TULSA, Okla. — “I got started in comedy when my baby child was 18 months old and she’s about to turn 25 in January,” said comedian Leanne Morgan who has been doing stand-up for almost 22 years.

Morgan says the momentum fueling her comedy career suddenly stopped when COVID-19 hit. But, it was during the pandemic when her audience virtually exploded.

“It shut down the world. I couldn’t do any shows. I really thought, ‘Oh my gosh, this was happening for me and now it’s not going to happen.’ And I had some doubt and some worry and then but the wonderful thing was my audience grew even bigger during the pandemic,” said Morgan. “People started sharing videos. I was sitting here at home looking at, you know, who gave me joy and who I loved to watch. I was watching little Leslie Jordan and, you know, I just found different people that gave me, you know, hope during this whole thing.”

Morgan says one of her fondest childhood memories was feeding the cows with Uncle Raymond, who was like a granddaddy, on a family farm. Comedy always came naturally to her.

“I knew when I was a little bitty I wanted to be in Hollywood, but I didn’t know how. I’m from the country and from farming people and we didn’t know anything. But I grew up loving comedy. I was a class clown, you know, and my teachers would ask me to MC something because nobody else wanted to. And I’m a ham and I wanted to,” said Morgan.

She met her husband at the University of Tennessee. He bought a used mobile home business in Bean Station, Tenn. The couple both moved there.

“I had my first baby and I wanted to be with people. I was lonely. I wanted a little extra money. I started selling jewelry like women sell Tupperware. Women thought I was funny and started booking me a year in advance,” said Morgan. “The company noticed and asked me to start speaking at things. That gave me the confidence to try to do it. And so I started doing it in East Tennessee, which was crazy. I was doing stuff for the Rotary, you know, while my kids were in preschool.”

In 2000, Leanne’s husband sold the used mobile home business, got a job with a large company and then the entire family moved to San Antonio.

“I had a comedy club for the first time, and that’s where I really got in the business,” said Morgan.

The comedian’s family is a huge inspiration for Morgan’s material.

“I think, that there are a lot of people in the United States, Australia and the UK too, that just are normal, everyday people that love their children, love their husband or want to kill him. Either way, I’ve got both, I’ve done both,” said Morgan. “I think people like to see themselves reflected. I just think nobody was speaking to my audience. And I think I hit a niche and I think it’s women that have raised children. If you’ve had a sister in the back of a minivan, you’ve got a Mama, you’ve had a daddy. I talk about family life and just kids and you know what happens in everyday life. And it’s my life, you know?” said Morgan. “But it must be similar to everybody else’s because people say to me all the time, are you spying on me?”

Morgan says the best part of performing is the connection she has with her audience whom she calls a community.

“I look at that audience and I think, Oh my gosh, in Tulsa, OK, that I would be best friends with her and we would go to jazzercise and then we would go and eat lunch and then we talk about how we’re going to go to Weight Watchers. But we wouldn’t. I can just see these are my people,” said Morgan.

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Comedian Leanne Morgan bringing The Big Panty Tour to Tulsa Theater.

This is Morgan’s second show in Tulsa. She performed at the River Spirit Casino in 2021.

“I had a ball,” said Morgan. “Those precious people in Tulsa, OK, at the Spirit Casino. And that casino’s beautiful. I felt like Elvis. I’m not kidding. They were precious. So if everybody else is that sweet and Tulsa, then y’all are some of the sweetest people on earth.”

When Morgan welcomed her first grandbaby into the world she began to consider winding her comic career down and retiring.

“This baby, I want him to call me grandma, but, you know, whatever he wants to call me. But we like to take care of our grandchildren and, you know, cook Pinto beans and stay home with them,” said Morgan. “And so I thought, I’m going to have this grandbaby, and I’m just going to bow out of this thing. And then this happened, and I got this hundred city tour across the United States, and I’ve got another tour coming up in 2023.”

Morgan will take to the stage at the Tulsa Theater on Friday, Sept. 30, 2022, at 7 p.m.

The audience should expect to have the best night, according to Morgan.

“I don’t think I say anything offensive or that you’d be embarrassed in front of your grandma,” said Morgan.

The Big Panty Tour has reconnected Morgan with her momentum towards her comedic destiny.

“This tour, it has been a dream come true. I’m a dreamer,” said Morgan. “When I knew I was going to get into this business, I wanted to go big. This is so much sweeter and more wonderful than anything I could have ever dreamed of. And it’s because I’m doing these live shows with darling people that feel connected to me. I’m telling you, it’s bigger than comedy.”

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