Maggie interviews Sam Morrison!

KTWV-FM / 94.7 The WAVE

9/13/2024

Transcript

00:00I'm Maggie McKay for 94.7 The Wave.

00:02And today we are so excited to have with us comedian

00:06and actor and writer, Sam Morrison.

00:09And we're gonna talk to him about a new production

00:11coming to the Wallace Annenberg in Beverly Hills.

00:15We can hardly wait.

00:17Welcome, Sam.

00:19Thank you so much for having me.

00:20Yeah, okay.

00:21So tell us right off the bat,

00:23is this a debut, the one at the Wallace,

00:26prior to New York on Broadway?

00:30Yes, yes, yes.

00:32So I did the show.

00:35So I've been with the show for a little while now.

00:36I did the show first at 2022 Edinburgh Fringe.

00:41And then I did it a couple more times

00:43and then off Broadway.

00:45And that was in New York in 2023.

00:48And the show is called Sugar Daddy.

00:50I forgot to mention that.

00:52And the show's called Sugar Daddy.

00:53Come to Sugar Daddy.

00:54Of course.

00:56Okay, so tell us a little bit about it

00:58without giving it all away.

01:02Of course.

01:04I lost my boyfriend to COVID.

01:06And so the show is about our relationship

01:10and our love story.

01:12And then all of the ridiculous

01:15and funny parts about grief afterwards.

01:18I'm so sorry.

01:19My God.

01:20And how many years ago was that?

01:23That was, yeah, that was 2021.

01:26Wow.

01:28So what's the most rewarding thing

01:31about this process of creating

01:33and then performing it for live audiences?

01:36Oh boy, great question.

01:38The most rewarding,

01:39I think the most rewarding is when,

01:43so especially towards the end of the show,

01:48especially when the show is going well

01:51and the audience is really great

01:54and down to play and be silly.

01:57And there's just like sort of a feeling

02:00that I've gotten when I've been on stage with this show

02:03that I haven't gotten with any other show

02:04where we're all just really on like the same wavelength.

02:08And we're like, it feels like we're like talking

02:11about very taboo things in a way

02:16that I just don't see very much in society

02:19and laughing about it and having fun.

02:23And when you're just like really tapped

02:26into the audience and the audience feels

02:28like they understand you, it's sort of a euphoric feeling.

02:34I bet.

02:35And what do you hope audiences take from it?

02:37Like when they walk away, they go home, they're driving home.

02:41What do you hope they remember about it?

02:44I mean, it's really like an uplifting love story.

02:46I think, I hope, I mean,

02:49I really want people to walk away from this,

02:51just like understanding how important love is

02:55and how short life is.

02:57Right, right.

02:58Well, that's a good goal.

03:00Have you ever performed at the Wallace before?

03:03No, never.

03:04Oh, have you seen it yet?

03:06Yes, I have.

03:07I got to see it.

03:08It's gorgeous.

03:10It's so big.

03:10So I'm mostly performing at like comedy clubs.

03:13So I'm like a standup comedian mostly by profession.

03:17And so this is like such a different venue.

03:22It's gorgeous, it is.

03:23You know, it used to be a post office.

03:26Did you know that?

03:28Yeah, it was a beautiful old, old, old,

03:31like built, I don't know, 20s, 30s marble.

03:34And they really did a great job with converting it.

03:37But yeah, it was a post office for decades.

03:40Yeah.

03:40Is that how big post offices are?

03:43Well, that was what, that one was.

03:45I guess, yeah, in a big city like LA.

03:48I mean, I just know the post office

03:49from like kind of small town that I grew up in.

03:52And it was just like, you know, it was like a Starbucks.

03:55So you just moved from New York to LA.

03:58Just moved from New York.

03:59How's it going?

04:00How do you like it?

04:02It's been great.

04:03I really like LA.

04:05We were just talking.

04:06I don't know if that was on cam,

04:08like if we were recording yet.

04:09No, it was all on cam.

04:11Oh yeah, well, they're just so different.

04:13And everyone keeps asking me like which one I like more.

04:15And it, like I miss, I love, I'm loving LA so far.

04:20And yet I miss New York so much.

04:22And I tell people I miss New York.

04:24And they're like, oh, New York won.

04:26And I'm like, no, I was just like,

04:27I miss the, you know, the rhythm that I was in

04:30for seven years there.

04:31It's like, it's such an insanely different rhythm.

04:35But I'm really enjoying.

04:36I just feel like everything that people say

04:38about LA is true.

04:39Like the, there's more space and the weather are,

04:44and like, you know, and everyone's in the industry.

04:48And stereotypes are pretty,

04:52have been pretty accurate so far.

04:54Well, Sam, I'm so happy to hear you say positive things

04:57about LA, because I'm a native.

04:58And usually you ask people from anywhere other than LA,

05:02they're like, oh, the earthquakes, the traffic, the crime.

05:06So I am very happy to hear you say all that.

05:09I gotta say, I experienced my first earthquake,

05:12which was the most recent one.

05:14And my group chats were going off

05:17and we're like, that was crazy.

05:19And I was like, I don't think it was.

05:21Yeah, it's not, it wasn't that big.

05:23I was, it was not that big.

05:26Yeah, it wasn't, I know.

05:28I think because people are anticipating

05:32a bigger one to come after that.

05:34That's why I think they're like, whoa, it's a 4.5.

05:38So not to be naive, but how do you go through the process?

05:43Like, how did you get this show from being a comedian?

05:49Yeah, really great question.

05:50Um, because, you know, it's one more thing.

05:58And you've also done other things.

06:00Like you were a writer for the Bravo show,

06:03Dating Blind or what is it called?

06:06Blind Date.

06:07Blind Date.

06:08Yeah, so how do you go from that to this and to Broadway?

06:12I mean.

06:13Yeah, I think it's like, I mean, honestly it's weird

06:16because now it's a little bit more of a carved out path

06:20than when I, even when I started doing it.

06:23And before that I was doing solo shows.

06:26Cause like when I first started,

06:27I was into theater before I was into comedy.

06:29I like did theater a lot, you know, throughout college

06:33and like loved solo shows and like loved John Leguizamo

06:38and like Brickfiglia and like all the solo show people.

06:42And so I always knew I wanted to do like a solo show.

06:48So my first solo show I brought to the fringe in 2019

06:52and it was even like more theatrical

06:55and weird than this one.

06:58And, you know, my career just sort of went

07:00the standup direction.

07:02I mean, it's not like solo shows,

07:04there's not a lot of money to be made usually.

07:08And like, you know, especially like niche,

07:10very gay solo shows.

07:14But yeah, it seems like now there's a lot more.

07:18I mean, when I did it back when I first,

07:21I don't want to seem a little too much.

07:23Like I was actually the first one.

07:25I was doing it before it was cool.

07:27But when I first started doing it,

07:29other comedians were like, you know,

07:31like comedy club comedians were like,

07:33what is, what do you, you just like,

07:36they just thought I like didn't have an hour of jokes

07:38or I don't know what sort of insecure projection

07:41I was putting onto them actually.

07:42But it was not as heard of as it is now

07:47where I feel like comedians are like really

07:49making solo shows pretty often

07:51and taking them to the fringe

07:54or, you know, trying to do runs of them.

07:57So yeah, I guess for me,

08:00I was always just like came from a place of like,

08:02I like theater and I like standup

08:03and this is the way to combine them.

08:05That's awesome.

08:06And so maybe we'll see you on Netflix

08:07with your own special.

08:09You think?

08:10I hope so.

08:11I hope so.

08:13Okay.

08:14Just in closing, anything else you want to add

08:16about Sugar Daddy coming to the Wallace?

08:19Yeah, it's, you know, this, you know what it's about,

08:23but it's very, very, very silly and stupid and fun.

08:30And I think the subject scares a lot of people,

08:33but I just, I love performing it

08:36and I hope that comes across.

08:37And like if the audience,

08:39the audience having a good time

08:40is like my number one priority.

08:43And we need so much more of that in theater,

08:45if you ask me.

08:46So I'm excited to see it.

08:47I mean, you know what,

08:48with all the stuff going on in the world and the news,

08:51we always need to be uplifted and laugh

08:54and just have a release.

08:55So thank you for making this.

08:57I can't wait to see it.

08:58It's going to be at the Wallace

09:00in Beverly Hills, September 20th through October 13th.

09:03Tickets are on sale now at wallace.org.

09:06Thank you so much, Sam.

09:09Thank you so much for having me.

Maggie interviews Sam Morrison!

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