Sam Morril Lands at Dania Improv Ahead of His New Special

"You'll never be more pro-choice," Sam Morril recently told David Letterman, "than on a flight back from Orlando."

A regular at New York City's famous Comedy Cellar and the cohost of We Might Be Drunk with Mark Normand, the stand-up comedian has been touring through Florida for years.

With his recent Netflix special, Same Time Tomorrow, in the rearview mirror, he'll return to the Sunshine State for five shows at the Dania Improv January 25-27.

New Times sat down with the comedian to talk about Florida, his dark sense of humor, and the new special he'll be filming in March.

New Times: A lot of your jokes take shots at Florida. Is there something about Florida that makes it so attractive to comedians?

Sam Morril: Well, yeah, of course. Florida's just haunting me. It's a pretty big state in terms of just how many cities you have that I can hit. I hit Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville, Miami, Orlando, Tampa. Is there another state where I can hit that many different cities? Also, it's got such a range of what a comedy crowd can be. You can have the best shows in your life in Florida and the worst shows. I really do believe that.

Are there any stories that stick out from your time in Florida?

I played this one club. The owner was a character. He would say horrendous stuff, but he was funny. I remember bringing Dina Hashem to open for me there once. He would say insane stuff about me being a Jew or insane stuff about Dina being a Muslim. We weren't offended at all. We thought it was hilarious. We were dying. It didn't feel racist. It felt like he was trying to stir up stuff and be silly. You don't meet people like this anymore.

You've got a dark sense of humor. Do you ever worry about being canceled?

I can't get fired from anything. I'm a stand-up comic who tours. I can say whatever I want. But it's got to be funny, too. If you're going to a dark place or a provocative place, put some thought into it. If I do a joke about a dark subject, like abortion or mass murder, I'm finding a silly spin. I'm not just making it darker. To me, that's not dark comedy; that's light comedy.
When you were coming up, who influenced you?

I love Dave Attell. I loved Greg Giraldo. I loved Chris Rock, Louis C.K., Bill Burr. Any of the obvious New York-style people in terms of stand-up, but you're influenced in other ways. Adam Sandler and Rodney Dangerfield were my introduction to comedy, and I still love them both very much. Back to School was probably the funniest movie ever. But it's also a sweet movie, you know? Dangerfield, to me, is so important because he does what comedy should do. He sticks his nose up at pretentiousness.

Besides comedy, what are you working on?

Mark Normand and I are trying to make a movie right now. Do I want to make a show? I do, but I wouldn't want to be on NBC. I love Jerry Seinfeld and Ray Romano, but I'm not like them. To be true to me, it would have to be more like my stand-up. It would have to be on a more adult platform, like Netflix or HBO. I emailed Louie C.K. at 2 in the morning last night. I said, "I'm re-watching Louie. It makes me so happy this show exists."

You're about to film another special. Have your style and the things that interest you as a comedian changed over time?

I think my style is changing. This hour is definitely more story-heavy. They're punchy. They're not boring stories. When you're a brand-new comic, you say whatever is funny, even if it's not completely you, because you're like, well, that got a laugh. Then you get older, and your type of humor is more like, okay, this is something I would say to a guy at a bar. Even if it's still reminiscent of the style you started with, it just feels more conversational.

At the end of the day, what motivates you?

Money is not my driving force in this; if it is your driving force, you'll have a very short career. You have to do this to continually make stuff you're proud of, and stand-up is what I'm proud of. I think why I still have an audience is because they see how seriously I take my stand-up. I'm driven by making cool stuff. I love it.

Sam Morril. 8 p.m. Thursday, January 25; 7:30 and 10 p.m. Friday, January 26; and 7 and 9:30 p.m. Saturday, January 27, at Dania Improv, 177 N. Pointe Dr., Dania Beach; 954-981-5653; daniaimprov.com. Tickets cost $30 to $40.