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The Tracy Morgan First Sunday Interview

By Prairie Miller

Though funny man Tracy Morgan has had his own set of wrong side of the law issues when it comes to alcohol, as LeeJohn in First Sunday he's not at all too keen on joining a rowdy Ice Cube for some felonious mischief, in the David E. Talbert affectionately irreverent church heist satire. Tracy got together to talk about exactly what sort of temptation led him to team up with Ice Cube for the film, and the many things they have in common besides getting excited about working side by side. The adamantly equal opportunity funny guy also reflected on his rough roots, not seeing his comic style as just a black thing, aspiring to cry a little some day and not make it all humor all the time, and how he can laugh at himself plenty too, especially when showing off his SCRAM (Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitoring) house arrest ankle 'Tracy Bracelet' intended to keep him far away from the booze and the bars.

What lured you into First Sunday?

TRACY MORGAN: I'm just glad for the opportunity to do this movie. You know, I'm not Will Smith, I'm not getting three movies, nobody's really banging down my door. But when the offers do come, I appreciate it. I'm going to leave it at that.

So I said yeah, absolutely. But to work with Ice Cube, is something that I always wanted to do since Are We There Yet? So I came and I read for the movie, and they gave me the part. So hallelujah!

And Ice Cube is one of the most well adjusted, down to earth people that I've ever met in show business, he's a cool dude. And he's like me, we both got three sons, and we've both been married to our wives for years. So we have that in common, just off the bat.

And then there's that chemistry. I mean, as a person he's cool, he appreciates what you do. He appreciates what everybody is bringing, and he shows it. And it's cool. Not a man of many words, but plenty of action.

Now some of the stuff in this movie is sad, and some of it is really funny. So how much is First Sunday a comedy, and a tragedy?

TM: They're the same. Shakespeare said that, dude. You didn't know that, you didn't study that? It's like love and hate, like joy and pain. You can't have one without the other.

I'm doing LeeJohn and I'm doing all this funny stuff in this movie. But who knows what I'm also going through in my real life. Like who knows what kind of phone calls I get. So there is a balance, whether you know about it or not. Because life is not perfect. And it gets a little bumpy for all of us.

So you have your bad days, even when you're doing such funny stuff for the public?

TM: Yeah, I have my stormy seas. But I'll show you the balance, brotha. That is how fucking real I am. [Tracy lifts his leg to model his 'house arrest' bracelet]. Yeah, it's the infamous Tracy bracelet. That ain't cool, and I'm letting y'all see that. Because I ain't hiding nothing.

I've always been an honest person, and you know I've had some problems. But look where I'm at right now. My boy Ice Cube came and got me, and he said, we're gonna fix you right up, homie. We're gonna fix you right good.

How do you see the influence of race on your comedy style?

TM: I came from a world of black, you know? So by the time I got to Saturday Night Live, I wasn't on the black and white thing, I was just on the funny thing, I've never been on the black and white thing. I think comedy transcends all of that. Some artists are huge in the black community, and some are huge in the white community. So it's great to be universal.

But funny is just funny, you know what I'm saying? And by the time I got to Saturday Night Live, they had never had nothing like me. You know, I'm coming from the hood. I grew up across the street from Jay-Z, I raised Jay-Z. I raised Jay-Z and Biggy, they was under us. So I'm from Bed-Stuy, do or die.

So it was a different challenge for me when I got there. Because I come from Def Jam, and all that. I had never performed in front of a white audience until I auditioned for Saturday Night Live. My manager, who's Barry Katz, he was smart. He took me in his office and just helped me rearrange my material, so that the mainstream would get it.

So we did that, and I went out on the audition and got the gig. And Lorne Michaels had a talk with me one day and he said, Tracy, you're not here because you're black, you're here because you're funny. And that always stuck with me.

You know, I'm here on this planet because I'm funny, and I got a good heart. And I'm a good person, in spite of this bracelet, okay? So that's why I was on Saturday Night Live, not because I was black.

They could have got anybody if they wanted a black person. I was there because I was funny, and that right there is what I'm dealing with. So that's my conflict. I'll make anybody laugh, white, black, Puerto Rican, alien, I don't care.

Did SNL change your life?

TM: I think it made me crazier! I was hanging around Will Ferrell, Colin Quinn, and all those guys. But as an actor, as far as my sense of humor, I'm still fucking raw dog!

How is television different for you, from being in a movie?

TM: I haven't really thought about it, but I know there is a distinction, and I'll tell you. I don't want LeeJohn to be the same as Tracy Jordan. So I have to find out what do I have to do, to make that distinction. And that's where knowing your craft comes in.

LeeJohn is showing emotion, and he has a buddy. Tracy Jordan doesn't. So in this movie I'm showing a range of emotion. Most comedians never get asked to do that, especially when you've made box office success being funny.

I would love to see Eddie Murphy in a tearjerker. But who wants to see that, who wants to pay for that. Eddie is known for doing his funny thing. But all the great ones make you laugh and cry. Remember Richard Pryor in Lady Sings to Blues? He cried. So that's what I want to achieve.