Episode 600
Ashley Austin Morris (Performing 11/20 at The Jones Center)
Ashley Austin Morris is coming back to the Jones Center in Springdale for a clean comedy show Friday, November 20 — we’re pumped. I chatted with her about everything from Big Bang Theory and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel to voicing stuff in Red Dead Redemption and having a #1 comedy album on iTunes. She told cute Clint Eastwood-on-set stories, raved about Walmart (like a true tourist), and kept it real about doing clean material. We laughed about bombing at a Marie Callender’s salad bar and how clean sets make for great pre-holiday date nights. Tickets are cheap-ish and the Jones Center even does childcare, so bring a friend, skip the awkward family drama, and come laugh with us.
Takeaways:
- I loved that Ashley keeps her standup mostly clean to honor her personal values, no cuss.
- We cracked up when she said New Yorkers who do Southern accents end up in Red Dead Redemption, grand theft Horsey vibes.
- I was totally charmed by her Clint Eastwood story — dude did a Gilda impression for her.
- We found single-cam sets are looser and more fun, while live sitcom nights feel straight-up magical.
- I loved her bomb story at a Marie Callender salad bar — painfully embarrassing but hilarious later.
Transcript
Good morning.
Speaker A:It's Haystack.
Speaker A:And you know her from everything from the Big Bang Theory to the marvelous Mrs. Maisel inventing Anna and Elsbeth.
Speaker A:And her comedy album went straight to number one on iTunes.
Speaker A:Now she's coming back to Northwest Arkansas.
Speaker A:She was here a couple of years ago.
Speaker A:Ashley Austin Morris performing at the Jones center, part of their center stage comedy series.
Speaker A:And she's going to be here a week from tonight.
Speaker A:Friday, November 20th.
Speaker A:Ashley joining us on the show.
Speaker A:Welcome in and thanks for taking time with us this morning.
Speaker B:Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker B:I'm so excited.
Speaker A:So you've done standup, you've done television and movies and theater and you've even voiced video games.
Speaker A:What did you originally want to be when you grew up and where did everything go so horribly wrong?
Speaker B:No, I really, I wanted to be an actor my entire life and then stand up comedy was my backup plan because I don't know what reliable means.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And yeah, God is good.
Speaker B:It's been a wonderful adventure.
Speaker A:You've worked opposite some of the biggest names.
Speaker A:Claire Danes, Jesse Eisenberg, Sarah Jessica Parker.
Speaker A:Who surprised you the most once you actually worked with them?
Speaker B:I think Claire Danes, to be honest, because she is so warm and loving and like one day I saw them shooting on my street and I wasn't in that episode.
Speaker B:So I just was walking outside, I was like, oh, hey.
Speaker B:And she just walked right up to me and just gave me the biggest hug.
Speaker B:And like she had been at the Met gala the night before.
Speaker B:Like, she's so funny.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I think just because she's such a phenomenal actress and you know, she's just so serious on camera.
Speaker B:So I was so surprised by just how loving she was.
Speaker A:I love that I have to look.
Speaker A:I'm a huge fan of Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and I'm a nerd.
Speaker A:So, you know, I love me some Big Bang Theory.
Speaker A:And you've got to work on two of what I would argue with the largest comedy series of all time.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Is working on a comedy TV series actually fun or is it just everyone getting so very serious about the funny?
Speaker B:That's so interesting you say that.
Speaker B:I think the Big Bang Theory, they were like a.
Speaker B:Well, I mean, I think any Chuck Lore show is like such a well oiled machine that it is like hit your mark and do the job because that guy knows how to make money.
Speaker B:But then other comedies you get to be a little bit looser.
Speaker B:I definitely think like single cam, where a show more like the Office, you get to have A little bit more fun actually than like a sitcom.
Speaker B:A sitcom is magical the night you shoot it because there's a live audience.
Speaker B:But leading up to that, it's actually oddly not as fun.
Speaker A:Really?
Speaker B:Yeah, because it's a lot of like, hit your mark, hit the joke.
Speaker B:Does the joke work?
Speaker B:Whereas, you know, a single cam, you can be as stupid as you want as many times as you want, you know, normally, but then there is nothing that compares to the actual shooting the live episode of a sitcom.
Speaker B:That's magic.
Speaker A:To kind of keep it on the same theme.
Speaker A:You were in the movie, Sully.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah, I had a really little.
Speaker B:Right, yeah.
Speaker A:But you were there on set with Clint Eastwood,.
Speaker C:Right?
Speaker A:What is he actually like on a movie set?
Speaker A:Was he as intimidating as you would imagine?
Speaker B:Not at all.
Speaker B:This is one of my very favorite stories of all time because I.
Speaker B:And again, I had like the smallest part, but I didn't care.
Speaker B:I was so happy to be there.
Speaker B:First of all, he doesn't call action.
Speaker B:Everyone on his crew knows when he's going to go and they all move as like one.
Speaker B:It's crazy.
Speaker B:And I guess he heard that I was obsessed with Gilda Radner.
Speaker B:I don't know how maybe I was like talking about it to somebody on the crew and he just came up to me and did like Rosanna, Rosanna Dana impression.
Speaker B:And I was like, I cannot believe Clint Eastwood is like doing a Gilda Radner impression to me right now.
Speaker B:Like, it was crazy and so sweet and not good.
Speaker B:And so that was the most charming part about it is I was like, this is.
Speaker B:It was just so sweet and I had like such a tiny part for the.
Speaker B:So the fact that he, like invested in me as a human was just so nice.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Speaks volumes about him as a person.
Speaker B:Really does.
Speaker A:So I'm going to get to your stand up and stuff like that in the segment.
Speaker A:But I just.
Speaker A:And I'm sorry, I'm nerding out a little bit,.
Speaker B:But.
Speaker A:You, as I mentioned earlier, you've done voice work for one of the most legendary video games ever, Take Two's Red Dead Redemption.
Speaker A:How do you end up doing voices for a cowboy video game?
Speaker B:Listen, I have no idea.
Speaker B:Every single New Yorker, every single New York actor that is remotely from the south or can do a Southern accent is in that, that video game.
Speaker B:And can I tell you, I had never heard of it.
Speaker B:I didn't know it was a big deal.
Speaker B:I was at a comedy club and this fantastic comedian, Yamanika, maybe she was like playing it or Something or like, talking about it.
Speaker B:And I was like, read.
Speaker B:Oh, I think I did a voice on that.
Speaker B:And she was like, what?
Speaker B:And I had no idea that it was like a big deal.
Speaker A:Yeah, huge.
Speaker A:One of the biggest.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:I mean, it's grand theft Horsey, essentially.
Speaker A:It's the same developer.
Speaker A:It's like Grand Theft auto but for rednecks.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I had no idea.
Speaker B:So anyone in New York that could do a Texas accent?
Speaker B:That's an actor.
Speaker B:It's kind of in it.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:I love it.
Speaker A:I love it.
Speaker A:Ashley Austin Morris coming to the Jones Center, I should say coming back, you were there a couple of years ago.
Speaker A:And the Jones center in Springdale, her performance a week from the night that is November 20th.
Speaker A:We've got more with Ashley coming up in just a few moments.
Speaker A:You can spare a couple more minutes.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Ashley.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Back with more with Ashley Austin Morris in just a moment.
Speaker A:Good morning at Tay Stack.
Speaker A:We're back with comedian and actress Ashley Austin Morse, who is going to be performing a week from tonight, the Jones center, their center stage comedy center.
Speaker A:Now, she was here a couple of years ago.
Speaker A:She's performed at some of the biggest comedy clubs, including in New York City.
Speaker A:She's been in a ridiculous number of TV shows, and she's bringing her stand up to the Jones center one week from tonight.
Speaker A:Now, as I mentioned, you've played some legendary comedy clubs in New York.
Speaker A:This is a cliche question to ask a comedian.
Speaker A:What's the worst you've ever bombed on stage and how long did it take before you could look back and laugh at it?
Speaker B:Oh, that's a really good question.
Speaker B:I've bombed.
Speaker B:I have some bombs.
Speaker B:I think when there's like a certain type of bomb where you're on stage and you just want to be like, guys, I would like to personally refund your money.
Speaker B:Like, you're.
Speaker B:You're just like.
Speaker B:I am also, like, I know this isn't going well.
Speaker B:Like, I.
Speaker B:You know what I mean?
Speaker B:But I think my first year,.
Speaker A:You're cognizant of the fact that everyone's just staring.
Speaker A:Like, what is this lady saying?
Speaker B:Yeah, I think my first year of standup, I.
Speaker B:It was in Ventura, California, and I was.
Speaker B:I don't know if you're ready for this, but I was playing Marie Callender salad bar.
Speaker B:And I don't know if you've ever been bad at your job, like, by melon, you know, and cottage cheat.
Speaker B:Like, it's.
Speaker B:It was rough and I had made a big fuss before I got there because they were paying the man more than me.
Speaker B:So it was extra humiliating because then you're on stage and you're like, yeah, of course they are.
Speaker B:Cause he's funny.
Speaker B:Like, it was just so bad.
Speaker B:It was so, so bad and humiliating.
Speaker B:And the drive back to LA was so long.
Speaker B:But then I could laugh at it pretty soon because it was a salad bar.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:That makes it easier.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:But now.
Speaker A:Now, clearly you're not bombing very often these days.
Speaker A:And your comedy album Slightly off, debuted at number one on iTunes.
Speaker A:When you found out that it had debuted at number one, just boom, there.
Speaker A:Was there a huge celebration or did you immediately start worrying, oh, what do I have to do now?
Speaker B:No, no.
Speaker B:I was just so excited.
Speaker B:That's kind of like one of wonderful things about not expecting anything to happen in your life is like, everything.
Speaker B:I'm like, wow, that's great.
Speaker B:Like, I don't have any.
Speaker B:Like, oh, I'm supposed to.
Speaker B:And so anything that happens, I'm like, that's amazing.
Speaker A:It sounds like you've got a similar philosophy to me.
Speaker A:The.
Speaker A:You keep the bar, the easier it is to stumble across it.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:And also, I just don't know what you're supposed to want.
Speaker B:You know what I mean?
Speaker B:Like,.
Speaker A:What a great point.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Like, I was never.
Speaker B:I didn't know I was supposed to, like, want to own property.
Speaker B:I'm like, how would that even work?
Speaker B:Like, I don't even know, you know,.
Speaker C:What is this?
Speaker B:Yeah,.
Speaker A:The.
Speaker A:The Jones center, one of the things we love about their center stage comedy series.
Speaker A:They're promoting their comedy shows as clean comedy.
Speaker A:Right now.
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker A:It's typically an adult show, but it's clean comedy for adult show.
Speaker A:So does.
Speaker A:Does working clean make it harder, or do you enjoy the challenge of finding jokes and not having to drop the dirty words and.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And broach those blue subjects, as we say?
Speaker B:I do.
Speaker B:And, you know, this might be controversial.
Speaker B:It is where I live, but it.
Speaker B:Maybe not where you are, but when I started standup, I kind of made like, a promise to God.
Speaker B:And now I've not always honored that I would like to be better at it.
Speaker B:That I really wasn't going to do anything, wasn't going to work dirty or say things because I had wanted to do stand up because I was coming from doing an acting job that I.
Speaker B:For me, it wasn't right in my spirit.
Speaker B:You know, I'm a very religious person.
Speaker B:It just wasn't right for me.
Speaker B:And so I was like, okay, God, if you can help me, you Know, kind of do comedy, then I'm in control of what I say, and I'm not going to do things that would compromise my values, and that's been great.
Speaker B:So I don't even.
Speaker B:Sometimes I'm sure I mess that up, you know?
Speaker B:And it's also like, what's blue to me might be different than what's blue to you, you know, so it's.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker B:It's strange.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker B:Sometimes people think the stuff about race might be taboo, but I'm married to an Asian man, so I talk about my marriage.
Speaker B:You know what I mean?
Speaker B:So it's like.
Speaker B:But in some circles, that could be taboo.
Speaker B:You know, it's just.
Speaker B:It's a lot.
Speaker B:It's not clear.
Speaker A:Well, you make a really good point.
Speaker A:Blue is based on perspect.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Everyone's line is in a different place.
Speaker B:Lately completely.
Speaker A:And that's why I argue and I've been told no by people who I've upset with jokes before.
Speaker A:But.
Speaker A:But, like, intent does matter.
Speaker B:I think it totally matters.
Speaker B:It can.
Speaker B:And I think an audience can feel that, you know, when you are up there and you are saying something, they can feel if you have malice in your heart.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And just, like, when we're joking around, that's one of the things I love about the South, I love about Arkansas, I love about Texas, is like, I do think we have really good senses of humor as far as, like, you know, ribbing each other and.
Speaker B:And, yeah,.
Speaker C:Absolutely.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:So that you mentioned audience, you know, being.
Speaker A:Has anyone ever yelled at you?
Speaker A:Have you upset someone loud bad enough that they've yelled loudly at you?
Speaker B:Oh, yes.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:What's.
Speaker A:What's the strangest thing?
Speaker A:Someone's just screamed at you during a show?
Speaker B:Oh, this was years ago.
Speaker B:I. I wouldn't even make this joke now.
Speaker B: This was in: Speaker B:I was playing a casino in Atlantic City, which are not easy.
Speaker B:Those are hard.
Speaker B:And unless they're listening.
Speaker B:And then I would love to come back, but I made a joke about that old TV show that was on then, the Handmaid's Tale, and this woman got furious, and she was like, this is disgusting.
Speaker B:And I was like, well, I didn't write the show.
Speaker B:Like, I. I'm making a.
Speaker B:Like, we're on the same page.
Speaker B:She was furious, and I was like, no, we're on the same.
Speaker B:Like, I don't think it's a good idea.
Speaker B:We shouldn't be wearing bonnets.
Speaker B:You know,.
Speaker A:Sometimes people agree with you, and they just hear it the wrong way.
Speaker B:They hear that, especially now, people are so tense with each other right now that they really do kind of just hear like a trigger word and get upset or something.
Speaker B:But I don't think that.
Speaker B:I don't think we have.
Speaker B:I don't think I have that in my show.
Speaker B:I think it's pretty fun.
Speaker B:It's clean.
Speaker B:I even think the Jones center has childcare if people need it.
Speaker A:Yeah, they do.
Speaker A:It's amazing.
Speaker A:They've got a program there where you can.
Speaker A:So you can take and drop the kids off and they'll keep the kids entertained.
Speaker A:It is.
Speaker A:It's a perfect date night.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker B:It's a great date night.
Speaker B:And it's also right before the holidays.
Speaker B:So it's like, come have fun before you have to have awkward food with people that you're related to.
Speaker A:All the stress of the holidays.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:You were here a couple of years ago.
Speaker A:Do you remember anything specific about northwest Arkansas or does everything kind of start to run together as you're touring?
Speaker B:No, I had the time of my life there.
Speaker B:Well, first of all, I'm obsessed with Walmart.
Speaker B:So in New York City, we do not have Walmart, and I'm obsessed.
Speaker B:And so I was thrilled.
Speaker B:Like, I like, y' all are celebrities to me.
Speaker B:You know what I mean?
Speaker B:Because I'm obsessed with Walmart.
Speaker B:My husband's obsessed with Walmart.
Speaker B:So that was a big deal.
Speaker B:And then the people.
Speaker B:I just, I honestly, y' all are one of my favorite audiences I have.
Speaker B:I had so much fun.
Speaker B:Just such great senses of humor.
Speaker B:Smart.
Speaker B:But I just had such a great time.
Speaker B:Just really wonderful people.
Speaker A:Were you taken to the Walmart Museum?
Speaker B:No, but I'll sure go.
Speaker A:The side of kind of the original Sam's Five and Dime is now Walmart Museum in Bentonville.
Speaker A:So 20 minutes from where your show is, you can go soak in all the Walmart you want.
Speaker B:I love Walmart so much.
Speaker B:You have no idea.
Speaker B:I'm going to spend so much money there.
Speaker A:It's Ashley Austin Morris.
Speaker A:She's going to be at the Jones center one week from tonight.
Speaker A:Friday, November 20th, 7 o'.
Speaker A:Clock.
Speaker A:It is a clean show.
Speaker A:Tickets are 28 bucks to the public, $23 for members.
Speaker A:So if you want to get details or buy your tickets, go to thejonescenter.org and I always have to say the.
Speaker A:Because there's a jonescenter.org but it's not ours, it's someone else's,.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Ours is the.
Speaker B:The.
Speaker A:Jones Center.
Speaker B:That's great.
Speaker B:The Jones Center.
Speaker A:Ashley.
Speaker A:Austin Morse, thank you so much for taking the time with us.
Speaker B:Thank you so much.
Speaker B:It was so lovely talking to you.
