By Peter Lindblad
The ability to stay with a bit and milk it for all its worth is the stuff stand-up comics dream of. Sam Morril admires those who can do it, but it’s not really his thing.
The low-key New Yorker, a rising star in comedy, due to his dry, sharp wit and ability to craft funny, edgy jokes that never seem to cross a line, takes a different approach.
“It’s like being at a baseball game when the beach ball is in the air,” said Morril. “You just want the ball to keep popping up in the air. You don’t want it to fall. It’s just more exciting when the ball doesn’t fall.”
Morril admits he usually lets it drop, before quickly moving on to something else.
“I’m trying to squeeze as much juice out of it as I can, but even then … you’ve got comedians like Gary Gulman or Jim Gaffigan, who will go 10 minutes on one subject, and I’ll do stories that are long, but I don’t really beat premises into the ground like that,” said Morril. “That’s not my style. I’m kind of in and out. So, you know, I do think you get a bigger laugh out of a joke the longer you go with something because it’s just impressive to stay on the same topic. The more I can get out of it, the more people will go, ‘Wow.’”
Onstage, Morril manages to pull off an even more extraordinary stand-up high-wire act, as Wisconsin audiences will experience in January, when his latest tour rolls into Madison’s Comedy on State Jan. 4-6 for his “Gearing Up for the Special” shows. That Cheshire cat grin of his softens the blow of subtle jabs that land like a strong right hook.
“Like my style is, I like to walk that edge where I’m just on the verge of being offensive, but then in a tone that would make people happy,” said Morril.
It took a while for Morril to find that balance. In the early days, he wasn’t so successful at it.
“When you’re trying to hone that style, you’re going to fall off the road sometimes,” said Morril. “So, I definitely upset people. There were a lot of jokes where people were like, ‘What the f**k is wrong with this guy?’”
Not everybody was patient with Morril, as he set about learning his craft.
“It’s hard to be onstage and say, ‘I’m figuring it out!’” said Morrilm with a laugh. “So, no. No matter what you’re doing, it takes you a while, but I think when your style is like my style, then people not only don’t like your stuff, but they think you’re a bad person.”
It’s easy to see the good in Morril. If he was unlikeable, chances are he wouldn’t be hosting podcasts with the likes of former pro football star Julian Edelman and fellow comedian Mark Normand.
Morril and Normand have teamed up for the “We Might Be Drunk” podcast. They get along swimmingly. They’ve even got a new whiskey out called Bodega Cat Whiskey, a rye whiskey that Morril has really taken a shine to.
“Well, it’s probably because I’ve known him forever,” said Morril. “I think I just know that his intentions are always good. He really is just a human cartoon. I feel like I’m doing a podcast with Rick from ‘Rick & Morty,’ minus the domestic abuse allegations, I guess. But no, it really is. Someone will be in the middle of a deep thought and Mark will just go, ‘Hold on,’ and then fart (laughs). I just know that no matter what I say there, he’ll do that … but when you have a co-host who does outrageous sh*t, it’s always important that I know that he’s doing it to be funny. He’s not doing it to be rude ever. You know, you’ve got to have your co-host’s back, and Mark and I … luckily, I find him funny naturally, but even if you don’t, there are those moments where, you know, I’ve got you.”
Recently, Morril also premiered a new sports podcast with Edelman, where they revisit classic games with big-name athletes like Tedy Bruschi, Eli Manning, Peyton Manning, Dirk Nowitzki, Paul Pierce and Michael Irvin.
“(Edelman) was looking for a New York comic because people like that New York-Boston beef,” said Morril, explaining how the partnership came about. “You know, we hung, it was a good vibe, good chemistry. He covers a couple of bases because he’s a Boston sports fan, but he grew up in the Bay Area, so he’s got some love for the Niners, you know, the (Golden State) Warriors, and other West Coast teams as well, but he’s evolved into a Boston guy. He can’t really not, because he’s just so Boston at this point.”
The good-natured banter goes back and forth, stoking the rivalry between the two fandoms.
“So, you know, I’m a New York fan,” said Morril. “Boston fans annoy me. His era of Boston sports annoys me because the only thing they did was win. So, they have some really cocky fans, and it’s not just them. It’s the Bruins, the (Red) Sox, the Celtics … so, pretty annoying, pretty annoying young fans they had.”
Morril said Edelman is enjoyable to be around.
“He can be serious, but he likes to have fun,” said Morril. “He’s a good hang. He’s an easygoing guy. He’s got a good heart.”
So does Morril, who doesn’t normally go looking for trouble. Luckily, he didn’t really find it the last time he was in Milwaukee. The same couldn’t be said for the poor sap who followed him. His experiences in Wisconsin have been interesting, to say the least.
“I mean Madison crowds are consistently some of the best in the country,” said Morril. “There’s something about a blue city in a reddish state where that kind of gets you a nice combo there. And then Milwaukee, it’s been a while. I haven’t been there in a long time. I was at a really dumpy club called the Milwaukee Comedy Café years ago, and I remember what a weird week that was. Latrell Sprewell, one of my favorite basketball players ever, snubbed me in a bar, and I was like wow … bummer. Someone else went and tried after me and it was way worse. I got off easy. I think he saw my Knicks sweatshirt and he said, ‘I’ll just be cold. I won’t f**k his ass up.’”
New York City crowds can be just as intimidating. Morril cut his teeth in Gotham comedy clubs, after growing up there and then graduating from Tulane University in New Orleans. Nailing down his unique style took some time.
“You just kind of go and look at comics and see a guy who’s doing well, who’s on a good trajectory, and you see what’s he done,” said Morril. “How did he do it? You try to find some road map that works, like you try to follow him, you know?”
From there, Morill developed his own style, which took years. Eventually, he got the hang of it, as he was named one of Comedy Central’s “Comics to Watch” in 2011. For a time, Morril worked as an intern on “The Colbert Report,” later appearing on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” and going on “Conan” multiple times.
In 2016, Morril got a spot on “America’s Got Talent” but didn’t win. Two years later, he released his first one-hour special, “Positive Influence.” Another, called “I Got This,” dropped in 2020, and he has two others entitled “Full Capacity” and “Up on the Roof.” Paste magazine named “I Got This” as one of the best specials of the year, while The New York Times included “Up on the Roof” in its Best Comedy of 2020 list. His latest special, “Same Time Tomorrow,” is currently streaming on Netflix. Every time out, Morril changes up his material.
“Well, you just always have to dump your jokes, because what’s going to happen at some point is somebody’s going to write a joke at some point … either they’re going to hear your jokes or a parallel thought is going to come in the mix,” said Morril. “If you hold onto those jokes too long, it really hurts when that happens, but if you just keep them for that special, they’re like alright, there you go. And it’s also just kind of what you have to do. If you grew up in New York, in the comedy clubs, that was what the guys ahead of me did, that was what the guys who I respected did. They kept turning over material, so it’s hard, but that’s kind of the process.”
Acting opportunities have also come his way, as Morril has appeared in Showtime’s hit series “Billions,” as well as the Academy Award nominated movie “Joker,” where he played a stand-up comic.
Going on Netflix’s “That’s My Time with David Letterman” was an even bigger deal, giving Morril a chance to sit and chat with the comedy legend and perform a set.
“Luckily, I kind of felt locked in that day, but you just hope that it goes well, because this is such a cool opportunity, just don’t blow it,” said Morril. “Just being on Letterman is not really that great a story. Being good on Letterman is what you want, especially because those are coveted spots now. I mean, not that they ever weren’t, but you know, there used to be a lot of them. Now, he doesn’t do that many. Yeah, I think when I got it, I thought, ‘I better be f**king funny.’”
Will he do more acting? Morril isn’t opposed to the idea.
Talking about being in “Joker,” Morril said, “Well, it was cool. That one wasn’t a real stretch. I was playing a comedian in a nightclub, but yeah, I would do more movies. The problem is the money on the road is so good that it’s hard … with movies, it’s like, ‘Alright it takes two weeks. We’ll pay you two hot dogs and one Pepsi,’ and you’re like, ‘Huh … let me think about this.’ The money you can lose … it’s either got to be something I love or something that really makes sense. The problem is, the way things work, a movie wouldn’t really move the needle on my career anymore I don’t think, unless it was a movie that I was the star of, maybe, but even then, it’s kind of crazy the way stand-up really moves the needle for me, and I don’t know if anything else would.” The needle is about to move again for Morril in the Badger State.