Comedian Dean Morgan chatted about his future plans and the digital age. He also shared his advice for young and aspiring comics.
Comedic inspirations
On his comedic inspirations, he shared, “Jerry Lewis inspired me all my life for his slap stick, as did The Three Stooges. I was never a stand up, but I love to tell stories and make people laugh. My kids got me going with the slap stick when they were growing up.”
“I grew up in Park Forest IL, south of Chicago, and even tried out for ‘The Second City Comedy Show’ in 1979, at 19 years old, and passed the audition. However I didn’t get interested in acting until I was 51 years old,” he said.
“I heard on a radio show called The Loop in Chicago a funny April fool’s day joke, and that started Sheldon Mashugana. My friend Jace and I always called each other Sheldon for fun all these years. I then decided to make the character real,” he added.
The digital age
On being a comedian in the digital age, he said, “When I got my first computer back in 1982 called Apple 2 plus, I taught myself how to use it from the manual. I am today hooked on technology with streaming my shows, doing TikTok live, and even sending out crazy and funny shorts when I feel something is funny to do.”
“The only problem I see with the digital is that too many people are out there scamming people for money. There just needs to be a way to keep people from doing that. Like a security code to use a person’s name or email. My first time using Facebook for Sheldon, I got 500,000 views from Hollywood alone,” he said.
Future plans
On his future plans, he said, ” My plans are to make three more full length movies, What a Schmuck, Sheldon Mashugana Gets Lost in Space, and Sheldon Mashugana Goes Back to the Future, the story about the woopy cushion.”
“I just came up with another character called The Macher that is actually even funnier than Sheldon. People like this guy because he’s nuts. He looks funny as well. I have a lot of people looking at him now, and I just made a feature film which will be out in Feb 2024 called ‘The Macher in Mr. Big’,” he said.
Advice for young and aspiring comedians
For young and aspiring comedians, he said, “It’s best to relax when getting in front of people or the camera, and not worry about what you look like so much, or if you’re going to mess up. I watched some outtakes of Star Trek and always thought that Shatner was perfect. That is not the case. That cast joked on set all the time, and had to retake a lot of scenes.”
He continued, “Just remember that when you’re doing comedy, be in the moment, make up as you go, but still follow the script, and make sure the key words the director is looking for are always there in the lines you’re saying.”
“In a film I did for Lionsgate called ‘Ghoster,’ I thought the lines were bad so I changed them up. The director was really nice and allowed me to do it, but then asked if I would do it the way it was written. I said great, but asked him to read the line. He said, this line is terrible. So he gave me another word and I redid it,” he said.
“When the movie came out, they used my line anyway. You must be flexible and know how to do improv. This will make acting as a comic a lot more fun and easier to do,” he added.
Career-defining moments
On his career-defining moments, he revealed, ” When I was a kid my family owned a hot dog joint in Chicago Heights called Big Norms. One day in college, a friend of mine, William Sacks, started talking about hot dogs and how much they cost.”
“We were having fun with that and came up with a joke that to this day is the funniest joke ever. How much does a hot dog cost, one dollar. Then does it come with ketchup. That cost another dollar. So from that moment I had a feeling that I was really funny,” he said.
“When I was 19 years old and tried out for The Second City Comedy Show,’ and the lady in the back of the room fell off her chair from laughing, I knew I had something,” he added.
Success
Regarding his definition of the word success, Morgan said, ” Success means that you have done something from nothing and made it into something. I own a Healthcare company called Standard Medical Co-Op. I turned a thought into a healthcare company. I have been doing insurance since 1984 and still am. Never quit on a dream, stay focused.”
“I spoke with a few actors that have been in the acting business for years. The one thing they said to me was, stay in it for at least 15 years no matter what, then people will start noticing you. I started Sheldon from nothing, using a Where’s Waldo costume and a high pitch voice, acting like a kid. This is a lot of fun by the way,” he said.
Fans and supporters
For his fans and supporters, Morgan said, “I love my fans for loving Sheldon. It’s really hard to think of myself as a celebrity since I live in Dallas and people don’t really recognize me here because of the costume.”
“I was in Maui before the fires this year, and two people came up to me and said hello. Too all my fans, I love you and keep watching and laughing,” he added.
