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returns that's q -u -i -n -c -e .com slash office ladies to get free shipping and 365 day returns quince .com slash office ladies i'm jenna fisher and i'm angela kinsey we were on the office together and we're best friends and now we're doing the ultimate office lovers podcast just for you.
Each week, we will dive deeper into the world of The Office with exclusive interviews, behind the scenes details, and lots of BFF stories.
We're the Office Lady 6 .0.
Hi there. Hello, everyone.
Hello. We have a hilarious lady joining us today on Office Lady 6 .0.
Yes, we love her. It is comedian Leanne Morgan.
Now you might know her from her New New York Times bestselling book, What in the World?
A Southern Woman's Guide to Laughing at Life's Unexpected Curveballs and Beautiful Blessings.
Or you might have seen her live because she has been touring the standup circuit for years.
And now you can catch her very successful standup show on Netflix called Leanne Morgan, I'm Every Woman.
It is worth a watch. And now Now you can see her in her new television comedy show, Leigh -Anne.
It is premiering July 31st on Netflix.
And you know, Jen and I have both loved watching her stand up.
If you want to laugh at the everyday domestic craziness that we all struggle with, you need to follow her Instagram.
Oh, it's so true. So like many of you, Angela and I share comedy clips back and forth with each other.
And I would say like two thirds of them are Leigh -Anne.
Yeah. You know what?
I actually want to play one to kick us off that cracked me up.
It's Leanne doing stand -up, and she's talking about her sister who was going to marry a country club man.
Let's hear it. There was never alcohol in our house until my sister is a little bit older than me, and she was going to marry late in life, and she was going to marry this hoop -de -doo man, country club man.
I had to explain to women in North Dakota what that was.
Hoop -dee -doo. You know, country club.
Because I'm from a town of 500 people, farming people.
We didn't know what, we'd never seen anybody play tennis.
I'd see somebody on TV, and I'd think, oh, that's the queen and her people.
So we didn't know anything about a country club.
So she was going to marry this country club man.
And you know, some country club people like to drink.
So to get her married off, we all started drinking.
my little mom and daddy never drank alcohol my mom drank a glass and a half of wine and got out of my car and said I can't feel my arms it just cracked me up I love her so much you know we have to share Angela one day you just like slid into her dms I did and you started started messaging back and forth, you're just like, I am a fan of you.
And it turns out she is a fan of The Office.
And here on Office Ladies, we are fans of highlighting funny women.
So we said, do you want to come on Office Ladies and just talk about your career in comedy?
Talk about your new Netflix show.
And we had such a ball talking with her.
And I'm so glad we did.
Me too. And you know, we hear about her journey.
Her quote overnight success is about 25 years.
She just has been out there putting her comedy up on stage year after year, and we're so happy for her.
So why don't we take a break?
And then when we come back, here is our interview with Leanne Morgan.
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and when you're ready to launch go to squarespace .com office ladies to save 10 % off your first purchase of a website or domain oh my darling girls I love y 'all both so much y 'all don't know how much joy y 'all have given me and I tell you I'm on planes all the time and I go to my office honey I go to the office and watch it on planes it's just my comfort Oh, it makes me so happy.
Well, Leanne, I feel like we should share a little bit how we got here, which is, I don't know if you know this, we've been trading messages, but years ago, my niece and my sisters went to see you in Wichita Falls, Texas, because that's the big town near my small hometown.
downtown you know when people say you're going to town you drive 26 miles to Wichita Falls and they saw you and they were like Ange we know you love comedy you're gonna love this gal she's so funny and I started following you on Instagram and I was like she is the real deal so funny so down -to -earth so relatable and I have been a fan ever since and Jenna same thing Jenna like was I was like, oh, my gosh, we would trade messages when we trade your videos.
Yes. Yes. No. Yes. Oh, I just can't even believe it.
I mean, you're saying like we keep you company on a plane, but like I just had the craziest morning with my kids.
It was like just all the insanity, the dog ate the turkey sandwich when my back was turned and we couldn't find the drum key.
And I'm getting a hot flash.
And and of course, it's all happening on the one morning.
I have something to do at a certain time, and that's what your comedy is about.
When I listen to you, it's like you help me laugh at all the insanity that was my morning.
I love you. Thank you, my angel.
I can hear you in my head.
I can hear you talking about my dog eating the sandwich. You would mine that for gold.
Yes, I would. I may still do that.
I may still do that.
i've got to come up with a third hour for netflix by 2027 okay well i may have to yeah you might borrow a little we'll just dm you all the shenanigans that happen trying to get kids out the door because you did that you did that for years and we'll just be a refresher of course yes yeah and then now i have two grandbabies two boys that are two and four that are yummy i bet but my I feel like my best material was when I was y 'all's age doing all that that's I feel like and I can talk about menopause that's good stuff too yes that's good stuff and and I'm so glad menopause is kind of having a moment
right now people are finally talking about it yeah over that I know I think of our poor grandmothers you know no one told them anything anything and mine was in a house dress with a landline and she would just twirl herself in it cooking three meals a day little farm woman and nobody helped her and she looked 100 and she was 50 you know and now everybody's so lord um Halle Berry honey has a lubricant and she needs to do it you know with people it's a whole new world out there that's right it's a whole new world Leanne now you are a household name but I don't know anything about you I know your
comedy I'm a fan but could you share how did you get into comedy like what was your path it's been a long journey isn't that right it has I've been doing stand -up now for for 25 years.
I got started when my baby was 18 months old.
I say that when I actually got paid $50 at the Rotary Club to do the luncheon in Morristown, Tennessee.
But from the time I was little bitty, I wanted to go to Hollywood and I loved television.
And my little mama, Lucille, is so funny.
And my dad's a good storyteller.
My grandparents, I was raised in a farming community where my aunts and uncles and everybody was around in and out all day long every day and they were all funny and kindergarten my mama before the state of Tennessee changed it to where you had to be five to go to kindergarten.
I went at four because I was born in October and I needed a big nap still and I probably had some accidents and my mama would say you're just I shouldn't have sent you even though you're smarter than everybody there she said which was a lie, but anyway, she would tell me that, but she said, does your tummy hurt, and I'd go, yeah, it does, and she'd say, well, let's watch Hollywood Squares and match game and not go to kindergarten, so I loved television, all that, and in my little mind at 9 or 10 years old, I remember thinking, I'm going to Hollywood, and then, so I went through life, you know,
but scared. And I didn't have the guts at 18 to get in a car and go to LA with $60 in my pocket like people do.
It didn't even dawn on me.
I didn't even know that was a thing.
And then I went on to college and did all that traditional stuff.
Not well, not well flailed.
What was your major in college?
What did you study?
I ended up going back because I dropped out and then I went back and I got a degree in crisis intervention counseling under the child and family studies, studies human ecology, and I loved it.
I could see you being really good at that.
Yeah. Thank you. I wanted to be a therapist, a family therapist, if I didn't make it in Hollywood, and I think I've used that in my comedy.
I like studying people, and I just observe, and I get details, and then I can, as a storyteller, I like to have details when I'm telling something.
But I married Chuck Morgan, and he moved me to the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains.
And I started selling jewelry.
I never used my degree.
I got pregnant with my first baby, Charlie, who's 31, who's got my grandbabies.
And I started selling jewelry.
And I don't even care about jewelry.
Women sell Mary Kay and Tupperware.
And I was in women's living rooms two or three nights a week, schlepping this jewelry around, eating dip and having a ball.
And I was talking Talking about breastfeeding and hemorrhoids and all that stuff.
And people thought I was funny.
And I look back on it and I had my own little comedy club because I was up in the it is in the foothills of Appalachia Mountains.
So I didn't have a comedy club, but I was I knew stand up was going to be my thing.
Because before Chuck and I married, we went out to L .A.
to visit my sister.
She was living in California and he took me to the comedy store.
I wanted to go to the comedy store and I wanted to go in that Hearst on that ghost tour and watch where people have been murdered.
in Hollywood, and Chuck Morgan said, that's the most morbid, twisted thing I've ever heard, and how do you know about Fatty Arbuckle, who was a comedian, you know, who fell on a woman and burst her bladder?
Oh my Lord. Yes, you can Google that.
You know who would know that is Kate Flannery.
Kate Flannery, who played Meredith, knows everything about old Hollywood.
She's just like a walking encyclopedia, and she'll throw something like that out there, and you're like, like what the bladder burst huh I love that stuff too I'm right there with her Bugsy Siegel or Sal Minio got stabbed in a alleyway but I went to the Comedy Store and I came alive and I had this I mean I just thought I can do that I know I can do it anyway I had my first baby and then I'm schlepping this jewelry and the jewelry company noticed and started getting me to ask to not perform I was supposed to be doing a speech about how to get booked or in advance because I was booking about a year
in advance these jewelry parties because people loved you yeah and we'd have a bowl you know and they could buy a pair of earrings for $19 .99 you know yeah a little gold on change your look so that kind of gave me the courage there because I was in front of all these women and they you know and I was talking about breastfeeding again and um that gave me the courage and then my husband sold his business that we had and we moved to san antonio texas for him to work for a big company and i had a comedy club and i started doing open mic i went from open mic to they let me open and then they put me
up at midnight i had three little children and they put me up at midnight when everybody's home marijuana and i would be talking about somebody do do it on a t -ball field or going to white watchers How did the marijuana crowd like that?
Some of them liked it.
Some of them didn't.
But I said this the other day, my comedy, I think if you've ever been in a family, if you've had a mama, a grandmama, you know, you kind of relate, you know, to what I'm saying, which is I'm lucky for that.
But anyway, that and then I just from there, I became a stand up.
But I raised my children.
I got to raise my children.
And we moved back to Knoxville for my husband's job at corporate.
And I just tried to do what I could, y 'all, to stay on stage.
And there was some bad times.
And there were some good times.
Hollywood would come around.
They'd want a development deal.
Wouldn't make it. I'd take to the band.
Overeat. Then I couldn't get booked.
Then I'd get booked.
I mean, I'd have consistent work.
And I mean, it was very up and down.
I got a lot of no's.
but you know i just stayed on stage wherever i could a lot of those were corporate private horrible things and fundraisers i was your fundraiser girl and um but i did clubs throughout when i could but it was hard with three little children and then really and truly y 'all this did not blow up until i was about to quit and was so discouraged i was in my early 50s and i said because i'll be i can't even say it i'll be 60 in october i'm really having a hard time come on now you're looking awesome you're crushing it you're seriously everybody i know is talking about you so bring it on 60 come on would you
angel well i had my premiere the other night for my television series it's dropping and my face i've never seen myself like that i thought where did my chin go and then christian johnson who plays my sister said don't let that get in your hand laying in.
It's about being funny.
Think of Carol Burnett making faces.
You know, you cannot worry about that.
But at first the shock was a lot, but I saw that premiere the other night and every expression, I feel like I'm doing my, I'm just twisted up, but I was also so scared.
I couldn't even, I mean, I'm sure that was fright and 59 years old, but anyway, I don't know how I got off on that tangent.
This is Office Ladies.
We love a tangent here, Leanne.
It's what we do. We're ladies.
We're going to talk about a scene between Dwight and Michael, and next thing you know, we're talking about the fact that I had one boob that made more milk than the other.
I don't know how we got there, but we get there.
Oh, y 'all, that is my kind of talk.
I love talking about breast milk, and I love talking about Michael, and I love all of that.
Oh my gosh. well you know what jenna and i have talked a lot about just our journey to get here you know we're not from hollywood you know i'm from a small town my family's from texas and louisiana jenna is a st louis gal you know no one in our families ever did anything like this to the thought of going across the country to california are you crazy so we know what it takes to just keep at a dream that people around you kind of question.
But do you remember the moment that you were like, oh my gosh, this is like the turning point.
Like I can actually maybe have a career in this.
Was there a moment?
In stand -up or television or just stand -up when I got my first development deal, it was with Warner Brothers and ABC, and it was right before that that first writer's strike.
Do y 'all remember that first writer's strike?
That was awful. But I had a call come in from Mike Clements, the producer, and he worked with Tom Warner, the dead Roseanne, all those shows.
And he said, we think we can, we know we can build a sitcom around you.
And I had done my first 45 minutes I had, you know, back then it took 10 years to get your first 45 minutes for standups before social media and all that.
And I had done, you know, I had done a few little touring things and gotten some attention.
But when they called and said, we know we can build a sitcom around you, I thought, okay, I'm not crazy.
I'm not one of those little children on American Idol that thinks they can sing.
You know, it took something like that to validate.
Now, it did not make it that writer's strike hit, and it was over in seconds.
And I was devastated.
But then I had them after that.
and it would be times when I just could not get booked and and or I could get booked but it wasn't what I'm doing now or anything like that and but there would be some little something come along that would give me the hope to keep going I talk to like aspiring actors a lot I go to universities or classes and and and it's a hard thing to explain to your family at home because they only see the milestones that actually end up on television or end up on stage age.
But there are so many of those moments like a development deal, but that actually doesn't happen.
But it is still a turning point and it is the thing that keeps you in it.
I had so many roles I didn't get, but maybe it was like a callback to a level of producers that I hadn't gotten to before.
And that was the validation that I needed to not give up.
I had a big audition.
This is before the office.
It was for a movie and I couldn't even believe I I had the audition and I didn't get it on my way there.
They called me and I had prepared and prepared and said, you know what?
The offer went out to Jennifer Aniston and she took it.
So I didn't even audition and I called my mom.
I was so heartbroken because I'd worked so hard and I was like, mom, they offered it to Jennifer Aniston.
And she said, oh, honey, your disappointments are getting bigger.
That's a good sign.
mine like what my my disappointments i was like okay i know i do too good night jim brandston i mean that was a big deal i know i didn't even know you could offer something to people you know i was so green i was like what that just happens but yeah and i was like okay all right mom you're right next i don't know how y 'all done what y 'all done oh i see i've auditioned just for a few things and I know I'm not good at that.
My baby child, who's 27, had to do it under a ring light here in the dining room and she tried not to roll her eyes while I did it.
But I don't know how y 'all done it.
I think y 'all got the hardest job in the world.
I don't, stand -up's hard, but I don't know.
I think what y 'all do is harder.
Really? I think what you do is harder because somebody else writes all the words for me.
Like, I, I don't have to come up with the material.
I just have to deliver it.
That's what's so fascinating to me about standup comedy is like, you have to do the whole thing.
Like, how do you do that?
But Jana, if you did the turkey sandwich and the baby turned their back, the dog ate the turkey sandwich, you lived it, you saw it, you could write it and then you could say it and you'd remember it.
When I got the television series, I was, you know, calling home and crying and saying, I cannot learn this script.
What in the world? And people go, but you do your act hour and 20 minutes every night.
I go, yeah, but I lived it.
I wrote it. I know it.
And I talk out of my butt sometimes and change it up.
And they said to me, you'll build this muscle.
It's a muscle, Ann.
And I was like, no, I won't.
And they're right though, you do.
You kind of of build that memory muscle of learning lines.
By the end of it, I thought, okay, I know there's a rhythm and a way to do this.
And they did hire a woman who was from heaven to help me.
And we worked like nils.
Yeah, it's so helpful to have someone to run lines with you.
And, you know, I have to say, my husband says that he can tell, like, if I get an audition, and now everything, you have to set up a camera at home and, you know, do it.
I'm like, what am I doing now?
I'm I'm running a casting session.
Are you kidding? You know, and I think that it is sometimes harder to learn lines that are not a natural way to speak or a natural cadence.
And like, I always joke, I could never be on ER.
Now, that's great writing, but I couldn't say pulmonary, get the tube, cardiac, code 49.
I don't know. Like, no one would believe that.
I'm never getting cast on that show.
But I hear you. It is, it is like, it's a challenge sometimes to, to learn these lines, but it's a lot easier when they're your lines that you already know are funny.
And sweet people on my show are trying to learn how Southern people speak, but you know, they just don't know.
They just, they can't help it.
They've never lived in the South, but they were sweet about saying, Lynn, would you say it a different way?
Let us know. You know, and so I would rewrite a little bit and those writers, you know, say things it's such a flowery way that I'm just so country.
I just don't say that in that way, but they would be very sweet and it would help me if I could change a little bit, but the movie that I, you know, I've only done one movie.
It's a huge, so many big movie stars.
I know. And can you believe that y 'all?
I know on office ladies, we love a behind the scenes tidbit.
Do you have a behind the scenes tidbit of working with Reese Witherspoon and Will Ferrell?
I did a movie with Will Ferrell Yes.
He's the best. Yes.
Yes. Oh my gosh. I said to somebody the other day, they go, what do you want?
What would you want to do?
And they were talking about Nona's, how successful Nona's the show.
And they had so much heart and women of a certain age on it with Vince Vaughn.
And they thought that might be something in the vein I'd want to do.
And I said, yes that with with Blades of Glory or Talladega Nights could I do that with knownness because those are some of my favorites but yeah Will Ferrell was a doll he's a sweetheart oh sweet and would just walk on set and there was one thing where they wanted me to say something nasty about out of men's hearts and I call that doings and man's doings or somebody's doings we call it business some ladies your lady business I don't need to talk about your man business well I don't know how I started calling it doings like lady doings I could say men's doings And we'll would walk on set and just
go. Len, doings at me.
But let me tell you, little Reese Witherspoon is one of the smartest people I've ever met in my life.
And everything she's ever said to me, it was right.
So if she tells me to do something, I do it.
And that little thing, you know, tiny and would and she look up at me.
And at first I said, it's like you're like looking at Elvis.
She goes, I go, yeah.
And then by the end of it, we were talking about how much magnesium are you taking at night?
Can you poop? I can't poop.
Can she poop? What's she taking?
She doubled her magnesium.
I mean, we were all talking about the same stuff.
But that next door was from heaven and just let me riff.
And I just loved it.
And I wish I could do that again.
And I was so scared and freaked out, you know, just nervous.
of us but I wish that I could do that all over again because I think I could do it better I didn't know how things work little fortune theme store the comedian looked at me and said there's a piece of tape on the floor land go stand on it that's your mark I love fortune yeah but um everybody there was so helpful to me but let me tell y 'all that when they called me and said Reese Witherspoon and Will Ferrell want you to do a table read for a movie I went what's a table People read.
And I was getting off a stage to, I was doing a casino in Pennsylvania that Janet Jackson had just been to, which thrilled me.
And they said, you got to get on a plane.
We'll switch your plane flying and go do this table read.
And I was scared to death, but I did it.
And I had a ball and everybody was there.
I didn't know how all that worked.
And then I had to get, this is comedy.
One minute you've got your foot in the back of an Uber and a baby's diaper.
some little mama's driving uber and you've got your foot in a burger king sack or a dirty diaper the next minute you're doing a table read with will ferrell race witherspoon and then the next day you fly to georgia to do hey hira georgia i don't know what that fundraiser was but i got on a plane and and i sat next to machine gun kelly so i'm on the plane little machine gun kelly and i said to my kids, I got a machine gun killer sat next to me, and they go, he would be flying private, mama.
There's no way. And I go, well, he's six foot seven.
He's got a size 15 shoe.
He's got on a bunny hat that bloody looking.
It wasn't real blood.
It just made to look like blood.
And I said, there's some things hanging out of his eyebrows.
And they go, okay, that's probably machine gun killing.
And I said, normally I don't talk to people.
I promise I don't, but I went, Megan, you know, he's had that volatile relationship with Megan.
Oh no. I said, you're not going to believe this, but she's from Oak Ridge, Tennessee, right where I've raised my children.
And he went, what? That's effing sick.
So anyway, I sat and bonded with machine gun Kelly and had a ball, but it was like four days of just crazy mess happened.
And you're like, what is my life right now?
What is my life? Yes.
Jenna and I text each other that because because these moments happen where it's like one day, you're just trying to find the shoes for camp at Walmart that everyone wants, and you can't find them, and your cart's got the weird wheel and all the stuff.
And then the next day, it's like, okay, I just sat in first class next to Alicia Keys.
Do I say hi to her?
What do I do? Does she watch The Office?
I don't know what to do.
And also, I forgot all my comfortable underwear, and I'm going to land in New York with no no underwear.
Like these are your lives.
It's just wild, isn't it?
It's wild. And that's why I wrote a book that almost killed me.
And I named it, What in the World?
Because I feel like every day I go, what in the world?
And now I know Leanne, I, and by the way, my sister actually took a photo of her reading that book by the pool and texted it to me.
I'm telling you, The Kinsey women, they are going to your shows.
They are buying your stuff.
They love you so much. And they can't believe I'm talking to you today.
They're just so tickled about it.
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We've got a new game to talk to you about today.
It has a delicious name.
Cookie Jam. Just makes you, you just want to eat it up.
What's a Cookie Jam?
I want to know. Well, Cookie Jam, it's one of those match games.
You can play it on your phone or your tablet.
You match three cookies or three candies to clear the board and solve puzzles.
There are over 11 ,000 levels.
I love to level up.
Yeah. So guess what?
You're never going to run out of challenges.
There's also, with Cookie Jam, there's Chef Panda.
So his adorable panda family is part of the game.
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I know how much Jenna's friendship meant to me through all of it because now we started, we were not famous, you know, we didn't think the office was going to make it.
We didn't even stop our other jobs after the pilot because we didn't know what was going to happen.
and so much of the fame part, a red carpet, a table read.
What do you wear? How do you stand?
Where do you put your hands?
Do you do the smile so you look constipated or do you show your teeth?
We found all of that together.
We failed together.
We had little triumphs together, but I couldn't imagine doing it without her.
Do you have your core group that kind of, is it a group of gals?
Is it Chuck? Is it a combo?
bow um in stand -up I've got I call her little k um but Karen Mills and I have traveled together on and off for since 2004 and she has been my ride or die if I had a horrible gig and called her on the way home and said I think I need to quit she would talk me out of it then she called me the next week and say I'm gonna quit and I'd talk her out of it and if I didn't have a gig If she did a book and she'd say, you need to get Leigh Ann Morgan next.
And I would do that for her.
And we kept each other going.
And I call her and I'll go, what do you think about this material?
And when you look at my Netflix special, both sets and see what material you like out of both.
She is my stand up.
And then now that this is my TV series, which I'm scared to death, it comes out July 31st. Y 'all got to help me through that because I want people to love it.
and I don't know. And you know, there's the uncertainty of it all.
And I'm hysterical.
But Kristen Johnston plays my sister and we had immediate chemistry and, you know, Lord, she's been on every sitcom, mom and third rock from the sun and righteous gemstones and in movies and, you know, and she has helped me so much. She taught me, I didn't know all this camera blocking and all this stuff.
And they'd say something and I'd go, hold on.
That's a Hollywood wood word. What does that mean?
And she would tell me and tell me how things should work and encouraged me.
So she's been sent from heaven.
I couldn't have done that if I hadn't had her on this 16 episodes.
I told her in our press junket.
I had a press junket for the first time.
I've never been so tired in my life.
I felt like I had the flu when it was over.
Oh yeah, you're just mentally like tapped out.
By the end of them, I was like, I don't know if anything I said made sense.
Did I say words? I don't know.
We were all just crazy.
You know what? You know, Melora, who plays Jan on The Office.
She has been an actress since she was a kid.
She was on Little House on the Prairie.
And her mom and dad are both actors.
And so of anyone in our cast, she was truly the most seasoned.
and I remember I did my first kind of press junket for a movie and it was over the weekend that we were shooting The Office and she said, you look so beat up this morning.
And I said, oh, I had this press junket.
And I was describing it to her because, you know, they take you to a hotel and you sit in a chair in front of a poster of your thing, your movie or TV show, and then just one after the other, different reporters come in and ask you almost the same questions, but you have to be fresh and funny and interesting and delightful and sound like you've never said it before.
And you do that for two days and it makes you feel a little bit like like, you're in a dream state.
Like, am I talking?
Is that my voice? What is happening?
Well, Melora, she was like, well, didn't they get you the hotel room at the hotel so that you could take a nap and be by yourself during lunch?
And I said, no. She goes, oh, Jenna.
She goes, they won't get it for you.
But if you ask for it, they will.
So she started coaching me on all these ways that I could ask for space and like self -care.
She was like, you have to have that lunch break completely alone.
No one in the room with you lay in a bed in the dark, or you're going to go crazy.
You're going to go crazy.
So I was so grateful that we had Melora.
She really helped understand that it's okay to have boundaries and to take care of yourself and that you can only be be your best self if you have had rest or even water or, you know, things that I was like, oh, we can ask for a chair.
I didn't know that, you know, while you're waiting in the wings.
And when you're just starting out, you're just so eager to please, you know, and I think especially as women, too, you don't want to be branded as difficult.
And so it's like there's all these ways that you can kind of just get, I don't know, maybe even a little taken advantage of.
I can see that, and everybody was wonderful to me, but you're right.
Well, Leanne, can you tell us about your show?
We're so excited. We want our listeners to hear all about it.
It's called Leanne, and it's going to be on Netflix.
It's a half -hour comedy.
I think these episodes are really around 17 to 20 minutes, my darling, because there's no commercials.
They're going to drop all 16 the same day.
Okay. Ooh, so we can binge it.
Binge it. Please binge it.
Yes. Yes. Everybody binge it.
They said, tell everybody to binge it.
And then I'm telling everybody on stage every night that I have a live show.
I go, please run it while you're vacuuming in the background or while you're putting something in a crockpot.
We'll just turn it on when we leave for the day and just let it and then recycle.
Yes. Every day. I mean, that's how people watch The Office, honestly.
Because it's so comforting.
It is my friend. Yes.
Tell us about the actors on it and what's sort of like the premise of it.
Okay, the premise is that my husband has walked off and left me for another woman after 34 years, and I'm in my late 50s, and I'm a mother and a grandmother.
I'm taking care of elderly parents, trying to launch children, and then this is happening.
Now what in the world is going to happen to me now?
I think what Chuck Lorre was thinking, I didn't want it to be based on my real life because that would be weird. Me and Chuck Morgan are still married.
Yes. But my fans went crazy.
You know, as soon as they told what the premise was, people were going, Chuck Morgan can't deal with her success.
That's what's happened.
Oh, no. People blurred the line.
My little daddy, who's 85, one of his friends who is 90, called him and said, I'm so sorry, Jimmy, that Leanne's getting a divorce.
And daddy said, do something.
And I go, Daddy, it's like Beverly Hillbillies.
You know, that was not true.
Right. But anyway, Lori just said, Lynn, because I had a bit in my Netflix special talking about if I had to get out and date again because I've got a friend who had to date.
And in the Netflix special, I say, or my other friend when we were talking about dating, she said, I think I could show somebody my left breast. But anyway, he said, I think that's a common thing, not just like if somebody got divorced, but starting over.
over. Yes. Like, you know, everybody, things happen in life and kicks you in the teeth and everybody has to start over doing something if it's another career or whatever.
Y 'all, I've got to tell you, I don't mean to be sappy, but when this blew up and I started getting big tours and all that in my fifties, women would say on social media, like this has inspired me.
If you can do this, if this can happen to you after all these years, then I can go back to school.
I can start business I've always I can start a non -profit so my very first tour the big panty tour vanity fair panties did a thing with me on tour where women could submit what they like if they wanted to save money for a business or to go back to school or whatever they gave five women the money to do whatever they wanted to do in midlife to start over again that's wonderful and so choked laurie and you all land leanne I'm getting choked up yeah and I'm telling y 'all I should should have gotten a therapist, when all this started happening to me, it was so much bigger than comedy.
Women would say to me, you got me through a divorce.
I watch you at night.
I'm going through chemo.
I've lost my parents or whatever.
And I would just, it would be so hard to receive that.
I think I'm not worthy.
I would think I'm not good enough for these precious people.
I would get out on stage.
I would not even say a word. They would stand up and blow Blow kisses at me and do a standing ovation for every said a word. And what I think it was is that I think that my demographic has been ignored.
I think that Hollywood kind of ignores them.
I think that there's no other comedians in my lane.
I hit a niche where it's just a bunch of darling, fun women out in the middle of the United States and their precious husbands and a half zip golf pull up who just want to talk about normal life.
So anyway, Chuck, Lori just said, I think, Leanne, it would be we need something in there with conflict.
And you and Chuck have been married all these years.
You all are still together.
Your kids are intact.
They're doing well.
You've done a good job, lady.
Yeah. Yeah. But he said, we need some, you know, everybody's got to be flawed. And, you know, we're flawed. But you know what I mean?
So then he said, I think this premise and it kind of fought it.
I kind of just thought, I don't know about that.
I don't know. It doesn't feel authentic to me.
And then I thought, well, that's crazy.
I don't want it to be based on my real children.
You know, that would be terrible for them.
So we went with it.
And Ryan Stiles plays my husband who has left me.
But he is so lovable in this.
And we wanted him to be, I wanted there to be redemption and forgiveness.
Ryan is so funny, too.
I'm so thankful that you're surrounded by these good people.
I know. oh, well, honey, they put a bunch of pros around me because they knew I was, you know, green, didn't know what I was doing.
And I wanted because I am a church going girl and I do Zumba and I'm done jazzercise many a time in a Presbyterian gym.
That's right. So we've got a lot of those kind of scenes that I wanted to be authentic, you know, for like real church scenes.
And so Jemma and there's all these women like there's a book club scene.
But anyway, it's it's really based on real life and you know some of my comedy my sensibility but i think it's got heart but i think it's um something people can relate to but i but i think it's funny i think it's funny and it's different than anything i've ever seen before and leanne the character leanne and explores the idea of maybe dating again.
Oh, hey. Can you imagine if you had to?
No, no, no, I can't imagine.
So a lot of that, yes.
And I feel like if I do get another season, I can be more equipped to be, because I am a writer, owner, and executive producer.
I feel like I can give more now that I've been through this first rodeo.
And you know what? All of the firsts are done.
You know, Fortune telling you where to stand on the tape.
That's done. It's like a, a learning curve and you're getting it.
And it was the same for Jen and I.
We're all still learning.
And that's the thing Jen and I talk about is that you're never too old to be curious.
Like you don't age out of being curious, you know?
And, and I think a lot of your standup, it does speak to people who are like maybe a little part of them that they dreamed they tucked away.
And you're just like, no, no, no, those dreams, they can live and they can come to fruition.
And I just think it's so inspiring.
Thank you, my darling.
Well, and people ask me all the time about all of that.
And I do say, I mean, you have to take risk.
You have to persevere.
You know, I went through a whole stage during standup when it was big comedy central, and that's, I was not what they wanted.
You know, I was a mama with a pair of kitten heels on, with capris, with birds on them.
I tell people I was not comedy central.
but you have to persevere whatever it is that you want to do in your life.
And I also think you only get one time around this world.
Why not give it? I mean, you know, what do you got to lose?
If it doesn't work out, it doesn't work out.
I tell you all who inspires me.
I watch him all the time on Instagram or whatever it comes up on.
Steve Harvey. Steve Harvey talks about being homeless, but you got to jump off that cliff.
There's a bunch of things he talks about, but you got to, if you do take that leap, you are going to get bruised and bloodied and all that.
And there's going to be a bunch of nose and a bunch of, but you're not going to know until you jump off of that.
And one day it's going to work and it's going to go.
And I just, you know, I, yes, I'm 59.
I'm worried that I look like I don't have a chin and I'm telling you all my fanny was pretty big on that screen.
I knew I had a big fanny.
I didn't know it was, I mean, I thought you could set a cafeteria tray on my fan.
This is the hard part, I think, about our industry, which is that when you're just at home and you're being a mom and you're taking care of people, you're not like looking in the mirror all the time.
I remember I went through this big stretch where Angela and I were just podcasting.
We're not on camera.
It's just our voices.
It was like like five years, the pandemic, and then I got this part in Mean Girls, the movie musical.
I sat down in the hair and makeup trailer, and I had not looked at myself in a mirror for 90 minutes straight in five years.
I couldn't believe what I was looking at.
I was like, what is that vein on my neck?
Has that been there?
Is anyone else worried about it?
I did not know that vein was bulging like that.
Can you cover that with makeup?
I don't know. Like every wrinkle, every sag was suddenly like, and I thought, oh, this is, yeah, this is because I have not looked in a mirror for a long period of time.
Or if I'm taking a selfie, I just throw a filter on it.
My skincare routine is a filter.
My skincare routine is soap and some oil of Olay.
That is my moisturizer.
and it doesn't even have, it's not even regenerist. It doesn't even have a hydroxy, whatever in it or the retinol.
It has none of that.
It's like the mildest, whatever I got at Walgreens.
That is my moisturizer.
You know what? Honestly, you know what my, you know what my face cleanser is most of the time it's leftover baby shampoo because I have run out of whatever whatever cleanser I bought once.
And now I'm scrounging around under the cabinets in the bathroom.
And I found some old, like honest baby shampoo.
And that is literally what I'm washing my face with right now.
And then Oil of Olay.
And put your arm as high as it will go when you take that picture.
If you don't reach to your ear, reach well above your head and you take that that picture.
And then I told you, Leanne, for the picture we took, you just set your chin on your hands.
Oh, that's a good one.
Maybe we should do, wait, Cassie, can you take another one?
Okay, here we go. One, two, three.
That was amazing. See, it's great.
It solves all the problems. Leanne, we know you've got to go.
You're a busy lady, but we end our interviews with the thing that was on our call sheets.
It's called the call sheet questions.
There's just five Five questions.
Okay. Here we go. Number one, what was your first job in entertainment?
Does the rotary count for that $50 when I drop my baby off?
I think it does. Okay.
The first time really I got paid doing stand -up, a little man that owned a sandwich shop who saw me emcee for free for somebody in my Sunday school class at the Kiwanis Capers.
members, Lynn, can you come and do comedy at my sandwich shop and I'll give you the door money and I'll make money off the beer.
That's the first time I ever got paid.
That was my first job in show business.
At the sandwich shop.
At the sandwich shop for Mike, sweet Mike gave me a shot and I was, I still fear that somebody taped it and it'll come out because I got, he goes, can you do an hour?
And I go, Oh yeah, I got up there and tombed out of my butt for an hour.
And it's no telling what I said.
I don't know what I said.
But anyway, that was the first time I got money.
OK. OK. All right. Our second question is, do you speak any other languages or do you play a musical instrument?
No and no. Now, I went to a big little tiny country school that was big in Future Farmers of America in Home Ec.
I do know how to make a bank to Alaska.
but i played basketball and spanish was during basketball practice and they just told me i didn't have to take it because i was tall and they needed they wanted you on that basketball team yeah so yeah i don't have that but i am going to try to learn the drums and fred armisen from sarah not live is trying to help me learn how to play the drums fred is a close friend of mine he is from heaven from heaven truly and he messaged me and was so precious about you know i like your your stuff and all that was so sweet.
And I got to meet he and his wife behind the John Mulaney show.
But I said, I'm going to be 60 in October.
Is it too hard for me to learn the drums?
No, I said, I've always loved Sheila and Prince and he's a big Prince fan.
He made a video for me to start like on a pad.
So hopefully the next time I'm on with y 'all, I can say, yes, I'm a drummer.
Yes. I love that. That's so great.
Okay. Next question.
What's a place you've been to that you absolutely loved?
Oh my gosh, I go so many places that I absolutely loved.
Y 'all, I've been so many places.
Let me think. Greece, there was Mykonos.
That was pretty nifty.
That's the only place I've been over Europe was Greece.
That sounds lovely though.
I've never been to Greece.
It was the islands and yeah, Mykonos.
It was beautiful and did not look real.
oh but i could say alaska too alaska was beautiful didn't look real you know it looked like a picture book all right next question what do you like to do on the weekends i like to have these grand babies over and cook what they want and let them go down this costco roller coaster that i bought them costco roller coaster wait i've seen that i have seen that you can buy a roller coaster for your backyard i've seen clips of that online and i kind of didn't know it was real that's real oh it's it's like for little kids yeah it's on like probably a little above your way it's like a little and then
your baby yeah like a train thing and they yeah love it and it's got a little red car on it and my son will push and i mean they will go all the way to the other end of our property and they go nuts and love it and i I also like to put out, right now, you know, it's hotter than Hades.
I just got something from Target, probably, that I put the hose in and water squirts up.
And I put on the swim trunks and go and play in that water.
And I like to have toys out there that, you know, like lizards and stuff that they can put in there.
And I also bought them some riding toys for the yard. So I always have those.
But if I'm out on the road, which most of the time I'm on the road, but if I'm at home, I like to have all my kids there.
I like to go in and buy a bunch of good stuff to eat.
And I like to cook, everybody cook and do and be together.
That's my favorite thing and watch these babies play.
I think I can pick out good toys.
Yeah, that sounds wonderful.
And as a grandmother, you know, as a grandmother now I can, you know, it's like we were on such a budget, like they got Christmas and, you know, they had toys, of course, but now I can like go, I'm going to the Costco to get the roller coaster and everybody can kiss my foot.
You know what? You work hard. You work hard. You should be able to enjoy that hard work with your family.
Nothing wrong with that.
Last question. What is your favorite midnight snack?
Oh, y 'all. I do love salty and sweet.
Can I say that I would like to start out with something salty?
So I do love a chip.
I don't have a lick of sense of a tortilla chip with cheese dip.
I do like guacamole.
I like salsa, but I do love a cheese dip with a, like a little rotel, but I've got to finish it off with a dark chocolate with almonds.
And if I'm really lucky, I might have a Cadbury fruit nut bar near, which I want everybody to have at my funeral.
I'm always saying to my children for my celebration of life, I want everybody to come in and get a big size Cadbury fruit nut bar.
If y 'all ever had one, you'll lose.
you'll lose your mind now somebody told me they're better they're made in england if you can get them in canada they don't have all this waxy stuff on them i don't notice the wax i get mine at walgreens if you're jenna if you're going in there to try to get you to get my oil of yes go to the candy aisle and get the big bar of cadbury fruit nut now that's a milk chocolate i'm a connoisseur of chocolate but i love that milk chocolate it's got a fruit and a nut in it and just let it melt in your mouth, you will lose your mind.
I don't know if I should even tell y 'all that because I don't want y 'all to get hooked on it.
But I do love a sweet and salty and I do love, it is fun to eat at night and watch a show.
Yeah. Have a little treat.
I love it. Yes. I think everyone listening needs to go get the Cadbury fruit nut and watch Leanne on Netflix.
This is it. We're not sponsored by Cadbury, but you know, Feel free to call us.
I know. We're probably going to sell a lot of fruit and nut bars.
Yeah. Leanne, this was a joy.
Thank you for making the time.
You're so busy right now.
And just know you got two gals who are just rooting for you.
And we're here for you.
And we cannot wait to just cheer you on.
You angel. And thank you for getting me through menopause.
Thank you for letting me laugh at that new thing that is the hot flash.
Oh, my darling. Thank you so much. I laughed so hard. I sent it to my husband and I was like, babe, look, I feel seen.
Yes. Oh, my. I'm so glad, Jenna.
And tell me, is somebody doing your bioidentical hormones?
You got somebody? I have all the doctors helping me through.
My big thing is acupuncture.
Acupuncture for hot flashes.
quashes oh good yeah it's working it's great oh and a fan that blows on me at night as you know about the fan oh y 'all are so yummy and precious and yummy as y 'all weren't giving all us all this joy all this time thank y 'all so much i've had a ball thank you so much all right well we'll be in touch i want to meet you in person sometime leanne i would love that we're gonna go for a walk we'll do a walk and talk next time you're in town walk and talk maybe even find church basement Zumba or jazz exercise class?
We could do that. There is a Zumba class within walking distance of my house.
Okay. So I'm just throwing it out there.
Oh, my Lord. Okay. So it can happen.
It can happen. Okay.
I would love that. Oh, my gosh.
If the three of us walked into that Zumba class, I would just love it.
People would lose their minds, I think.
I mean, how fun is she?
I love her. And I seriously, I want us to do a Zumba class together.
Lady, I have been wanting to do the Zumba class.
And I was going to ask you if you want to do it.
But I think the three of us need to do it.
I'm serious. I want to do Zumba with you and Leanne.
I want to make it happen.
I'm here for it. Listen, a big thank you to Leanne for joining us on Office Ladies and for helping us laugh at everyday life.
You can catch Leanne on tour right now in her Just Getting Started standup show.
We'll put a link in stories for her show dates.
And of course, check out her new TV show Leanne starting July 31st on Netflix.
So listen, everyone, before we go, we are off next Wednesday.
We're going to be revisiting our interview with Billie Eilish, but be sure to tune in on Friday, August 8th for a little surprise.
surprise. In fact, every Friday in August, starting August 8th, we're going to have a little something extra for you.
I'd really like to give you a hint, but I can't.
Can I do rhymes with?
Yeah, do rhymes with a little bit of schmapper.
Yeah, it has to do with schmapper.
Oh, okay, lady, I have to get packed for Chicago and you have a family vacation to get to.
I do. I'm going to Iceland and I'm going to go to that penis museum.
Oh, I can't wait to hear about that.
All right, everyone.
Thanks for listening.
We hope you have a good one.
Thank you for listening to Office Ladies.
Office Ladies is a presentation of Odyssey and is produced by Jenna Fisher and Angela Kinsey.
Our executive producer is Cassie Jerkins.
Our audio engineer is Sam Kiefer and our Our associate producer is Ainsley Bubbico.
Odyssey's executive producer is Leah Reese Dennis.
Office Ladies was mixed and mastered by Bill Schultz.
Our theme song is Rubber Tree by Creed Bratton.
