by Steve Desroches
Sam Morrison was sitting in a café in Ithaca, New York, where he was a student at Cornell University, when he noticed an older man sitting tables away. They made eye contact, then exchanged a few smiles. Morrison felt the rush of attraction. And in that moment as a young undergraduate, he had a realization that he continually found himself attracted to older men, like the gentleman in the café. Others would have just chalked it up to a moment of self-awareness, but Morrison is a stand-up comedian.
Now 23 years old and living in New York City, Morrison has written Hello Daddy! One Man’s Journey to Cure Heterosexuality, his stand-up comedy show that, as he explains, is about all the daddys he’s had sex with. Morrison builds his comedy around his struggles with his sexuality growing up in Sarasota, Florida, and then the subsequent reaction to his affection for gay May–December romances. After visiting Provincetown for the first time last year for Bear Week, he’s making his Provincetown debut at the Pilgrim House with this hilarious show, which tackles stigma and taboos around many issues, including sex and intimacy, and the strange hang-ups people have about them.
“Everybody thinks I have daddy issues or I’m in it for the money or I’m a gold digger,” says Morrison. “All those things have been said about me. But I’ve leaned into it. I’ve always been attracted to older guys. And I’ve found a lot of younger guys who are attracted to older men, and it has nothing to do with money or past trauma. I don’t think anyone’s sexuality should be stigmatized, but those things have been thrown at me.”
Morrison began his career while still at Cornell, taking the train into New York to do the grind of open mics and late-night comedy clubs. The advice he received from veteran stand-ups was to do 10 to 15 shows a week. If there is a stage and a microphone, present your new material. And now he does about twice that number of shows in a week as he continues to perfect his craft. He’s played every stage in the city from the Greenwich Village Comedy Club to the Grisly Pear and has taken the train up to the Yonkers Comedy Club.
But the accomplishment that stands out most on his resume is his performance at the Kampala International Theatre Festival at the National Theater in the Ugandan capital. He was spending a semester abroad studying LGBT rights in Uganda in a program run by the School for International Training in Brattleboro, Vermont, known for their commitment to providing college students access to academic course work in far-flung places, off the beaten path of more traditional study abroad destinations like London, Paris, and Rome. Playing for the tough crowds of New York is one thing, but taking to the stage as a gay comedian in country that passed a law making homosexuality initially punishable by death, (later changed to life in prison), is another! But he did it. Maybe that’s why he says he no longer gets nervous before he hits the stage.
As Morrison makes his Provincetown debut in a genre of performance that is one of the most challenging, he revels in his opportunity to make people laugh, even if he’s the butt of the joke. And by the end of the show you’ll find out how that cruising encounter at the café in Ithaca turned out as he spills his life story from Hebrew school to the Ivy League. It wasn’t out of a family heritage or any particular moment that drew him to comedy. It was just a chance he took that first time, and he’s been taking those chances again and again as opportunities continue to present themselves.
“I come from a pretty silly, super Jewey family,” says Morrison. We have two lawyers in the family, but nobody in the performing arts. But if you go to Thanksgiving it’s a pretty silly group of people so I don’t stand out there. My parents are about as supportive as the parents of a 23-year-old who wants to be a stand up comedian can be.”
Sam Morrison presents Hello Daddy! One Man’s Journey to Cure Heterosexuality at the Pilgrim House, 336 Commercial St., Provincetown, Monday, July 9 through Wednesday, July 11 at 7 p.m. For tickets ($20 general/$30 VIP) and information, go to the box office, call 508.487.6424, or visit pilgrimhouseptown.com.
