Leanne Morgan

Amy Poehler: This episode is brought to you by Happy Egg. Happiness is important, right? Everyone has different things that make them happy. It's your work in life to find out what that is. Everyone deserves some happiness. And it's just the same for the humble chicken, because a happy hen makes a happy egg. That's why Happy Egg partners with family farms across the Midwest to raise hens outdoors with plenty of room to play, scratch, and spread their wings. And the eggs they lay are delicious. You can see and taste the proof yourself in the rich orange yolk. Crack open happy today. Find Happy Egg near you at happyegg.com slash Amy.

Amy Poehler: Hello, everyone. Welcome to Good Hang. I'm very, very excited about our guest today. It is Leanne Morgan. She is an incredible, hilarious standup who had a huge special on Netflix and now has a new show on there called *Leanne*. And look, Leanne is someone you probably are getting to know or just found out about, but guess what? She's been doing comedy for a long time, and you're going to hear all about it today. So we're going to talk about a lot of things. We're going to talk about her love of Diet Coke. We're going to talk about the fact that she was voted best looking in high school. We're going to talk about her husband, Chuck Morgan, and her new show and all the good stuff that comes along with it.

Amy Poehler: And we always like to start these episodes by asking someone who knows our guest what question they think I should ask them. So joining me is a great, hilarious actress. You've seen her in a very small scene in *Sex and the City*, and you've seen her in *Third Rock from the Sun*. And you're going to see her in the new show *Leanne*, playing the sister of Leanne Morgan's character, Kristen Johnston. Kristen, can you hear me? Is the Zoom working?

Kristen Johnston: Hi.

Amy Poehler: This episode of Good Hang is presented by Walmart School Supplies. We all remember getting them. I remember Trapper Keepers and so many colored pens, but now I'm sure there's a million more things to get. And thankfully, Walmart has essential back-to-school supplies starting at $0.25, plus all the latest tech starting at $9. Who knew? Hello Kitty pencil cases, Nintendo notebooks, food-shaped erasers, Chromebooks, keyboards, and more at low Walmart prices. They even have Lilo and Stitch headphones. Who knew? Shop Walmart.com to score their favorite back-to-school tech and supplies.

Amy Poehler: I was kind of thinking today, it's crazy. We must have met.

Kristen Johnston: I know. I think we did.

Amy Poehler: Yeah, we must have met, like, before the New York smoking ban. That's where I feel like we must have met. I feel like we were at a bar somewhere talking about like—

Kristen Johnston: You know, we could have been drunk together. God knows.

Amy Poehler: That's probably true. God only knows.

Kristen Johnston: I was just reminiscing with someone the other day. I can remember when the New York smoking ban came into effect, and we were like, they're not going to let us smoke in restaurants? That'll never stick. We were like, no way.

Amy Poehler: Wait, Amy, I'm so old. I actually remember physically smoking on an airplane.

Kristen Johnston: Yeah, I remember. I was, I was, I remember people smoking on an airplane. I wasn't out of the age yet to smoke, but you're only a few years older than me.

Amy Poehler: Well, neither was I, but I did it anyway. But you know what? I have to say, smoking aside, because yeah, I did smoke for quite a few years, but being in New York in the nineties was really fun.

Kristen Johnston: I know. You know, we're similar. We're close to the same age and Leanne too. Leanne's just a few years older. And I want to talk to her about that because we all came up in the eighties and it was a completely different time.

Amy Poehler: So different.

Kristen Johnston: I mean, I feel really lucky and blessed.

Amy Poehler: Me too. You know, run around drinking from garden hoses and not coming home until like midnight at, you know, you're six years old or whatever.

Kristen Johnston: I know. It was fun in the 70s and 80s.

Amy Poehler: Okay. So tell me how you met Leanne, how you got involved in the show.

Kristen Johnston: Okay. So, you know, I did this show *Mom* with Chuck Lorre. Chuck calls me a year ago, year and a half ago. And like, you get a call from Chuck Lorre and you're like, do I call back? You know, anyway, he calls and he's like, look, do you know this standup Leanne Morgan? And I didn't because I'm not a standup person. And he goes, just watch her. And so I watched, I don't even know why. And I watched like the first 10 minutes I called him back. I was like, oh my God. And he said, we're doing a show. We want you to play her sister, Susan McMartin's doing it. And I was like, I'm done. I didn't even let him finish the sentence. And then we met a couple months later and fell deeply, deeply in love. I feel— I'm really excited.

Amy Poehler: I've never met her. I'm really excited to meet her because I feel the same way. I feel like we're gonna be friends.

Kristen Johnston: Well, the two of you— I mean, she told me like a month ago she was coming on this and I was like, my girl crush. But also I was like, the two of you, it's gonna be insane. Maybe I— I don't even know. I don't even know. You're gonna have to— It's gonna win Emmys, I'm just saying. Or whatever.

Amy Poehler: It's not going to be the first podcast to win Emmys and a Webby. But it's never going to. Maybe an Oscar.

Kristen Johnston: Wait, you play in *Leanne*, the show that's coming out. You play the younger sister, the divorced kind of—

Amy Poehler: The hot mess.

Kristen Johnston: The hot mess. Perfect. She's just a mess. She's a mess. Yeah. No, it was really, really fun because also she is, you know, when you meet her, I mean, she's just everything you want her to be. You know, she's super authentic and kind and hilarious, obviously. And so it was really fun to play off of that and just be dark and horrible. Just a wreck. So it was fun. I mean, also just love— I mean, I want to talk to Leanne about it, but you know, I'm sure you're the same way. Most of the women I know in my fifties are in many ways at the best place in their life so far.

Amy Poehler: For sure.

Kristen Johnston: But yeah, I just love it, man. You know, your friends, their kids are off to school or out of the house. So like, it's just a reconnection of like the women in your life and you're kind of don't care about men anymore. Sorry. It's just, I don't know. I find it really fun.

Amy Poehler: Well, you know what? It's so great about being Gen X, a generation that everyone forgets and who cares? We don't care, whatever.

Kristen Johnston: We don't. We don't care. We don't care. I actually prefer it.

Amy Poehler: Yeah. Leave us alone. We raised ourselves.

Kristen Johnston: That's right.

Amy Poehler: What is great about being Gen X is the women that are now Gen X are approaching menopause with all due respect to the boomer women ahead of us. They didn't have the same kind of language, resources, attitude. They didn't talk. My mom didn't talk about menopause.

Kristen Johnston: No. I mean, until I brought it up with her. So it's like something you had to ignore.

Amy Poehler: Well, it was like a joke. It was like a— Yeah, don't talk about it.

Kristen Johnston: Yeah. It was like—

Amy Poehler: Yeah. It fell into those categories of, like, being frigid or being—

Kristen Johnston: Uh-huh.

Amy Poehler: —like a slut. Or just getting your period.

Kristen Johnston: Yeah, yeah. You just don't talk about it. Just don't talk about it. A slut. Remember that word? She's a real slut.

Amy Poehler: I know. I mean, right. Nobody talked about their period. No way.

Kristen Johnston: I know. Oh, no way.

Amy Poehler: Or you'd talk about it quietly in the bathroom with the other girls. Do you have a tampon? But like, it wasn't like, you know, now like the Gen Z, they don't care. They talk about all of it. It's awesome. Gen Z. I mean, I don't know about you, but I love Gen Z.

Kristen Johnston: I do too. I love them. I actually choose to hang out with them. Like my friend's kids are so incredible.

Amy Poehler: I know. They're so— My joke about Gen Z is they're so open. They teach me so much and they always dress like they have the flu.

Kristen Johnston: That's so true.

Amy Poehler: Yeah. And so there's a lot that she tells us in the work that she does. But what do you think, what question do you think I should ask her today that might be a good one to throw her away?

Kristen Johnston: Oh, I think you should ask her. Well, I would love to know this. When did— was Hollywood different than she expected it to be? And when did she kind of realize that? And the other thing I would love to know is who is her favorite co-star?

Amy Poehler: [Laughs] For listeners, Kristen's very leaning in and she has her hands crossed in prayer. She's looking real cute. And last question for you is, do you find it hard to be around Leanne and not talk in her accent?

Kristen Johnston: Well, I had to talk in her accent as the character.

Amy Poehler: That's right.

Kristen Johnston: Well, it's a little less. I mean, hers is very special. So I didn't want to imitate her. But I probably talk a little bit like her daughter, Tess. I actually find it impossible. Yeah, but yes, the answer to that is yes. I find it really fun to slide into that. But weirdly, when she's not around, I turn into like, you know, who was that terrible Southern? I don't know, like a cartoon Southern. I can't do it. But if she's there, I'm fine. I do it. I know. It's weird.

Amy Poehler: You know what I love that Leanne says is when she says Nashville. I like the "vol" instead of the "vil." And Cracker Barrel.

Kristen Johnston: Cracker Barrel.

Amy Poehler: Let's go to Cracker Barrel. We're like, are we going to Cracker Barrel? I don't know what you're saying. And it's Cracker Barrel. But yeah. I love an accent.

Kristen Johnston: I do too. I love an accent. It's because we don't really have one.

Amy Poehler: I used to have a Milwaukee one.

Kristen Johnston: Did you have a Boston?

Amy Poehler: I had a big time Boston. And a really bad Boston. I'm Boston accents.

Kristen Johnston: Did you have to get like voice classes to get over it?

Amy Poehler: No, you know, I went to college and I realized very quickly like, oh, oh. Yeah. I have to try to figure this out.

Kristen Johnston: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Amy Poehler: And it comes out when I'm angry or, you know, yelling or something like that can come out.

Kristen Johnston: Yeah.

Amy Poehler: Oh, the Boston's out. She's out. Stay away from Amy. The Boston's loose.

Kristen Johnston: I love you so much, Amy.

Amy Poehler: Kristen, thank you so much for this time. You're my favorite.

Kristen Johnston: Okay, bye.

Amy Poehler: So good to see you. Say hi to Leanne.

Kristen Johnston: I will. Thanks so much. Bye.

Amy Poehler: This is an advertisement for BetterHelp. Everyone gets stressed about work. What matters is how you handle it. You could take a short break and go on a fabulous summer vacation, or if you want a more long-term solution that can work year-round, there's therapy. Listen, therapy is great. You should go to therapy. We all should go to therapy. Therapy is very important. It can change your life. And if therapy seems like something that you might want to try, start with BetterHelp. It's highly rated among the millions that already use it, and it's convenient. You can start a session with just a few clicks whenever and wherever you want. Plus, as the largest online therapy provider in the world, BetterHelp can provide access to mental health professionals with a diverse variety of expertise. Our listeners get 10% off their first month at BetterHelp.com slash good hang. That's betterhelp.com slash goodhang.

Amy Poehler: Oh my gosh, Leanne is here. I'm so excited to talk to you. I wish that we could be together every day and do like jazzercise with me and you and Tina. And we can all do jazzercise. I'll invite Tina.

Leanne Morgan: And we would love jazzercise, something slow like that. We do, before our shows, we do just simple stretches.

Amy Poehler: Do you stretch?

Leanne Morgan: I try to, but not as much as I should.

Amy Poehler: Do you do any kind of like, yeah.

Leanne Morgan: Yeah. I know. I know. Yeah, you don't even have to say it. I try to lift every once in a while because of menopause, bone density.

Amy Poehler: What has happened that we are at the point in our lives where we are like, they're like, okay, you have to be hot. Then you have to have kids, and now you have to lift heavy weights. Lift heavy weights and wear a weighted vest while you walk and eat protein. Everybody is eating too much protein. You are big time, Leanne. You are big time. What an incredible couple of years you've had. I mean, and we all know it takes whatever many years for an overnight success. Like, there's no overnight success. You've been working really hard for a long time.

Leanne Morgan: For 25 years, 25 years doing stand-up.

Amy Poehler: Incredible. I want to get into it because for people who are joining us and listening, Leanne Morgan is with us. You are popping in that pink.

Leanne Morgan: Thanks. I wore it for you.

Amy Poehler: Thank you. But wait, is this— Leanne's wearing a denim shirt that has a tie included.

Leanne Morgan: Yeah, I didn't know what to do. It's so cute. Because I was— I mean, this is a big deal for me. I said this is my Super Bowl. And I just— and I put on big britches. But I do have a panty line. But I was gonna wear a full thing of Spanx and I thought, I want to be able to enjoy this being with you and be in the moment. I can't do Spanx anymore.

Amy Poehler: For who? Who are they for?

Leanne Morgan: I don't know. But hateful. Hateful.

Amy Poehler: Okay, yeah.

Leanne Morgan: And me being on a television show now— yeah, I saw my butt on TV. So they put me in a bunch of Spanx during my TV show.

Amy Poehler: Yeah, it is. I mean, I guess it's great to slimming ways to girdles, all that shit. Like, I can't believe we're back there again. But there's no worse feeling than having to take it off and the struggle and the way you hurt yourself. Like, you pull a muscle taking it off.

Leanne Morgan: I know. And also, I think there's no sadder thing than when you have to take off your own jewelry and there's nobody there to help you take it off.

Amy Poehler: Nobody to help you.

Leanne Morgan: I'm going to start wearing those magnet ones like my little Aunt Lila did. She would hand me a Tums and then put her little magnet.

Amy Poehler: I know. She always had dirty Tums in the bottom of her purse.

Leanne Morgan: Oh, I love loose Tums.

Amy Poehler: Wait, talking about jewelry, let's start at the beginning. So Leanne Morgan in Tennessee. In the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains.

Leanne Morgan: Tell me. I have to say that.

Amy Poehler: Okay. I wanted to think about teenage Leanne for a second. Okay. Because were you like a funny high schooler? Were you, did you get like class clown or something? Did you get a superlative in high school?

Leanne Morgan: I did get a superlative and it was Miss Jo Burns High School. And best looking. Because I still had my bloom, Amy. And I was, you know. But I only graduated 42 people in a town of 500 where we grew dark fire tobacco. I'm not kidding.

Amy Poehler: You got, but still that, you can still take that. You got best looking.

Leanne Morgan: I did. That's a big deal. But they didn't even have a funniest. Now that I think about it, and that would have been my favorite. I know that would have been my children got it at their school funniest because they're funny. But yes, I was like my teachers would say, "Leanne, can you be the emcee? Can you do the announcements? Can you do the—" Because I was a ham. But also they thought I would get up in front of people and they knew I could do it. So I did do all that for my little high school.

Amy Poehler: Okay. And then did you feel like at any point during that time that you did— you know anyone that was a performer? Anyone that was an actor?

Leanne Morgan: No, no. But I grew up from the time I was nine or ten thinking I'm going to be in show business. I'm going to go to Hollywood. I did. And my little mama, Lucille, let me stay home from kindergarten. I almost failed kindergarten because she let me stay home and watch *Match Game* and *Hollywood Squares*.

Amy Poehler: I love Paul Lynde. Love.

Leanne Morgan: And Gene Rayburn had the skinny microphone and everybody was dirty. It was filthy. Filthy. But I love that. I grew up watching— you know, Lucille Ball, Carol Burnett and all that. And my mama would say, "You're going to Hollywood. Yes, you can go because you've got blonde hair on your body and you'll photograph well." And I thought, oh, I can make it. And then I went through high school and we had this little— this is crazy— but we had a wonderful— our choir teacher, band teacher, Mr. Bunch, who was precious and loved me and knew I couldn't sing and all that, but would include me and all that. And I would just mail words in front of the choir because he thought I could dazzle. And then we had this speech and drama class where they let us do improv. And I loved it. And then I was in one play in high school. They did a lot of musicals and I had talented people in this little town of— in 42 people in my class. I had a boy that graduated from Juilliard and became an actor.

Amy Poehler: Wow.

Leanne Morgan: And then there were four boys that had a little country music band called the Red River boys and they were talented. And so we had fun like in improv and all that.

Amy Poehler: What— what was your high school play? Do you remember it?

Leanne Morgan: It was *Little Abner*.

Amy Poehler: Oh, yeah.

Leanne Morgan: And I didn't have a— I didn't have a line, Amy. I was the sex symbol.

Amy Poehler: You were really—

Leanne Morgan: I was cruising on that best looking. I was Stupefyin' Jones. My hair would not fit in this studio. Oh, none of us. And I had on pantyhose underneath the bathing suit. And I did not have— I just had to gyrate. But I'm not kidding you. I thought, okay, this is the beginning of my Hollywood career. I really did. I thought, okay, I've got something.

Amy Poehler: What is it like being considered a really attractive in high school? Because you don't want to peak too early. And I think I did peak too early. It's not easy to be considered good looking in high school. That's a lot of pressure. I imagine. I can only imagine.

Leanne Morgan: It was a lot of pressure. And me and my sister, Beth, who was three and a half years older than me, we were tall and blonde. And we would lay out behind our little house in yard chairs with snakes and sunbathe. And the farming people would honk horns at us. And, you know, and we wouldn't— you know, we knew we were kind of a big town in that town.

Amy Poehler: Yeah, a lot of people honked. I mean, being tall and blonde in the 80s, jackpot.

Leanne Morgan: A lot of people honked at us. But me thinking— my sister wasn't thinking anything. I was thinking Hollywood. I mean, this is my base, my groundwork to be in Hollywood. That's what I thought. I really did.

Amy Poehler: It's funny you say that because there was a certain like burden when you were like considered good looking in high school, which is like, this is my burden. I'm going to need— I'm going to let people look at me and honk.

Leanne Morgan: While they were picking up meat at my mom and daddy's meat processing plant. So we did everybody's meat. So people would drive up in trucks. It was behind our house and look down at us laying in a yarn chair with copper hands around us. Because there was no swimming pool.

Amy Poehler: Sure.

Leanne Morgan: We had to drive into town to get to a swimming pool. That's how rural. And baby oil, I'm sure.

Amy Poehler: Baby oil and sun damage. Yeah, so much. Horrible. What are you doing with it? We'll get to your career. But what are you doing with your sun damage right now? Because it's coming to roost for me.

Leanne Morgan: It's coming to roost. Like, you know, I just had a doctor say, no more sun. He did. She did. She did. A woman dermatologist is the best.

Amy Poehler: Yes.

Leanne Morgan: Because, okay, Amy, I don't mean to be Debbie Downer, but I had a melanoma when I was 21 from laying out with all those copper hands. That's what I want to know. And so you always get a female dermatologist. I love men. No, I don't like male doctors. But female, they'll measure your toenails and they are thorough.

Amy Poehler: Yeah.

Leanne Morgan: So, yeah, so I didn't have as much sun damage as a lot of people my age because I got that at 21, and they scared the living daylights out of me.

Amy Poehler: I can tell because your skin is amazing.

Leanne Morgan: Thank you, Amy. Well, I've eaten too much. I mean, I've eaten a lot of white flour and sugar and, like, processed food, which is not good.

Amy Poehler: We're never going to get that back. Like, we didn't know. We didn't know. Got Coke and a goldfish in a car with a bunch of kids was my favorite thing. I mean, any kind of food that you can get at a pharmacy, like that lasts forever. We ate all of it. I mean, don't you remember that there was this feeling in the 80s, like, no, don't eat regular food. Eat the new fake fancy food.

Leanne Morgan: Yes. And I remember my mama saying— Lucille said— that her mama said, don't breastfeed. That's for tacky people. Here's this formula. And my mama would sneak and try to breastfeed behind Nanny's back because it wasn't cool.

Amy Poehler: Exactly the same with my mom. People were like, if you love your child, give them this formula that has all the stuff in it. And it was like, well, I don't want to give my child the horrible natural. Superfoods.

Leanne Morgan: Yeah, and it was like, don't eat a steak, eat a steakum. Remember steakums?

Amy Poehler: Remember steakums? Yes. I loved a steakum.

Leanne Morgan: Loved a steakum.

Amy Poehler: Okay, but getting back to jewelry, I'm sorry. We could talk about this forever. Being a salesperson is a very specific skill. Were you good at it?

Leanne Morgan: Yes. And I think I could sell. If I believe in something, I can sell it. Okay. I'll just say. I'm not good at math. There's a lot of things.

Amy Poehler: I'm wearing a bracelet right now. I'm taking it off. Can you try to sell this to me? Why I should have it? It's just a gold bracelet.

Leanne Morgan: Oh my gosh, Amy. Everybody needs a touch of gold. Brightens you up. Gives you a pop. This is what is in right now with this link. Everybody's wearing it. That's a wonderful clasp. I don't think you can get it on by yourself. But yeah, I mean, you've got to have that. And I would suggest even stacking a few more.

Amy Poehler: Well, I do love that everyone's wearing it. It does look nice.

Leanne Morgan: A touch of gold. A touch of gold and a gold earring. Always keep them in your purse.

Amy Poehler: You are good because you're now selling me earrings because you don't want to go without an earring. And that and a gold just always gives you a little something.

Leanne Morgan: Okay, but let me tell you, when I was selling that jewelry, I was supposed to be talking about jewelry, and I didn't.

Amy Poehler: You didn't. What were you talking about?

Leanne Morgan: Hemorrhoids, breastfeeding, wanting to kill Chuck Morgan, my husband, because he didn't hear a baby cry in the night. But they had given us a speech, and I would take this big jewelry case and put it out, and then somebody would have like a coconut cake, brownies, a dip, and I was supposed to give this presentation. And I just— that's where I think I started stand-up. I mean, I didn't know what my Hollywood was going to be stand-up. But Chuck Morgan and I, before we married, went to— and let me go back to say, I did peak in high school. I went to college and I was like a wreck.

Amy Poehler: That's what happens with the best looking.

Leanne Morgan: Best looking sometimes goes downhill in college. I went downhill and was doing horrible things. Even though my girls go, "Mom, it's not that bad what you were doing." But to me, it was bad. Like, I wasn't going to class, and I would try to flirt with boys, like, "Can I have your notes?" And they looked pissed. But I was smoking cigarettes, and I was going to clubs, and I was doing—

Amy Poehler: You can say cigarettes. You can say smoking cigarettes.

Leanne Morgan: I was smoking cigarettes, and I loved them. I'll just say it.

Amy Poehler: I did, too. It was wrong, and they're not good.

Leanne Morgan: They're not good. And they're terrible for you, and they shorten your life, and boy—

Amy Poehler: They shorten your life.

Leanne Morgan: Boy, were they— They are fun.

Amy Poehler: They were fun. Good with a Diet Coke cup of coffee. Had a ball.

Leanne Morgan: Somebody said that a Diet Coke— somebody called a Diet Coke a refrigerator cigarette. I don't know who said that. And now you're kind of ashamed to tell people, order a Diet Coke. You're like, "Can I have a Diet Coke?"

Amy Poehler: I know. Tell me the first time you and Chuck Morgan met. Give us the meet cute.

Leanne Morgan: Okay. We were both waiting tables. I was waiting tables at this place, and he was a new person. He'd gone back to MBA school and was going to wait tables there. And they took this training group through, and he's very tall, 6'4", was very thin. I always say he looked like a praying mantis. He was too thin. And he walked through, and I said, "Oh, you're tall as a tree." And he went, "Sorry." And I thought, another butthole's come to work at Grady's. And then we would have these meetings. I mean, that was it. And then we would have these— we'd just stand on the wall waiting to be seated, or the table to be seated, and he would just stand next to me. He was very quiet. And I didn't know he was falling in love with me. And then we would have a meeting with the manager, you know, like the shift meeting. And I got a big baked potato with sour cream and butter on it and he said, "You shouldn't be eating all that fat" because he had been getting really lean, praying mantis is lean and put cottage cheese on his baked potato.

Amy Poehler: He's flirting with you. He's negging you is what the kids—

Leanne Morgan: I guess, but I thought, butthole. Then I would say to a girlfriend, in, you know, waiting tables, "I like your Dooney and Burke purse." He would bring me a Dooney and Burke purse next day with a big ribbon, but hadn't spoken to me. And then he was like, when he was trying to date, I know. And then buying my cigarettes, like, y'all get your pack of cigarettes. And then, and then we, you know, thought this is it. And then he was like, "You smell bad." And then started nagging me over it. And then got that monkey off my back though.

Amy Poehler: Yeah.

Leanne Morgan: Then, thank goodness, he nagged me until I quit.

Amy Poehler: Yeah. Because I probably would still be sitting here smoking if it wasn't for Chuck Morgan.

Leanne Morgan: Yeah. But he was really head over heels right away.

Amy Poehler: He was. Yeah. He was, and I think it's because he's a math person and I'm an artist. And your advice to stay married this long, what's your advice?

Leanne Morgan: A lot of praying in a bathtub. We do go to bed mad. You know, you hear people say, and then you just, you know, go, well, that's not that important. I'll push that down.

Amy Poehler: Yeah.

Leanne Morgan: And then, but yeah, just tolerating.

Amy Poehler: So the secret is to just stick in there no matter what.

Leanne Morgan: Stick in there and know that he is a math person and that he is going to not be fun.

Amy Poehler: This sounds very specific to your relationship.

Leanne Morgan: Yeah, find the fun where you can. But not with your partner.

Amy Poehler: Right.

Leanne Morgan: I've had old women go, "Rely on your friends, girl, because they want to talk." You know, men, you're right. Men sit there and get less and less when they don't want to talk.

Amy Poehler: Yeah, they get quieter and quieter.

Leanne Morgan: They get quieter and quieter, and they just zone out. And so you do. I talk to my girlfriends. He goes, "You're always on the phone." Yeah, I need somebody to talk to, Chuck.

Amy Poehler: But okay, so Colin, and then I married Chuck Morgan. But we went out to L.A., and I got to go to the Comedy Store. And I saw people do stand-up, and I thought, I can do that. I know I can do it.

Leanne Morgan: Who did you see? Do you remember who you saw?

Amy Poehler: I saw Dom Irrera.

Leanne Morgan: Oh, yeah.

Amy Poehler: Paul Mooney, and he did like two hours. And we sat there and watched him, and he told us all that Elizabeth Taylor had died. And it was a lie. But it was funny. He goes, "Elizabeth Taylor has passed." And everybody went, "Oh!" He goes, "I'm just kidding." But I saw all these wonderful people, and I thought, I can do that. I can do that. Now I know what that is. But anywho, so then I married Chuck Morgan, moved me to the Appalachia Mountains, and I sold that jewelry. But I was in a living room with darling women who also had hemorrhoids and all that. And I was killing, Amy.

Amy Poehler: How did you go from, man, I want to be doing stand-up to going to the club to do it? Like, that's a big Rubicon a lot of people don't cross. You know, they say, "I want to be a performer." They say, "I want to— I'm funny. My— you know, my— my— the people that know me think I'm really funny. I'm the funniest person at work," whatever people say, but they don't go and do it.

Leanne Morgan: Yeah. Okay. Well, I'll tell you, when I was doing the jewelry, the company noticed that I was booking so far in advance that they asked me to start speaking at their big things. And then I knew I could do it. But I also said to women, "Book a party with me now or see me in Las Vegas later." Which is very arrogant, but I saw it, Amy. I thought, I'm going to do this. So then Chuck Morgan sells his business, goes to work for a big corporation that sends us to San Antonio, Texas. I started doing open mic in San Antonio. And then I drove back and forth with three babies by then, three little babies. They were three, five, and seven by the time I got to Texas. And I would go to Austin, Texas, where it was one of the best comedy clubs. Dennis Miller's brother, Rich Miller, owned that club. And I got up at Chick Stick, they called it, when they let women up on Wednesday night for 10 minutes. They were like, "Come on, gals. All of you get together, and you equal one other guy. We'll get 20 of you together, and you can all talk about that stuff you talk about." And all the boys were doing Arnold Schwarzenegger impersonations. And I'll just tell you, I stood out. But I did have on a little— I'd look back on it, and Comedy Central did not want me. Nobody, you know, I was not— I didn't have any edge, Timmy. I had an unfortunate bob. I had capris on that had birds on them. And I was talking about who doo-doo'd on a t-ball field, which is still some of my best material.

Amy Poehler: Totally. You would have been my favorite for sure.

Leanne Morgan: Thank you. But I was doing that with little children, honey, and did that in Texas for about three years, and then got on a little tour with two other female comedians. We schlepped around, and people probably begged— our agent begged people to take us. But anyway, it gave me the seasoning. But I always, the whole time, I wanted to be on *Saturday Night Live*. And I just look back on it, and I've said to people that I've gotten to meet from *Saturday Night Live*, Fred Armisen, who is from heaven.

Amy Poehler: Totally the best. From heaven.

Leanne Morgan: And, you know, I did a movie with Will Ferrell, and he said to tell you hello. And I told him when my show was coming out and my new Netflix special, and he said, "Oh, that's great. I'm too busy. I won't be watching that."

Amy Poehler: [Laughs] But, I mean, what you're saying is my favorite thing, too. Like teasing is a really fun love language. Like when people tease each other, like to me, it means they have respect for each other. And you tease Chuck, your husband, a lot. Like I wouldn't say necessarily tease him, but he's a big part of your material.

Leanne Morgan: Yes, he's been a lot, Amy. Chuck Morgan and I are exact opposite. And I find that funny.

Amy Poehler: It is so funny. I love how you describe him and your relationship. And how his system and your system work together. What is Chuck's system? What is your system?

Leanne Morgan: I don't know if it works that well together. We've made it. We had a bunch of kids together, and he takes care of the checkbook because I can't deal with that. But Chuck Morgan's very introverted. I'm extroverted. I've had to talk for him for years. But he's social. He wants to be with people. But he's a fly on the wall. He likes things organized.

Leanne Morgan: I remember saying to him, like, "I know I've got something, Chuck. I can make it in Hollywood. Let's sell everything, and I'll cook off a hot plate." And he went, "Are you crazy? We need health insurance." And I guess it's a good thing he kept me down. Because I did get to raise these little children. And then this happens to me in my late 50s, and I don't think I'll get hooked on dope. I'm not kidding. If this had happened to me at 20, I would be on dope, I think. This is so much pressure. How have you done it?

Amy Poehler: Well, it's really interesting you say that. I feel like the idea of coming into this kind of lifestyle in your 50s, you do have a lot of tools. You actually have, hopefully, a family that you can depend on because I know you depend on them, and you have a solid marriage. It is hard. It's a weird... But wait, I want to go back. Because you say Chuck, "I want to do this," and he says, "Let's get real."

Leanne Morgan: Yes, and he always supported me. He would take care of these babies. Honey, I would pass them off in a minivan to him and go get on stage. He always supported me in all of it. He just said he's not a dreamer. I'm a dreamer. And he said, "They need health insurance." He was right. He has always had a big job, executive at a company, made a wonderful living for us. I didn't have to take horrible gigs where I had to drive 300 miles for $50 and sleep in my car.

Amy Poehler: Right.

Leanne Morgan: So it was because of Chuck Morgan that it all worked out the best way it could. It really did. But yes, Chuck Morgan, I've been traveling with him. I'm going to Tampa today to be with him, and I will have to hold his mixed nuts. He will say, "Hold this. Do you have any toothpaste?" I'm constantly having to tend to him like I would a child.

Amy Poehler: Well, I feel like for a lot of women I know our age and older, the other thing is when you have a partner straight—because look, we're talking about straight men, which unfortunately is what we're attracted to. Which I've always said my next husband's going to be a gay man. We're going to look for fabric together. He'll leave me alone and I'll leave him alone. Would that not be the... I've got so many gay friends, men, that I'm in love with.

Leanne Morgan: Yeah. That one says to me all the time, "Would it kill you to put some height in your hair, Leanne?" And he's always getting behind me and giving me a back comb. But I love that. And Chuck Morgan loves the gay men. They'll tend to Chuck and go, "Here, Chuck, here's a cocktail and some nice chicken salad on a nice cracker." And Chuck, you know, beans.

Amy Poehler: But you know, men that are married live longer, and women who are married live shorter. Because we have to tend to them.

Leanne Morgan: I know. It's real. Women who are not married, who are single, live the longest. Take that in. Take that in.

Amy Poehler: And I know that's a statistic that I was very well aware of. And also what I love when you talk about your husband and your work is you talk about the way in which he's reluctantly along for the ride that is you, which is so fun and funny because he loves the ride.

Leanne Morgan: He loves the ride. He does. He does. And he'll say, "I've got fans." I just shot my second Netflix, and he came out on stage afterwards and was doing this. But Chuck Morgan says to me all the time, "I'll retire from my job." He's still working for that big company, and I'll just come with you. And I'm like, "No. No." Because I can't be putting on Spanx while he's eating nuts and grabbing my breast. I've got to get my comedy mind. I have to take a comedy nap. Even if I don't go to sleep, I've got to shut my eyes. Get right. No, you need to be a part. Chuck can't come along. He can't. He can't come along. Because he needs me to tend to him, and somebody's got to tend to me.

Amy Poehler: Who does tend to you, Leanne?

Leanne Morgan: My baby child. She's my professional makeup artist and I say caregiver, and she said, "I didn't sign up for that." But she is still strong and still has grip in her hands. You know, I don't have any grip when I went through menopause. I would wake up and try to unscrew something, and it was like you're just like, "Well, I guess I'm just never going to get in there. You're never going to eat a pickle again."

Amy Poehler: I'm never going to eat a pickle again. Nope. Unless you just smash it on the ground.

Leanne Morgan: I know. I ordered all those things from Amazon that grips.

Amy Poehler: Oh, yeah?

Leanne Morgan: Yeah, but have one of those grip things, and then just hit it with a butter knife before you open it. But she tends to me.

Amy Poehler: And what is it like being—is it nice to be hanging out with your young people?

Leanne Morgan: It is, but let me tell you, it is. She has been, but she gets hormonal and can be smart aleck. But that's okay. That's nature. But she's about to move to New York with my middle child, my other daughter, Maggie.

Amy Poehler: Oh, wow, the end. That's a big deal. Because how old are they now?

Leanne Morgan: 27 and 29. And they're going to miss these grandbabies. I've got two grandbabies that live in Knoxville. They're like 20 minutes from me.

Amy Poehler: Yeah, two grandsons, right?

Leanne Morgan: Two grandsons, a redhead and a white-headed one.

Amy Poehler: And then you talk so much about your son in your act, and it's so funny. How is it feeling now that your son is a dad?

Leanne Morgan: Oh, it's precious. I knew he'd be a sweet daddy, but he's an old soul. You know, I talk about him all the time, like playing the banjo in middle school after football practice. Had a garden. Still has a garden. These babies eat out of that garden. He's from—I think he took after my people, farming people. He likes to grow things and loves history. He grows everything, gardens. And my little mama always had a garden and put up and canned. And we killed her on beef.

Amy Poehler: Do you do that still? Do you still make?

Leanne Morgan: No. Now I'm kind of busy. Lucille, now, mama doesn't can anymore, but we'll go to her house and we'll all can. Just like down the line. People bring a bushel of corn. When I say rural, I mean, I'm from farming, rural people.

Amy Poehler: So when you say "we all can," is it kind of like assembly line? We're all canning that day. We're sealing everything up.

Leanne Morgan: We're canning that day, sealing it up, chopping everything. She makes a vegetable soup, a homemade vegetable soup with tomato juice that you would slap somebody over. Unbelievable.

Amy Poehler: Do you like to cook?

Leanne Morgan: I do like to cook. I do, and I fed all these children. Well, you know, I was doing comedy on the weekends, but I was tending to them and cooking. I've always loved that. And being a mama.

Amy Poehler: Yeah. Yeah. It's such a lovely way in which you talk about your family. You're all very close. And I bet this happens a lot: people feel like they know you right away. So when you're doing your shows, what do people come up and say to you? How do your fans interact with you?

Leanne Morgan: Oh, my gosh, Amy. I go on stage and they throw their purse in the air. I didn't even say anything. And at first it messed with my head when I got my first big panty tour—is what I called it because I love a big panty. And they would just at me. And I think it's because they felt ignored. And I was like the only person speaking to them. And it made me feel—I should have gone into therapy because I thought I need to go home with every one of them and clean their house and vacuum out their car. Because they were so precious to me. But this is what they say to me. They go, "Oh my gosh, that is my baby child. That is—I'm married to Chuck Morgan. This is Chuck. This is my middle child." Yes, they all say that to me.

Amy Poehler: Yes, I have to say, Leanne, in all seriousness, I came across most—I knew of you, but came across most of your work during the pandemic on TikTok.

Leanne Morgan: You did?

Amy Poehler: Yes, and I thought, "Oh, my phone is really getting to know me." My phone now really knows what I like. This is exactly what I want. And that is the feeling that people get when they watch you perform: they feel seen. They really do. They feel seen. They feel like there's some version of them that doesn't get spoken of or spoken to. And you talked about it a little bit. And I really agree with you. There's this whole group of people that are looking to be entertained and to spend money and to come to your show. And I think not just women, men and women, but they're often ignored.

Leanne Morgan: I know that's what it was. I do. And I feel like on Netflix, my special—

Amy Poehler: Which was a huge hit, by the way.

Leanne Morgan: Thank you. Thank you. And who knew that was going to be that, didn't we? Should we brag about how many people? What was it?

Amy Poehler: I don't even know. Millions?

Leanne Morgan: Millions. Millions and millions.

Amy Poehler: Huge hit.

Leanne Morgan: And I was not expecting that. I really wasn't. I couldn't believe that Netflix was going to give me—I have one other special that somebody put on Hulu. I don't even know who. And I have a very unfortunate hair color in it. I'm not going to say what it's called because it is so awful.

Amy Poehler: What is the color? Is it a blonde that went wrong?

Leanne Morgan: It is a blonde that had no dimension.

Amy Poehler: We've all been there.

Leanne Morgan: That was the color of that yellow mustard. I got to go get my roots done, and I want to take your blonde in for a demo because I'm really liking your blonde. And for those of you out there, it's not easy being blonde. It's a lot of work.

Amy Poehler: A lot of work. It's constantly in the chair.

Leanne Morgan: It's constantly. And now that I'm older, white comes out or gray comes out all the time, and I don't know what I'm putting on my head. But it's Tennessee. Tennessee girls know how to do blonde. I swear, Amy.

Amy Poehler: Yeah.

Leanne Morgan: Everywhere I go, when I was in L.A. doing that TV series, they were like, "Who is doing your color?" It is a darling little girl in Tennessee who knows how to do blonde. One day I tried to calculate how many hours I've been in the hair chair getting my hair dyed blonde, and it was many days in a row. It was like a couple weeks. Somebody tell me what I spent in a year. We couldn't tell Chuck Morgan. Because I have two girls, and I was getting their hair highlighted, honey, because I'm from the South. I mean, I'm not an animal. I was getting their stuff. We were getting spray tans, whatnot.

Amy Poehler: Yeah, sure, of course.

Leanne Morgan: But when I did the movie with little Reese Witherspoon and Will Ferrell, she looked at me and said, "You need dimension in your hair." I still had that terrible hair color. And I thought it was pretty. And it was like the color of mustard. No dimension. And she just looked up at me. You know, she's about right here, beautiful. She went, "You need some dimension in your hair." And you said, "Hi, nice to meet you. Nice to meet you, little Reese Witherspoon."

Amy Poehler: How was it doing that film with Will and Reese?

Leanne Morgan: Well, I thought I was going to get the shingles because it was my first movie.

Amy Poehler: Have you had the shingles shot?

Leanne Morgan: I have had the shingles shot, which I thought was going to kill me in a hotel room in Nashville, Tennessee, before I got on an airplane. That's a booger. That one is a big one. But everybody needs it. You definitely get it. Because I've had shingles twice, honey.

Amy Poehler: Oh, God, shingles is the worst.

Leanne Morgan: The worst. And we are the chicken pox generation. We all had chicken pox.

Amy Poehler: Have you ever had it?

Leanne Morgan: No, because I was so afraid of getting the shingles that I got the shingles vaccine. And it's for life. It's a shingles vaccine.

Amy Poehler: Oh, we don't have to get it again?

Leanne Morgan: Nope.

Amy Poehler: Oh, hallelujah.

Leanne Morgan: That's why I think it's a big one. I think that's why it's a big one. It's a book, too. You got the two one?

Amy Poehler: Yeah, you have to go a second time. And that is hard to remember to get the second one. Have you had your colonoscopy?

Leanne Morgan: Oh, yeah. I get those all the time.

Amy Poehler: Oh, yeah.

Leanne Morgan: Because I've always had IBS, my darling. So I started getting those early.

Amy Poehler: How great are the drugs right before you go out? Right before you go out, you're like, "Just wait one second. Can I lay here? Just talk a little bit more about..."

Leanne Morgan: Yeah, it's the best feeling in the world. And we're old enough now to get the pneumonia shot. Are you going to get that?

Amy Poehler: I guess so. Wendy, okay, I'll be 50.

Leanne Morgan: Well, I'll be 60 in October.

Amy Poehler: Incredible. You look incredible. Thank you. 60 is the new 30.

Leanne Morgan: Yeah.

Amy Poehler: What are you going to do for your 60th birthday?

Leanne Morgan: I think I'm going to go on a vacation with these grandbabies and my children. You know, I'm not at the point where I can hire Earth, Wind, and Fire yet. But I think I'm going to go on vacation with all these babies.

Amy Poehler: That's nice. That must be really—I mean, a lot of friends in my life are turning 60, and it feels like it's an interesting birthday.

Leanne Morgan: I know, because I thought 50—I took to the bed over that. That was wonderful.

Amy Poehler: Wonderful. Well, then maybe we must, if we're to learn anything from our 50s, which to me is teaching me that the best is yet to come, then we should continue that lesson in our 60s, right?

Leanne Morgan: Yes. I know. But like little Maria Shriver, you see her own and she's thriving. Got on cute chains. We just need so much. We need to stack our chains. We need to stack our bracelets. That's what we need, more jewelry.

Amy Poehler: We need more jewelry. We don't even care about jewelry. You wear a lot of big earrings. Do you like big earrings?

Leanne Morgan: I was during the big panty tour before I had a stylist. Okay. Now these women tell me. "No. Pull it back." Yeah, I made some missteps. I was dressing myself.

Amy Poehler: Of course.

Leanne Morgan: Honey, I always had on a girl, but I was doing some missteps. And I was also inflamed. After COVID, and when my tour went like gangbusters because everybody wanted to go somewhere.

Amy Poehler: Yeah, exactly.

Leanne Morgan: There are pictures of me, and I'm sweaty looking. I had drank wine and eaten chicken pot pie during COVID. And my breasts were like two feed sacks. I'm trying to do better. I really am. And people said to me, "You've got to train like you're in the Olympics to tour." And I've got like 70 days between now and November. So I had to.

Amy Poehler: Are you going on tour in November?

Leanne Morgan: I'm touring now, and I'll tour until November.

Amy Poehler: Okay, talk to me about your tour, because Tina and I have been on a tour. A soul band. Similarly, you're on the Big Panty Tour. We're doing a Restless Leg Tour. I feel like we're covering a lot of the same women.

Leanne Morgan: I know, I wish I could be with y'all.

Amy Poehler: I know. And being on tour is strenuous, even though you think people are like, "But what's your routine? What do you do, don't do?"

Leanne Morgan: Well, I quit. I really, really tried not to. I was drinking alcohol during the Big Panty. Now this tour, the Just Getting Started tour. And I tell people, I named it that because I just feel like I'm getting started in my 50s. And women throw their purse in there. But I really am trying to eat better. And when I put that darn luggage down, I should go in that gym. And I don't want to. I mean, is there anything sadder than repacking the exercise clothes that you brought that you didn't use and pretending like, "Oh, I didn't know I had them in here. That's so weird."

Amy Poehler: I do that every week. "If I knew I brought my sneakers, I would have went to the gym." But just like, who are we kidding?

Leanne Morgan: I do the same thing. And then I started packing like my own bands.

Amy Poehler: Oh, I bring the band never. You can put them on a hotel door.

Leanne Morgan: Hotel door, do that? Not once. But I try to. I do have to have a comedy nap, even if I don't lay down and sleep. I just have to stare into space to get my mind right in a hotel room. Then we go and do sound check. I eat cheese, and I shouldn't. I always have a little bit of cheese, a gluten-free cracker. Who am I kidding? A little ranch dip, some carrots.

Amy Poehler: And then do you like—do you ever have—you probably don't have any hecklers that you have to deal with a lot.

Leanne Morgan: Oh, every once in a while, there'll be some little drunk woman that yells out "C-section" or, you know, wanting to be heard.

Amy Poehler: That's exactly what—we didn't have the whole tour, knock on wood. We had the nicest crowd. And then one time, there was a lady who was a little drunk. It was like a 6 p.m. show, by the way. Can we try to do like four or 6 p.m. shows?

Leanne Morgan: I do fours. I love a four. I do a seven, if I add. It's a four, not a ten. Never. No way. What are we?

Amy Poehler: And a woman one time was just chatting and then said like, "Amy, Amy." And I was like, "Yeah." And she was like, "Hi." She said hi. It was so nice.

Leanne Morgan: Yeah, I get nice people. They don't mean anything ugly. They just yell out stuff. "Yeah, girl. Yeah, girl." You know, and you're like, "I can't think. What was I saying?" And I just say now, "What was I saying?" And then, you know, a woman will yell out, "Bingle," and I can keep going.

Amy Poehler: That's what's sweet about people my age watching me: they're like, "They can't think of their name either."

Leanne Morgan: No. So we're all in this together. Everyone's like, "Where do we park? Where do we park?" And eating popcorn, bloated.

Amy Poehler: I can't eat popcorn. I love it. Does it bloat you?

Leanne Morgan: It gives me heartburn, and I get—I'm nervous about choking.

Amy Poehler: Oh, I just—now I choke all the time. I'm nervous about choking. I get very nervous. I feel like, in general, I've turned into a toddler where I look at food, and I'm like, "That's not going to get down there." Hot dog? Grape? Grape tomatoes.

Leanne Morgan: Grape tomatoes. Do you—because I do—I get to where I cough and I'll cough in a restaurant, get choked, and my kids will go, "You want to hear another depressing statistic? More women die from choking than men because they walk away from the table because they don't want to bother anybody."

Amy Poehler: I'm so sorry. So nobody can even—it's the most—they're like, "Don't worry, I got this. I'll give myself the Heimlich," and they die. What kind of sleeper are you? Are you good? How's your sleep?

Leanne Morgan: I'm prioritizing my sleep.

Amy Poehler: Same. In this show business world.

Leanne Morgan: Because I had to learn lines for that sitcom, and I realized then, I thought, "I got to be sharp. I got to know what in the world I'm saying." So I do like to take a little melatonin, some kind of blend with GABA, L-theanine.

Amy Poehler: Wait, what is that? GABA what?

Leanne Morgan: GABA and L-theanine. Okay. If you take one of those, and you can get them over the counter, but just if you have a combination of things like chamomile, it's got to have more than melatonin in it.

Amy Poehler: Okay.

Leanne Morgan: And sometimes I take non-melatonin. I'm always buying sleep things because I don't want to get hooked on pills.

Amy Poehler: Yeah, you can't take a sleeping pill. I mean, and it's so funny. You talk to boomers, and they're like, "I don't take sleeping pills. I just take two Tylenol PMs every night." And you're like, "Ma'am."

Leanne Morgan: I know. And then people say, "I take Benadryl." And I think, "Does that cause Alzheimer's?" You're not supposed to take anything that knocks you out.

Amy Poehler: You're not supposed to take—I do look at screens at night, and I shouldn't.

Leanne Morgan: Same. I love my phone. My phone is my best friend. I love to scroll.

Amy Poehler: Me too. Look and see. But then I really try. I have a sleep mask on. I have my Invisalign tray in. I have to keep it on. I like 65 to 67 degrees at night. I love a cold room.

Leanne Morgan: A cold room. Yeah.

Amy Poehler: What does Chuck think of that?

Leanne Morgan: He's freezing. It's freezing in here. And he doesn't like to spend the money because Chuck Morgan is very tight money person. He's a numbers person.

Amy Poehler: Okay. So he does the number. He does the number.

[Ad break]

Amy Poehler: When this comes out, your show will be coming out in a couple of days. Congratulations.

Leanne Morgan: Thank you, my darling. Chuck Lorre is the producer. It's on Netflix. It's a multicam.

Amy Poehler: Multicam. And loosely based on your life.

Leanne Morgan: It's based on my comedy, but not my life. Because we thought that would be weird. But let me tell you that the premise is my husband walks off and leaves me after 30-something years of marriage. And now I'm sitting here, "What in the world am I going to do?" And I cannot tell you how many fans said, "Chuck Morgan doesn't deserve you. I knew this would happen. He sucks. He's kept you down long enough. He's jealous." And I was like, "Whoa, no, that's not what's happening." My own little daddy got a call from one of his friends who was in his 90s and said, "I'm so sorry that they're going to—" And I said, "Daddy." He misread.

Amy Poehler: Yeah.

Leanne Morgan: And I go, "Daddy, Beverly Hillbillies isn't true either. This is not true." But it is based on my comedy and my sensibility. So when Chuck Lorre came to me and sat on my back porch and held my grandbaby and said, "Will you do this with me?" I was like, "What?" And then Netflix, I mean, has been so good to me and has given me these Netflix stand-up specials, Amy. And that's the stamp.

Amy Poehler: But they better, Leanne. You're crushing it. They better give you those specials. They're lucky to have you.

Leanne Morgan: Oh, you angel. Thank you.

Amy Poehler: It's true. You earned it. You're selling out everywhere. You're huge.

Leanne Morgan: Oh, my darling. Thank you.

Amy Poehler: They pay you a gazillion dollars for them. They're super popular. You're such a fresh voice. And so in this show, you have great cast members that you're working with. Kristen Johnston.

Leanne Morgan: Okay.

Amy Poehler: So Kristen was the person that we talked to today. We always like to talk well behind people's backs before we interview them. So we talked to Kristen today.

Leanne Morgan: Oh!

Amy Poehler: And we got a question from Kristen to ask you. She's so great.

Leanne Morgan: Oh, my gosh, honey. She's so great. A pro and was so good to me, and I learned a lot from her. I went in that thing terrified. I didn't know how all that worked.

Amy Poehler: Yeah.

Leanne Morgan: Honey, the first three weeks, first three episodes, I said to my baby, Tess, who was living with me, "I can't do this. What is this?" And she was like, "You're going to give me the shingles." I was hysterical. But, you know, it was just terrifying. You're learning everything new. Camera blocking. What? What is that? A script. All of that. Crafty. All these terms.

Amy Poehler: But don't you feel—and you know this—don't you feel like life is just a series of terms to keep you out of the room? And then once you learn the terms, you're in the room. It's like now you know the terms.

Leanne Morgan: I guess so.

Amy Poehler: Because you are the prize. You have all of the goods. The kitchen changes, but you have the food.

Leanne Morgan: Wow.

Amy Poehler: I mean, you're nothing without the food. So you have all the food. You're just talking about getting to know another kitchen. But a week of learning the terms? And now you got it.

Leanne Morgan: Oh, Amy, did you pay attention to school? You are so smart.

Amy Poehler: Oh, I didn't get best looking. I'll just put it that way. I didn't get best looking, okay? So Kristen's question was, what did you think of L.A.? You're talking about Hollywood and it being an idea in your mind since you were young. You knew you wanted to get there, and you get there. Was it what you thought it would be?

Leanne Morgan: At first, I'll be honest, when I got there, I was kind of scared. I'm not used to that traffic. We are in Knoxville, Tennessee, and I knew that weather was going to be beautiful. And I always loved that. And I loved the house that I rented. And it was very Hollywood Hills kind of looking. And I was tickled over that. But the fires came. We got evacuated. And we got robbed. Our rental house got robbed by these acrobatic people. They found them on film, and they climbed, they shimmied and climbed up each other's shoulders. And the people who we rented from said, "We don't want you to see the video. It'll freak you out." But they were like acrobat people. And the good news is we didn't—I was working. Palm Springs had a show that night. So they cased us out, is what the criminals call it. Must have seen an Amazon package of a supplement. And then said, "Let's get her." But it was me and my baby, and we didn't have anything valuable out there. She had a bunch of Amazon earrings. They wanted dope earrings, is what they told us, and guns. Well, we don't have guns. And then they looked at her medicine, and it was like yeast infection, thyroid. She goes, "I bet they looked in here and thought, 'Who are these pitiful, sick people?'" Me, all my supplements. They didn't get anything. So it really didn't freak me out.

Amy Poehler: Yeah, of course.

Leanne Morgan: But by the time we were leaving—we were out there seven months—I grieved when I left. I really thought it was sweet. And I realized this because when you're in the middle of the United States, like California, everybody was precious. It is a working class town. People were precious to me. And then all these men on the set—because I like to flirt and I love all men—they were looking up real estate in Tennessee. Some of them were in their fifties and never married. I go, "Oh, if you moved to Tennessee, everybody would want to breed with you." And so they're all going, "Where's Morristown, Tennessee land? Here's a house for $400,000 that's got three bedrooms." And I did like for all the men to eat crafty. Southern women like to see men eat. And so they would say, "No, you go first." I'm going, "No, you go first. Let me watch you eat." So I fell in love with everybody on that set.

Amy Poehler: You're right. I mean, Hollywood, in quotes, is a working class city. The people on set are all hardworking people.

Leanne Morgan: Hardworking, darling. Yeah, that's right. That's right. I had a bowl, and I fell in love with everybody. And I loved everybody at the grocery store. And everybody was sweet, and they go, "Where are you from? Where's that accent from?" And let me say to your audience that is huge and you getting this big old podcast doing—this is my accent. This is how I really talk. You know, people think it's not, but I'm from farming people. But anyway, California people thought it was fun.

Amy Poehler: Yeah, I bet. And sweet to me.

Leanne Morgan: I bet people start talking in your accent back to you a lot.

Amy Poehler: They do. It's been a real struggle for me not to. Because I'm that way anyway. You do. And you can do impressions. I pick it up a little bit. Like, I interviewed Idris Elba recently.

Leanne Morgan: I know.

Amy Poehler: And it was hard for me to not try to start talking in a British accent. But you must get that, too.

Leanne Morgan: I do. I get people, too. And I, yeah, I do. And people are fascinated by the South, I think.

Amy Poehler: I think so, too. What did they get? If you had preconceptions about California that were wrong, what do people get wrong about Tennessee?

Leanne Morgan: Ryan Stiles plays my husband, and he thought that we all pack guns. I said, "I've never shot a gun in my life." He goes, "You sure, Leanne?" I'm like, "We're not going around packing guns or holding guns." My people say "packing." I think he thought we all are like the old west. And then people all—and I do love country music, I'm fine, but I'm more of an R&B. But I think people think we're all barefoot. And I did go to college, and I finished. I will never let you know my GPA. But I think they have misconceptions that we're dumb people. But we have nice universities, and we get our hair done.

Amy Poehler: You have the best blondes in the best.

Leanne Morgan: We have the best blondes, for sure. And I am sad that you got broken into, though, because that is too bad, because people do think L.A. is dangerous and proved to be. But the captain of the police department lived across the street, darling. Got to know him. He was like, "Take my cell phone number. Here's some spray. If you're out walking, that's good for animals and people." I was like, "What?" So, you know, he taught me how to live out there.

Amy Poehler: Okay, so before we wrap it up, I want to ask a couple rapid-fire thoughts.

Leanne Morgan: Oh.

Amy Poehler: Okay. And see what you think. What's your favorite holiday?

Amy Poehler: Thanksgiving.

Leanne Morgan: Me too. I love Thanksgiving.

Amy Poehler: I love Thanksgiving.

Leanne Morgan: I love the colors, and I love to go to TJ Maxx and buy little turkeys and pilgrims to sit on a table. Because you talk a lot about Christmas and the prep that is involved in Christmas and the nightmare that is Christmas.

Amy Poehler: Oh, the nightmare that is Christmas.

Leanne Morgan: The nightmare that is Christmas. And it falls on mama's.

Amy Poehler: Yeah.

Leanne Morgan: And then you take to the bed.

Amy Poehler: Yeah.

Leanne Morgan: And feel sick, get a sick headache. My mom would say, "I've got a sick headache. I've got to lay down." Because you have to wrap all that and do all that. I love what you said when Chuck asks you on December 24th, "Is there anything I can do? How can I help on December 24th?" And then usually I have to do sexual favors to get any help. While you're doing all that and cooking and doing... and then you got to do it and then get all that ready. Speaking of Tylenol PM, I'm having a flashback that I was hosting Thanksgiving. I thought I had taken two Tylenol. I took two Tylenol PM. And I was like, "Oh no, I'm going down." I just had to take like a four hour nap in the middle of Thanksgiving.

Amy Poehler: Yeah, it wasn't so bad. Math, how do you feel about math?

Leanne Morgan: I don't like it, Amy. You don't have to do it anymore.

Amy Poehler: I don't have to do it anymore.

Leanne Morgan: No. And I'm so thankful. There are people who can do math for us. And I'm thankful. But I say in my act in that first special, "Chuck Morgan is a math genius. And then he bred with me, and we have three children who can't do math." They took after me. But they're fun, you know?

Amy Poehler: Yeah.

Leanne Morgan: They're fun. They can play the banjo, do makeup. Fun.

Amy Poehler: What about, have you ever seen a ghost? Do you believe in ghosts?

Leanne Morgan: I do believe that there are demons, Amy. And let me tell you, I was in a comedy club, Birmingham, Alabama, Stardome. They have a bunch of theaters in there. I was doing the main stage. There was a girl that goes around comedy clubs and talks to dead people.

Amy Poehler: Oh, like a medium.

Leanne Morgan: Medium. And she was cute as she could be. She was sitting in the green room with us, and she said, we were all sitting there. It was kind of awkward. And she goes, "Oh, they're in here right now. There's dead people in here." And I go, "In this green room with a bad sofa, with a half bottle of ketchup, watching..." What was that show? Heidi Klum was on it with that little man.

Amy Poehler: Oh, yeah, Project Runway.

Leanne Morgan: Project Runway. I go, "So if I die, I'm going to have to walk around in this green room watching Project Runway with a half bottle of ketchup." But she said yes. I mean, isn't it convenient, though, that whenever the medium is around, the spirits are also. They don't say, "No, there's nothing in here."

Amy Poehler: Oh, it's great. Gen X, why are we the best generation?

Leanne Morgan: I think because we have sense. I think we've still got sense. Not that young people don't have sense. But there's some grit. I think there's grit left in there where, you know, we had to work. Like I had to do terrible jobs. But I think that makes grit. I think we're the ones that have got grit, but still open-minded. Can I say that?

Amy Poehler: I think so.

Leanne Morgan: I mean, no one's paying attention to us anyway, so we can say whatever we want. That's the thing about Gen X.

Amy Poehler: Did you cry at your son's wedding?

Leanne Morgan: Yes, like I died over, and I love my daughter-in-law.

Amy Poehler: Yeah.

Leanne Morgan: But I was jealous of her. I'll just say it, because he was my baby. That's my boy. And then you have to hand him over, and it's hard. But then you realize, "Oh, I'm getting now another child."

Amy Poehler: Yeah.

Leanne Morgan: And she's going to have these babies for me. And I get to have his babies. She's going to have these babies for me. For me.

Amy Poehler: I like that.

Leanne Morgan: And those are my babies.

Amy Poehler: And why do you love the Today Show?

Leanne Morgan: Oh, my gosh. I like to sit in my gown. And I like to drink coffee. And I like to see the celebrities who they're going to have on. And over the years, I love little Kathy Lee, you know, drinking wine, talking.

Amy Poehler: Yeah, there's been so many hosts that have come through. Did you, were you there for, like, did you feel really sad when Hoda left?

Leanne Morgan: I felt so sad. When Hoda left, is she not a light?

Amy Poehler: Yeah, she seems wonderful.

Leanne Morgan: But I got interviewed by her right before she left. She was leaving. And I love her and little Jenna.

Amy Poehler: Yeah.

Leanne Morgan: Yummy. You were so funny and great with her recently.

Amy Poehler: Thank you. You guys were so great together. And she's so lovely.

Leanne Morgan: She's so darling. She is. She really is. And I found myself saying at the end, I went, "Tell your mom and daddy." I said, "Hey." She went, "Okay." It's the president.

Amy Poehler: Yeah.

Leanne Morgan: I played Jenna. She's so down to earth. I played her on SNL.

Amy Poehler: You did? Wait. Oh, my gosh. Tina and I did a Bush twin sketch, and we talked about it, and she was so fun. Anyone who has a sense of humor about themselves, like, it's pretty. That's like anyone who can laugh.

Leanne Morgan: And she talks about, I had a ball, Lynn, because we talk about our college days. She had a ball. She had a ball in college. And she'll talk about it, which I think is cute and fun.

Amy Poehler: I know. Agree. Agree. I know. And what do you think is the best word to say in your accent? Like, what sounds the best?

Leanne Morgan: Butthole has been a favorite. I love it.

Amy Poehler: Butthole.

Leanne Morgan: Kristen said Cracker Barrel. I love Cracker Barrel.

Amy Poehler: Cracker Barrel.

Leanne Morgan: And we talk about that in our show. We've got a scene where Kristen Johnston imitates me saying Cracker Barrel. I'm like, "We're going to Cracker Barrel." And I love Cracker Barrel. And you're talking about after a colonoscopy, when you are empty and weak, go to Cracker Barrel and get the meatloaf with mashed potatoes and fried okra. Ooh-wee.

Amy Poehler: Okay, so you're on tour right now. And then when this comes out, your show will be out. And then, so are people, you're going to be balancing doing the show and touring.

Leanne Morgan: Yes, I did. Yes. Well, the show will come out, and let's hope people like it.

Amy Poehler: They're going to love it, Leanne. Can I ask people to run it while they're vacuuming in the back?

Leanne Morgan: Yeah, just do it over and over. Yes, please. And also, look at how different—I mean, the fact that you're doing a multicam on a streaming—like, the business is so interesting. And that's what they wanted. They go, "Leanne, will you please do a multicam?" And I've loved sitcoms all my life, but then I got into The Office and Parks and Recreation, and I was like, "I would love to do that. That kind of style."

Amy Poehler: Yeah.

Leanne Morgan: And they were like, "Well, would you consider doing a multicam?" And they were darling and everybody there. I went, "Okay."

Amy Poehler: And has it been good to hear laughs?

Leanne Morgan: Yes. And I realize now that, yes, like doing the movie, if I improv, Nick Stoller would say, "Do it again, Leanne. What are your breasts going to look like when you have a baby?" and all that. And then I wouldn't get a laugh.

Amy Poehler: Nick Stoller's a director. He's not a man on the street who just yelled that to you. That's important to know.

Leanne Morgan: That doll. I know I probably embarrassed him to death because I would ask him questions about my breasts because they look so big on screen, Amy.

Amy Poehler: They look terrific.

Leanne Morgan: Reese Witherspoon's head was the size of my breasts. How tall are you?

Amy Poehler: 5'8", maybe 5'7 now from shrinking. Because you look like a model.

Leanne Morgan: Amy! You angel. I'm fat as mud.

Amy Poehler: No, you're not.

Leanne Morgan: The stomach.

Amy Poehler: Leanne, stop.

Leanne Morgan: I've got this stomach and these mammal breasts.

Amy Poehler: No, you don't. You stop that right now.

Leanne Morgan: And my neck, when I first saw it, I thought, "Whose neck is that?" The neck is a thing we're all struggling with. I don't know what to do. And I don't want to get that surgery where they take your ears off. I can't do all that. Why did they forget to put them back on? What did they take? I don't want to have to go through surgery if I don't have to now at my age.

Amy Poehler: Same. And you're so right. Like, the thing that nobody talks about is they have to take everything off. And move it around and do it. And put it around it. Like, I'll get microneedling and I have to hold my knees.

Leanne Morgan: Yeah. It hurts so bad. That's not even a surgery. I went to get lasers, and I know that some doctors give nitrous for lasers. I've started sucking on gas. I suck on that gas, and then I go through everything that ever happened to me in high school, college, what I'm buying everybody for Christmas. I think, "Can they know what I'm thinking?" Because they would think I'm psycho. So don't do nitrous is what we're saying. It's not good. And don't smoke. Don't smoke cigarettes. And I enjoy my children.

Amy Poehler: Oh, I said, okay, get ready for this because you're younger than me. Your grown kids, you're talking about fun, is your grown children or your best friends. So fun and darling.

Leanne Morgan: Oh, that's so good.

Amy Poehler: Oh, it's so much to look forward to.

Leanne Morgan: Oh, I love to hear that.

Amy Poehler: I mean, Leanne, I feel like there's so much to look forward to. And I feel like that is exactly what you keep reminding us about. Like, that's what your work is about. Like, the best is yet to come. There's so much to look forward to. Life is to be enjoyed. Life is supposed to be fun. This is like, if we're lucky enough to be doing the stuff that we love and we're lucky to be loved by the people that we love, like, that's it. Like, that's what life is about.

Leanne Morgan: Yes, and try new things. You know, a lot of women that have seen this happen for me in my 50s, they're like, "Oh, I can go back to school. Oh, I can go, I can become a yoga teacher. I've always wanted to do that or whatever," but it's never too late.

Amy Poehler: It never is.

Leanne Morgan: It's never too late. And keep dreaming. I know that's sappy, but, you know, it's good to have something to look forward to. But yes, every stage of children, all that is wonderful. Wonderful. And then at the very end, right before you die, lift the heaviest weights you've ever lifted. And drink a bunch of protein shakes and blow up, you know what I'm saying, with your stomach. Only eat ice cream when you are willing to go to bed. Eat it right on the toilet. And just eat it right on the toilet so you're just close by. That's the truth, honey.

Amy Poehler: What do you watch, read? Where do you go to laugh?

Leanne Morgan: Okay. I have been loving Four Seasons on Netflix. I went through that. Will Forte, Tina Fey.

Amy Poehler: Oh, my gosh. So funny.

Leanne Morgan: Carrie, Keeney.

Amy Poehler: Carrie, Keeney, Silver. Yes.

Leanne Morgan: And her husband worked on my sitcom, was on my crew. And she came to a couple of episodes. I loved her from 9-1-1, Reno 9-1-1.

Amy Poehler: Yes, so funny.

Leanne Morgan: But I got to tell you, Tires on Netflix just came out. Shane is so funny. And it is crazy. It is crazy, nutso, bizarre, dumb. I love dumb. And I love it. That has killed me. I was watching, this isn't funny, but that Canyon Ranch. Every once in a while, I like a good soap opera. Like they're on the ranch. Somebody's taken their land. Somebody's been murdered.

Amy Poehler: Are you like a Taylor Sheridan fan? Do you like—

Leanne Morgan: I've watched some of Yellowstone and all that, too. But Canyon Ranch is on—

Amy Poehler: Canyon Ranch. Is it—no, Ransom Canyon.

Leanne Morgan: Ransom Canyon.

Amy Poehler: Ransom Canyon.

Leanne Morgan: Ransom Canyon. Okay. And what I love about it is there's a couple that are doing it, and she has her gown on. And I think they must be doing that for people my age to have a love story because they're doing it, and she's got a gown on.

Amy Poehler: Mm-hmm.

Leanne Morgan: And that's Minka Kelly.

Amy Poehler: Minka Kelly, who is beautiful with that Josh.

Leanne Morgan: Gorgeous. Josh DeChambeau. They do it. She's got a gown on. And I just, every once in a while, need a little love story.

Amy Poehler: Yeah.

Leanne Morgan: And with murder.

Amy Poehler: All right. Ransom Canyon, Tires, perfect. Leanne, it's so good to have you. Thank you so much for coming.

Leanne Morgan: Amy. You're so great.

Amy Poehler: Thank you, Leanne. That was so fun. And it was so fun hanging out with you. You're a good hang for sure. And we know we talked about something very important. And in this polar plunge, we need to address it. And it is the burden of being blonde and how hard it is to keep that up. And we spoke a little bit about it, but I just want to reiterate what Leanne and I made very clear in this podcast. You need dimensions. You need different dimensions. And it sounds like Tennessee is the only place to go. So I just want to give a shout out to all the stylists working hard out there in Tennessee to give blondes everywhere finally a leg up, you know, because we can't have more fun if our hair isn't right. Thanks, Leanne. Thanks so much for listening to this episode and talk to you soon. Bye.

[Outro music begins]

Amy Poehler: You've been listening to Good Hang. The executive producers for this show are Bill Simmons, Jenna Weiss-Berman, and me, Amy Poehler. The show is produced by The Ringer and Paper Kite. For The Ringer, production by Jack Wilson, Kat Spillane, Kaya McMullin, and Alea Zanaris. For Paper Kite, production by Sam Green, Joel Lovell, and Jenna Weiss-Berman. Original music by Amy Miles. This episode is brought to you by Welch's Fruit Snacks. Listen up, everyone. Sharpen those pencils, get out those lunchboxes, and stock up on snacks. Because it's back to school time. And we know, we parents know, finding the balance of snacks you trust and snacks that your kids love is hard. And that's where Welch's Fruit Snacks come in. They aren't just delicious. They're made with real, whole fruit. And your kids need snacks so they can feed their brains for learning. Find Welch's Fruit Snacks in stores nationwide. Go back to school with Welch's Fruit Snacks. This episode is brought to you by Happy Egg. Happiness is important, right? Everyone has different things that make them happy. It's your work in life to find out what that is. Everyone deserves some happiness. And it's just the same for the humble chicken because a happy hen makes a happy egg. That's why Happy Egg partners with family farms across the Midwest to raise hens outdoors with plenty of room to play, scratch, and spread their wings. And the eggs they lay are delicious. You can see and taste the proof yourself in the rich orange yolk. Crack open Happy today. Find Happy Egg near you at happyegg.com/amy.