Leanne Morgan

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Late Show Pod Show with Stephen Colbert – Episode Featuring Leanne Morgan

Episode Title: Leanne Morgan
Release Date: July 26, 2025
Host: Stephen Colbert
Guest: Leanne Morgan, Stand-Up Comedian, Author, Actor, and Star of Her Own Sitcom

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Introduction

In this engaging episode of The Late Show Pod Show with Stephen Colbert, host Stephen Colbert welcomes Leanne Morgan, a multifaceted comedian, author, actor, and grandmama from Tennessee. The conversation delves into Leanne's humble beginnings, her extensive career in stand-up comedy, her personal life, and the creation of her own sitcom, Leanne. The dialogue is enriched with humor, heartfelt insights, and noteworthy anecdotes that paint a comprehensive picture of Leanne's journey and accomplishments.

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Early Life and Background

Leanne Morgan hails from Adams, Tennessee, a small farming community with a population of approximately 500 residents, situated near the Kentucky-Tennessee border. Stephen expresses surprise upon learning about Adams, prompting Leanne to describe it as "a tiny, tiny little farming community about 35 miles northwest of Nashville" ([05:08]). She fondly reminisces about her childhood, highlighting her early interest in hairstyling.

A touching moment occurs when Leanne shares a childhood photograph, reminiscing about her visits to the local beauty shop with her aunts. She recalls, "I was probably 4 or 5, and my Aunt Lila and Aunt Margaret would take me to the little beauty shop in Adams and I would get my hair shampoo and set while they did" ([06:30]). These early experiences not only shaped her personality but also instilled a love for aesthetics and performance.

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Stand-Up Comedy Career

Leanne candidly discusses her long-standing passion for stand-up comedy, revealing that she had been performing for about 20 years before gaining widespread recognition. Stephen notes, "you were an overnight sensation" following her viral video in 2019 ([07:08]). Leanne explains that the video featured her taking her husband to a Def Leppard and Journey concert, where both she and the audience ended up limping out due to plantar fasciitis. This authentic and relatable moment resonated with viewers, catapulting her career to new heights.

Reflecting on her delayed success, Leanne humorously speculates, "If I'd have had that, because I still had my figure and my bloom, as we say in the sale, and I truly believe I was so stupid. In my 20s, if I had made it in my... I'm afraid I would have been on dope and I'm afraid that I would have done horrible things, terrible things" ([07:43]). This self-deprecating humor underscores her grounded nature and the authenticity she brings to her performances.

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Personal Life and Marriage

The conversation takes a heartfelt turn as Leanne discusses her marriage to her husband, Chuck Morgan, spanning 33 years. Stephen shares a personal connection, mentioning his own 32-year marriage, and the two commiserate over the challenges and joys of long-term relationships. Leanne attributes the longevity of her marriage to simple yet effective practices: "I pray in the bathtub a lot, Steven" ([08:44]) and managing disputes by "going to bed mad because we're tired and we don't feel like resolving conflict" ([08:59]). This approach has allowed both partners to maintain harmony despite having different personalities—Leanne being the "messy" artist and Chuck the "Type A, anal retentive" individual ([09:11]).

Leanne humorously elaborates on their differing habits, particularly in household chores, saying, "He wants everything, you know, folded. Right. I fold laundry, I get it done, but I don't. His laundry looks like he could work at Nordstrom's" ([09:23]). This lighthearted exchange highlights the balance and mutual respect that underpin their relationship.

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Creating Her Own Sitcom

A significant portion of the discussion centers around Leanne's venture into creating her own sitcom, aptly named Leanne. Stephen expresses admiration for her multifaceted role in co-creating, producing, and writing the show. Leanne candidly shares her initial apprehensions about taking on such a substantial project, revealing, "It's very daunting, you know, learning all that... camera blocking and learning a script and all these words" ([10:02]).

However, she credits renowned comedian Jerry Seinfeld for boosting her confidence. After discussing her Netflix special, I'm Every Woman, Seinfeld provided invaluable advice: "Leigh Ann, you are out touring and you're in front of thousands of people every night. You make them laugh for over an hour. You've got this. You know what's funny? You can do this" ([10:16]). This endorsement was pivotal in her decision to pursue the sitcom.

Leanne also acknowledges the talented team behind her show, mentioning collaborators like Kristen Johnston, Ryan Stiles, Celia Weston, and Blake Clark, who have been instrumental in bringing her vision to life ([10:04]). The collaborative effort and support from seasoned professionals have been key factors in the success of Leanne.

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Conclusion

Stephen wraps up the interview by congratulating Leanne on her achievements and promoting her upcoming sitcom, Leanne, set to stream on Netflix starting July 31st. The episode concludes with mutual admiration and well-wishes, reflecting the genuine rapport between host and guest.

Leanne Morgan's episode on The Late Show Pod Show with Stephen Colbert offers an inspiring narrative of perseverance, authenticity, and creative ambition. Her journey from a small Tennessee town to national recognition exemplifies the rewards of dedication and staying true to one's passion. Listeners gain valuable insights into the world of stand-up comedy, the dynamics of a long-term marriage, and the challenges and triumphs of creating original content in the entertainment industry.

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Notable Quotes:

• “I’m not disparaging the nut. I am celebrating the pistachio right now. I’m on board. I love pistachios.” – Stephen Colbert ([01:14])

• “I pray in the bathtub a lot, Steven.” – Leanne Morgan ([08:44])

• “Leigh Ann, you are out touring and you're in front of thousands of people every night. You make them laugh for over an hour. You've got this. You know what's funny? You can do this.” – Jerry Seinfeld ([10:16])

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Additional Information:

Listeners interested in Leanne Morgan's work can catch her sitcom, Leanne, streaming on Netflix from July 31st. To stay updated with more episodes and exclusive content, visit The Late Show Pod Show with Stephen Colbert on your preferred podcast platform.

Transcript

[Stephen Colbert]

Hey, everybody. Stephen Colbert here about to read the copy for our sponsor. This is from our friends at Wonderful Pistachios. And I was the wonderful pistachio spokesman for years. Yeah, I have a real close association with nut meat. Okay. You know what they say when they reach for a snack? Don't hold back. And that's exactly the approach with Wonderful Pistachios. The don't hold back snack. These little wonders are so tasty, it feels like getting away with something. But surprise. Each serving has 6 grams of protein and 0 grams of regret. That's right. No guilt. Just glory, glory in our nuts. Whether it's a satisfying crack of in shell pistachios, and that's capitalized in shell, or the smooth, instant gratification of no shells. No judgment. That's just it. Just eat. No judgment. I take issue with one thing. It's instant gratification. It's super tasty smooth.

[Leanne Morgan]

It's a hard nut smooth.

[Stephen Colbert]

Exactly. I mean, even out of the shell, it's still a nut.

[Leanne Morgan]

We can't disparage the nuts.

[Stephen Colbert]

You. I'm not disparaging the nut. I'm describing the nut.

[Leanne Morgan]

Don't disparage any flavors.

[Stephen Colbert]

I'm not. I am celebrating the pistachio right now. I'm on board. I love pistachios. I love. I love crushed pistachio. Like a pistachio crusted trout. Oh, unbelievable. Instead of a trout amandine, a trout pistachio. Fantastic. Enough butter? Who cares?

[Leanne Morgan]

Very good.

[Stephen Colbert]

And I love pistachio ice cream.

[Leanne Morgan]

Have you had the sea salt and vinegar? Wonderful pistachio. It's delicious. I get them.

[Stephen Colbert]

I didn't even know I get them.

[Leanne Morgan]

Before the softball games.

[Stephen Colbert]

But that's. You see, it's been a while since I've been the spokesman for wonderful pistachios. I didn't realize we'd achieved new pistachio technology.

[Leanne Morgan]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Wow. Wonderful pistachios has every snack style covered. Right now. There's an obsession with jalapeno lime. There is an obsession session. It's almost a disorder. It's spicy, it's zesty. It's basically a flavor roller coaster in a nut. Snacking on the go. Grab a bag of no shells. Feeling contemplative and want to work for it a little. So earning it, they're saying if you want to earn your nut, crack open those in shell beauties. Either way, it's snacking like a champ. So the next time hunger strikes, don't hold back. Unless it's a hunger strike. And Then it's important that you do. Because whatever you're doing that for, I'm sure it's a worthwhile cause. Snack like you mean it with wonderful pistachios. Visit wonderfulpistachios.com to learn more.

[Leanne Morgan]

That was a wonderful.

[Stephen Colbert]

I wonder what more there is to learn. We just told them so much. We just told them so much about pistachios. But evidently there's a whole other world. There's an unexplored vista.

[Leanne Morgan]

They got a bunch of flavors. They got dill pickle, jalapeno lime, as we learned, smoky barbecue. There's a lot of different flavors.

[Stephen Colbert]

Wow. And I would not disparage any of them.

[Leanne Morgan]

No, no, no.

[Stephen Colbert]

Bring it on.

[Leanne Morgan]

Nothing bad to say.

[Stephen Colbert]

Nut me.

[Leanne Morgan]

Nut.

[Stephen Colbert]

Nut me with nut meat.

[Leanne Morgan]

We're nut.

[Stephen Colbert]

No, we got nothing but nut. Nutty, nutty, nutty, nutty. Talk about, talk about, talk about, talk about nutty.

[Leanne Morgan]

Good.

[Carvana Spokesperson]

Buying a car in Carvana was so easy, I was able to finance it through them.

[Leanne Morgan]

I just. Whoa, wait.

[Carvana Spokesperson]

You mean finance? Yeah, finance. Got pre qualified for a Carvana auto loan entered my terms and shot from thousands of great car options, all within my budget.

[Leanne Morgan]

That's cool.

[Carvana Spokesperson]

But financing through Carvana was so easy. Financed. Done. And I get to pick up my car from their Carvana vending machine tomorrow. Financed.

[Leanne Morgan]

Right. That's what they said.

[Carvana Spokesperson]

You can spend time trying to pronounce financing or you can actually finance and buy your car. Today on Carvana financing, subject to credit approval. Additional terms and conditions may apply.

[Stephen Colbert]

It's the Late Show Poncho with Stephen Colbert. Ladies and gentlemen, my next guest tonight is a stand up comedian, author, actor and grandmama from Tennessee. She now stars in her own sitcom, Leanne.

[Leanne Morgan]

Hot flash. Big one. Before or after the kiss? There was no kiss. Just the smacking of my thighs as I ran from the car. Did he notice? Did he notice? Maybe he thought they were just big polka dots. No, that's Metamucil. Of course it is. Just take me now, Lord, please.

[Stephen Colbert]

Welcome to the Late Show. Leanne Morgan. Hi. Welcome to the show. Isn't this nice? Yeah.

[Leanne Morgan]

Thank you.

[Stephen Colbert]

Thanks so much for being here. As I was as first time I've had a chance to meet you. As I said in the introduction, you're from Tennessee. We're both from the south.

[Leanne Morgan]

Yes.

[Stephen Colbert]

And I'm just curious. I don't. What town in Tennessee are you from?

[Leanne Morgan]

Okay. Adams. Tennessee. 500 people on the Kentucky Tennessee border.

[Stephen Colbert]

I didn't know Adams.

[Leanne Morgan]

It's 500 is tiny, tiny little farming community about 35 miles northwest of Nashville, Tennessee.

[Stephen Colbert]

Now, 500 people. 500 people. Does it have a stoplight?

[Leanne Morgan]

It has a caution light.

[Stephen Colbert]

That is like.

[Leanne Morgan]

That's it.

[Stephen Colbert]

That is like training wheels for a stoplight.

[Leanne Morgan]

I know.

[Stephen Colbert]

Wow.

[Leanne Morgan]

I know.

[Stephen Colbert]

Well, what was it like? What was. Here you are. Here you are. This is you. This is you in high school, I assume.

[Leanne Morgan]

Yes.

[Stephen Colbert]

There you are.

[Leanne Morgan]

Can you tell? Can y' all tell? I didn't pay attention in school. I was doing my hair. Look at that. That was probably 1982. 1983.

[Stephen Colbert]

So this is. We're about the same age. Those are the girls look like in South Carolina.

[Leanne Morgan]

Uh huh.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah. That's a lot of work.

[Leanne Morgan]

That's a lot of work. And I took it very seriously. And my sister is just like me. She's three years older. Her hair looked like that, too. And the man that runs the Adams water plant told my daddy, y' all use more water than anybody in Adams. And it's because we were doing our and not studying, honey.

[Stephen Colbert]

Well, you enjoyed the hair from a young age. I love this photo. This is you as a little girl.

[Leanne Morgan]

She is. I was probably 4 or 5, and my aunt Lila and my Aunt Margaret would take me to the little beauty shop in Adams and I would get my hair shampoo and set while they did.

[Stephen Colbert]

And you had a little Coca Cola.

[Leanne Morgan]

I have a little Coca Cola. Coca Cola. And then we would go to the drugstore and pick up medication for the elderly and then go by the nursing home. That's what they would do.

[Stephen Colbert]

Very full childhood. Very. I know you went viral in 2019 after posting, you know, some of your standup, and people started saying, wow, you were an overnight sensation. How long had you already been doing standup when that.

[Leanne Morgan]

Yeah, probably about 20 years.

[Stephen Colbert]

Sure. That's the classic. That's the old saw. Like she was an overnight cessation after 20 years.

[Leanne Morgan]

I know. And I'll tell you the video that went viral. It was me taking Chuck Morgan, my husband, to go see Def Leppard and Journey, and everybody looked sick and had plantar fasciitis. And that.

[Stephen Colbert]

Wait, that resigned the band.

[Leanne Morgan]

The band and the audience, we all came limping out and that resonated with people and I started selling out all over the United States.

[Stephen Colbert]

Wow. So did you enjoy hitting later in your career? Do you think that was a good thing?

[Leanne Morgan]

Yes, Stephen, because. All right, put that back. If I'd have had that, because I still had my figure and my bloom, as we say in the sale, and I truly believe I was so stupid. In my 20s, if I had made it in my. I mean, I'm afraid I would have been on dope and I'm afraid that I would have done horrible things, terrible things. Think about it.

[Stephen Colbert]

You smoke dope, you murder people. That's what we know.

[Leanne Morgan]

I mean, I do. I think I would have used it for evil. I'm so glad that that didn't happen to me. And I got to raise all these children, you know, and now I have that material. I've got three. Three grown children and two grandbabies.

[Stephen Colbert]

Oh, that's fantastic. That's fantastic. Looking forward to that. Thank you. You've been married to your husband Chuck for how long?

[Leanne Morgan]

33 years.

[Stephen Colbert]

Wow. My wife Evie and I, 32 years this fall. People ask us like, oh, what's your secret for long lasting marriage?

[Leanne Morgan]

I pray in the bathtub a lot, Steven.

[Stephen Colbert]

You pray in the bathtub?

[Leanne Morgan]

I pray in the bathtub.

[Stephen Colbert]

Is there water in there or water in there?

[Leanne Morgan]

And I tell people all the time, I go, we go to bed mad. You know, they always say, don't do that.

[Stephen Colbert]

Don't go to bed angry.

[Leanne Morgan]

Yeah, yeah. We go to bed mad because we're tired and we don't feel like resolving conflict. We've been having the same fight for 30 something years.

[Stephen Colbert]

About what?

[Leanne Morgan]

I'm messy, you know, I'm an artist. Yes. He's type A, anal retentive. Everything's in its place. And I'm fun, you know, and so.

[Stephen Colbert]

Is that part of your side of the argument? I'm fun and you're not. Yeah.

[Leanne Morgan]

And he wants everything, you know, folded. Right. I fold laundry, I get it done, but I don't. His laundry looks like he could work at Nordstrom's. I'm not kidding.

[Stephen Colbert]

It's quite a compliment.

[Leanne Morgan]

Yeah. But I don't take time for that. I got other things to do.

[Stephen Colbert]

Wow. Now you've got your own sitcom, Leanne, which you co created, produced and write. That's a lot. That's a lot. Had you done anything like that before? Had you taken on all those roles before? No. So would you anybody get any advice?

[Leanne Morgan]

Oh, my darling, you're going to die over this.

[Stephen Colbert]

Okay.

[Leanne Morgan]

Jerry Seinfeld.

[Stephen Colbert]

Well, he knows what he's doing.

[Leanne Morgan]

He knows what he's doing. He knows what he's doing. And he loves to talk comedy. And we'd been talking about my Netflix special, I'm every Woman. He had watched that, which was a thrill to me. And then I told him, I go.

[Stephen Colbert]

I've got a sitcom and I don't.

[Leanne Morgan]

Know if I can do it. It's very daunting, you know, learning all that. And he gave me wonderful advice, several things. But the main thing, he said, leigh Ann, you are out touring and you're in front of thousands of people every night. You make them laugh for over an hour. You've got this. You know what's funny? You can do this. And that really helped me. Give me the confidence to do it because it's very, you know, it's camera blocking and learning a script and all these words. But let me tell y' all that they put unbelievable people around me, pros like Kristen Johnston, Ryan Stiles, of course, Celia Weston, Blake Clark, all these people. So that really helped me, too.

[Stephen Colbert]

Well, congratulations. It's so lovely to meet you. Thank you for being here. Leigh Ann is streaming on Netflix July 31st. Thank you for listening to the Late Show Pod show with Stephen Colbert. Just one more thing. If you want to see more of me, come to The Late Show YouTube channel for more clips and exclusives.

[Amazon Spokesperson]

Mom and dad, I'm growing at an alarming rate. And clothes you buy me this year will be very small very soon. But at least your wallet doesn't have to be my fashion victim. With low prices for school at Amazon. Hope that helps Amazon. Spend less, smile more. Mom, dad, you should shop Amazon for back to school and save some money. See, I'm currently obsessed with superheroes and need all the superhero stuff. Superhero lunchbox, superhero backpack. But next year it'll be something else. Maybe dinosaurs.

[Leanne Morgan]

I don't know.

[Amazon Spokesperson]

I'm not a fortune teller, but I can tell you not to spend a fortune and shop. Low prices for school on Amazon. Kay, good chat, Amazon. Spend less, smile more.