Comic's glow-up couldn't have come at a better time

LEANNE MORGAN TALKS ABOUT HER NEW SPECIAL 'UNSPEAKABLE THINGS,' FINDING HER FOOTING IN COMEDY AFTER RAISING KIDS AND THE SECRET TO STAYING GROUNDED WHILE BECOMING MORE FAMOUS

- NATE JACKSON

MOST COMICS are used to getting better with age but not necessarily bigger. Though having just turned 60 years old, comedian Leanne Morgan has found that one of the funniest jokes she tells about herself has to do with how big she's gotten-not in terms of her career but her figure.

It's one of the first lines that escapes her mouth in her latest Netflix special, "Unspeakable Things," released last month.

After watching herself back on the special that took her to the next level (2023's “I'm Every Woman”), she — like most people who find themselves on camera in front of the masses for the first time — couldn't help but be critical, even in her glow-up era. But despite her lament over not fitting into the typical Hollywood mold, it’s clear that Morgan’s life and career have certainly changed for the better. As she grabs the mic on a glitzy stage wearing a golden gown to talk about her fluid retention, pearl-clutching strip club antics and watching her husband, Chuck Morgan, get arrested by highway patrol, her unvarnished style of storytelling shows us why she’s resonating with much of America. There's just no substitute for a whip-smart Southern woman telling it like it is.

That charm has resulted in her becoming a top-grossing live act, sit com star of her show “Leanne,” bestselling author and film actor sharing the screen with Reese Witherspoon in “You're Cordially Invited.” But most important, it's kept her funny. Recently, Morgan spoke with The Times about finding her footing in comedy after raising a family, airing her loved ones’ dirty laundry on stage and the secret to staying grounded and famous at the same time.

You've had such a long development in your comedy career over 25 years, but was there a pivotal moment in your life when you felt like comedy could be your full-time career?