Its about leaving the party.
Its about growing up.
While Morgans episodic television homecoming onThe Last O.G.
Credit: Kareem Black
Thats how deep it got for me.
It was deeper than that, man!
Coming out of a coma took everything I had.
It took all my might.
My daughter was only 10 months old!
Without missing a beat, he then adds: You know who the last O.G.
Thats called the O.G.
in the universe was Ben Kenobi, baby!
That was Luke Skywalkers O.G.!
And Yoda was his!
As it’s possible for you to see, Morgan remains a force of comedy.
Who were his biggest influences and his most unlikely ones?
What role did30 Rockwind up playing in his life?
And what was the first joke that he ever told?
Here, Morgan reflects on his past and his punchlines.
The first joke I ever toldMy father was Richard Pryor funny.
The whole crowd started laughing, and from that day I wanted to be a comedian.
Also, in high school, I was the class clown.
The comedy bit that inspired me to become a comedianSignifying Monkey.
When I heard the words and the way he would say it, that was funny to me.
I would go around my whole project singing it.
… Im sitting in the room at my uncles listening to this stuff.
I come from a family full of funny people.
In the ghetto, thats all we got our senses of humor.
We had to entertain ourselves.
They would also play Redd Foxx albums and Richard Pryors albums.
I heard all of that growing up.
The comedian Ive borrowed the most fromRichard Pryor.
As long as you tell the truth on the stage, you dont got to defend it.
The truth is the truth, all around the world.
People laugh at the truth, they dont laugh at lies.
My most unlikely comedy influenceJackie Gleason.
WatchingThe Honeymoonersgrowing up was awesome.
Him and Art Carney and their hare-brained schemes.
At the end of it, he would look at Alice and go, Baby, youre the greatest.
Im a very emotional person, and that touched me.
Hes on my Mount Rushmore.
Flip Wilson is there.
Lucille Ball is there.
And my physical comedy comes from Carol Burnett.
Look at the faces she made!
Thats where the physical in Tracy Morgan comes from.
The person in comedy Id most love to meetCharlie Chaplin.
The things he knew how to do without voices, without noise!
He did silent films, and he was funny!
The stand-up special I have watched the mostRichard Pryor: Live in Concert.
Sometimes Ill look for inspiration, and I go back to where I first found it.
The two sweetest words in comedy are Richard Pryor.
I loved the way he showed his fearlessness.
Im not really into material Im into performance and fearlessness.
Eddie Murphys Umfufu [from Raw] and all of that.
At that age, he was able to have insight like that!
The shortest joke Ive ever toldIt wasnt in stand-up.
I knew he could feel me behind him, and I was smiling.
Then I went and told T. Sean Shannon, and we wrote the joke.
He said, No, Im not really a bitch.
The jokes funny, were going to do it.
And then I was committed.
They ask me, Was Brian Fellows gay?
and I said, No, hes ambiguous.
Thats the question I got asked the most.
Little do people know, Brian Fellow has a wife and three kids.
He later apologized.]
The TV comedy that made me want to pack up and move to HollywoodBarney Miller.
The TV comedy that I quote the mostSanford and Son.
I loved calling people, Ya big dummy!
Every day Im calling someone a big dummy.
The TV comedy that rescued me30 Rock.
Being on that show kept me busy.
I was sober then.
I was able to do Tracy Jordan without having to have a drink.
Tina Fey saw me partying at the after-parties ofSaturday Night Live, so she [drew from] that.
I didnt have to be in the picture I could paint the picture.
I got crazy without actually having to drink.
And that saved me.
…Key & Peele.
I was just watching it 10 minutes ago!
Its so real, and thats what makes it funny.
Theyre what you call all-day real characters.
When [Key] was doing comedy in front of aburn victim, its the truth.
My go-to gag to get a laugh when a bit is bombingI inject sex into it.
I talk about sex.
The noises we make, the faces we make, the things we do.
I like to be intimate with my audience anyway.
In comedy, sex always works.
Theres always something funny to say about sex.
The joke I want told at my funeralI couldnt answer that.
I would just want my tombstone to say, Here lies one funny motherfer.
The funniest word to say on stageHypothetical.
That coming out of my mouth sounds funny.
The weirdest place Id love to do a stand-up specialKingdom Hall.
Because I would shock the s out of everybody.
