Get Ready For Tracy Morgan’s Triumphant Return to Comedy
More than a year after the accident that nearly killed him, Morgan returns to the stage.
NBC’s slate of hosts for the first 3 broadcasts of Saturday Night Live‘s 41st season included Miley Cyrus and breakout Trainwreck star Amy Schumer, which would’ve been exciting enough, but on October 17th, Tracy Morgan returns to the stage at 30 Rock.
Morgan was critically injured and his friend and fellow comic James McNair killed on June 7, 2014 when a speeding semi plowed into their limo on the New Jersey Turnpike.
Hosting SNL will mark Tracy Morgan’s first performance since the accident — which is notable as a few months after the crash there were fears that Morgan might never work again: the actor has suffered from brain trauma, a broken leg and broken ribs as part of the accident, and had been spotted walking with a cane in recent weeks.
In his first televised interview in May following the crash , Morgan was visibly shaken by the ordeal, bursting into tears on the Today show. “I can’t believe I’m here. I can’t believe I’m in front of you,” he told NBC’s Matt Lauer. “I can’t believe I’m just here, and just seeing the tragedy that happened. It touches me.”
Walmart, which owned the truck that plowed into Morgan’s limo, settled a lawsuit with the comedian in May. But for Morgan, returning to stage may be more cathartic than any legal action. BuzzFeed notes that this will be Morgan’s second time hosting the show that helped launch his comedy career.
“My goal is just to heal and get better because I’m not 100 percent yet,” he toldToday. “I’ll get back to making you laugh, I promise you.”
Photos by Ethan Miller/Getty Images
Read This Next
