Leanne Morgan is hitting a new peak of fame in her comedy career. She’s got two Netflix specials, asit-com, and a role in a Reese Witherspoon movie to boot. But the charming and funny southern woman isn’t for everyone. In a new interview with Conan O’Brien for the podcast Conan Needs a Friend, Morgan broke down how even her fairly straight edge comedy couldn’t meet the Christian comedy circuit standards.
“I was thinking I’ve watched a lot of your work and I love it,” O’Brien introduced the subject. “It all feels to me that it would work fine in the Christian comedy circuit because I don’t know how it would be limiting. It seems like you’re able to talk about a lot of things that don’t conflict with what someone who considers themselves a hardcore Christian would think is okay. You found it a little limiting, but I don’t know what it is they’d be objecting to.”
Morgan explained that it was a bad match in both directions; Christian comedy audiences weren’t meant for her, and she wasn’t meant for them.
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“Early on, I got invited to do, you know, shows in churches and it just did not feel right to me,” Morgan said. “It’s just a different kind of standup. It’s got a different pace. Some people that do that have an alter call and all that kind of stuff. Honey, I don’t know anything about that.”
There is an entire Christian comedy circuit, filled with comedians who deliver clean, faith-based material that promises not to ruffle feathers. There are even websites dedicated to Christian comics that you can reliably book for family Christian events. Michael Jr. is perhaps the most popular of the bunch. His stand-up sets on YouTube amass millions of views. But, that’s not kind of material Morgan is interested to perform.
“I love the Lord,” Morgan explained. “But I want to be able to talk about real stuff. I don’t mean to—I know I keep bringing up Johnny Cash, and I’m not comparing myself to him, but I remember him in an interview saying, ‘I am a believer, but I want to be able to talk about Folsom Prison.’ And getting high in a cave and you know all that that he went through and and I like to talk about peeing in a bathing suit. You just don’t know who’s going to be upset.”
She then referenced a joke from her most recent stand-up special, Unspeakable Things, about her sex life with her husband Chuck Morgan. “I’ve had to prostitute myself to Chuck Morgan so these children have good shoes. I mean, and I know Jesus loves me and he knows that I’ve had to do it, and he has walked through it with me.”
O’Brien followed up by remarking that those topics didn’t seem so vulgar that they should preclude Morgan from succeeding in the Christian comedy scene. “I’m being naive, but I don’t think those things—I think whatever your religion, you should be able to hear about those things,” O’Brien said. “I’m not a prude, but when I watch a movie where every other word is the F-word or F-bombs are flying left and right, I think it’s just lazy writing. But everything you talk about, peeing in a bathing suit, should be something a congregation can hear. Do you know what I mean?”
“And I think most of them can,” Morgan replied. “I just don’t want to feel weird. It was more me. I Nobody ever said anything to me, but I just thought I don’t think this is where I’m supposed to be. I want to be a mainstream comedian.”
With the year she’s had, Morgan accomplished that.
