During her early adolescent years, Arizona State University student Melody Morris participated in a pastime uncommon to many girls her age: watching college basketball.
Her affinity for the sport developed into a fandom for the Duke Blue Devils when Jayson Tatum joined the team in 2016. The years went by, and Morris missed Tatum. Her love for Duke, which is understood, eventually translated to a love for the Celtics, which New Yorkers, like the author of this column, will never understand. Unlike Knicks fans, though, Morris can often celebrate. Since drafting Jayson Tatum, the Celtics have appeared in four Eastern Conference Finals and are tied for the most playoff wins since he entered the league.
However, her love for college basketball ties back to something that doesn’t warrant celebration.Morris’s father always watched sports; by default, she tagged along. Football didn’t click for some reason, but watching college basketball with her dad seemed freeing. Unfortunately, those moments were often prohibited because of Morris’ father’s time in jail.
Distance made the heart grow frail and their relationship stained. Inadvertently, the stain spread into Melody’s relationship with others. She admits it’s sometimes hard to trust people and occasionally finds it difficult to connect with people. Not many things impinge more than an absent father in a household, but despite her experience, Morris knows the means by which she wishes to connect with others, and the same means grants a sense of relief from the hardship she endured: comedy.
“I always wanted to do comedy as a kid,” Morris said. “I love making people happy, and when I was younger, I couldn’t wait to tell people my life story in a comedic way- a way in which they can probably relate to me and laugh.”
The highly energetic and creative comedian started performing seven months ago. She
memorizes her sets the day of, sometimes even two hours before a show. Her confidence is commendable, nevertheless, understood once you consider her mom.
Morris is doing her passion, but when hecklers make ignorant comments regarding her
qualifications as a young blonde in comedy, she leans on the endurance she saw her mom possess all those years raising her only child. Sometimes, when she is feeling it, the “hot head” comes out on stage, and she responds.
If she has an opinion and believes it needs to be shared, it will be shared. And that’s why this is the perfect journalism course for her. Here’s a girl who thinks 70s fashion is supreme (I’m sure Rhoden can attest to that too), mushrooms stink (which they do), people should be okay with her wanting to relax on the beach and not wanting to get married, and the fast paced gameplay and fashion in basketball make it the best sport, without question. Question her, and you might get the hothead side.
She is ready to state more of her opinions in her columns, but expect a comedic touch when reading them. Her comedic skills increased due to the journalistic principles she acquired as a sports journalism major.
The senior acknowledges that journalism helps in comedy more than comedy helps in journalism because stand-up comedy requires the time and dedication to switch up sentence structure and punctuation, which changes the meaning and cadence of jokes.
She isn’t only a funny white girl with a knack for writing but also a cultured one. For her first concert she saw Snoop Dogg, and her love for kicks runs deep, too. More Melody’s are needed in the world, for sure.
However, the main reason more Melody’s are needed is because of her “why” behind what she does. She does comedy and journalism, so she can share her story, connect with others, and help them recover as she recovers.
Although her passions and interests tie her to her father, they untie her from the burdens he may have inflicted. Even so, to this day, her dad, who she occasionally centers her jokes around, still calls. “When he calls, he doesn’t even feel like a friend, much less a father,” Morris said. “He talks to me as though everything is fine.”
Even though Morris’ father displays an unawareness of his wrongs through a lack of sorrow, I’ve witnessed the power of consistency in my dad’s relationship with his children. Just as there is hope that Morris will end up in her dream location, New York City, making Knicks fans laugh their sorrows away while getting an invite to the Met Gala where she can bring 70s fashion back in style, hope remains that those consistent phone calls will bring reconciliation and that reconciliation may just lead to her and her pops watching college ball again.
Until then, keep making people laugh, Melody, because your jokes help people see the light in their dark moments. Maybe the class can get a little show soon, too.
