Comedian Leanne Morgan on Menopause: 'Finding the Funny Is Healing'

LAUGHTER HAS BEEN THE BEST MEDICINE FOR THE STAND-UP WHO USES COMEDY TO COPE-AND CONNECT WITH OTHER WOMEN

- EILEEN FINAN

As a young mom of three when she first began telling jokes while selling jewelry at house parties in East Tennessee, Leanne Morgan drew from what she knew: hemorrhoids, night nursing and "not knowing my own name I was so tired." So when perimenopause hit after she'd become a professional stand-up comic some 20 years later, it was only natural to work her brain fog, hot flashes ("I sweat like I've been doing Zumba all night") and hormonal imbalances into her set. "I've always talked about my body and what it was going through," says Morgan, 57. "Perimenopause is one of the hardest things-it sneaks up on you, and you feel crazy. So I had to talk about it."