Geoff: Leanne Morgan finds
comedy in the chaos of marriage
and motherhood.
She's a storyteller, who draws
from her experiences growing up
in rural Tennessee, being
married for over 30 years,
raising three kids, and becoming
a grandmother for the first
time.
>> When my boy and his wife
found out about this precious
baby, they would say, "Their
baby."
And we would say "Our baby," and
then they started using words
like "Boundaries."
Geoff: Now at 57 years old,
Leanne Morgan's stand-up career
is taking off, and she's just
released her first Netflix
stand-up special.
>> They are going to have this
precious baby and be up all
night and that's going to go
into weeks and months.
And then my little
daughter-in-law is going to
start hallucinating, and then
she's going to wake up in the
night and she will be
breast-feeding a lamp.
And we'll see who's got
boundaries.
Geoff: I sat down with her in
New York City to talk about her
unconventional comedy career.
Most comedians get their starts
in comedy clubs or in writers
rooms.
You found your way to
professional standup by selling
jewelry, is that right?
Leanne: Yes, my darling.
Ok, so, my husband and I met at
the university of Tennessee, and
when we graduated, he bought a
used mobile home business where
he refurbished mobile homes and
sold them.
And he moved me to Tennessee in
the foothills of the appalachian
mountains.
And I started selling jewelry.
Geoff: And you're going house to
house doing this?
Leanne: I'm going house to house
at night.
My husband took care of the
baby.
And then I was supposed to be
talking about jewelry and I
would schlep this big jewelry
case around.
And I didn't talk about jewelry.
I talked about breast feeding
and hemorrhoids, and I developed
a shtick, really, and act.
And women thought I was funny
and started booking me about a
year in advance.
Geoff: Wow.
Leanne: And that gave me the
confidence.
People would say, you need to be
a stand up.
Geoff: Is that what you wanted
for yourself?
Did you want to be a stand-up?
Leanne: I wanted to be in show
business and I thought I was
funny.
And I always loved comedy, but I
didn't know how that would end
up.
But stand up, I knew I could
tell a story.
Geoff: After two decades on
stage, Leanne's first special on
YouTube has more than 50 million
views.
Her new Netflix special reached
the top 10.
Leanne: But my husband and I met
and I was so cute.
And I was little, I had on
little britches.
Any my thyroid was functioning.
And now, I truly believe he
would not pull me out of a
burning vehicle.
Geoff: Your family provides
fodder for so much of your act.
How do they feel about that?
>> They feel fine about it, now.
When they were in middle school,
my children said, do not speak
my name.
And they also said, don't come
up to the school with yoga pants
on.
So that was a dry time for me.
And my husband only one time has
said to me, don't say that
again.
I said something about, I wanted
something, but it was a bad a
mobile home year.
And he said, I've always
provided for you.
Do not say that again.
And it hurt me for him.
And I've never said anything
like that again.
But he doesn't care about
anything else.
And in my twisted mind I think,
oh, I can lose 40 pounds in four
weeks.
Geoff: Leanne's act is
relatable, and a reflection of
her life, comedy with a common
touch.
Leanne: I've done every diet in
the world.
My momma and my sister and I
took dexatrim.
Do Ya'll remember dexatrim?
Yeah.
It was speed.
We took speed.
As a family.
They sold it on the shelves
everywhere and we were all
taking dope.
And that's funny how things
resonate with people because
I've had more comments of people
saying, oh my gosh, my mom and I
took dexatrim together.
My mom gave it to us, and I was
this big around, you know, and I
was raised by farming people and
we knew where our beef was
coming from.
I was tiny and then taking diet
pills on top of it.
I would now but I think my heart
would flutter.
I'm out here on the porch, and
I'm looking rough.
Geoff: When covid hit, Leanne
was about to start a 100 city
tour, and like many others,
leaned into social media, and
cooking.
Leanne: You just mix that all
together and you chill it and
it's really good.
I started talking about my
recipes and taking care of my
little mom and daddy, they
needed me.
What I was feeding them and my
family.
And it grew bigger and more than
I ever thought it would.
So that was a helpful thing.
As horrible as all that was, I
think it helped grow audience
because people at home --
geoff: It gave them a point of
connection.
Leanne: Yeah.
And people start making all this
Jell-O all over the united
States.
And I know Jell-O is very
divisive.
Geoff: It's controversial.
Leanne: It's very controversial.
But where I'm from in the you
know, in middle, Tennessee, we
love a good gelatin salad, you
know, with a little pineapple
pecan, little cottage cheese or
cream cheese, little cool whip.
Geoff: Wow.
Yeah.
That's way beyond.
Leanne: Yeah, to us, that's
something, you know.
Nice to take to a church supper.
Geoff: The thing I really loved
about your act is that there's
no underlying political or
social message.
It really is just about the
laughs.
It's about finding the funny
moments in family and growing
older.
Leanne: And I understand how
people want to do that and, you
know, do comedy that way.
But I've just never written that
way or ever thought that way.
Plus, I thought, nobody cares
what I think.
And I don't -- I want it to be
fun, I don't want anybody to
feel uncomfortable.
But yeah, that's how -- I don't
write that way.
You know, I probably don't read
enough, geoff, to know what's
going on.
Geoff: Leanne says this run of
success couldn't have happened
at a better time.
She just signed on to star in a
will Ferrell and Reese
Witherspoon comedy.
And she is back on the road on a
national stand-up tour this
summer.
The tour is called just getting
started.
Is that how it feels?
Leanne: Yes.
Geoff, ok, when you're from the
country like I am, you know,
we're me-ma's.
We like to start cooking pinto
beans and and wearing house
dresses.
Right?
And I thought, I'm just going to
bail out of this thing.
And then this happened.
When I look back on it, because
I've had television deals for
sitcoms, I've had four deals and
they would not make it.
My children were little, and I
would be devastated.
And I look back on it now and I
think, oh, my gosh, that was
not the right time.
I got to raise these children in
Knoxville, Tennessee, and then
now they don't need me like they
used to.
They still need me.
Then this happened to me at this
time in my life.
And I'm having a ball.
I'm having a ball.
And it's bigger and more
wonderful and more special than
anything I ever dreamed of.
Amna: I love that she says your
name with two syllables.
Weren't you just laughing the
whole time?
Geoff: Isn't she the best.
As part of four tour, -- of her
tour, she sold out the grand ole