. “Touring and travel is hard. But, when I get to the venue and get to be with those gracious people, that gives me energy.”
For ticket info, visit altriatheater.com
