Tracy Morgan enjoying return to stand-up comedy

ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- U.S. comedian Tracy Morgan is returning to stand-up comedy but he says, even during his years on "Saturday Night Live" and "30 Rock" he never left.

Currently on tour with his stand-up routine, the comedian told the Anchorage (Alaska) Daily News he's enjoying his return to the stage.

"My return to stand-up is going great! I never left it. I would always do stand-up. I never left it. I did TV, movies. But I never left it. Stand-up is the foundation of my whole career," he said.

Morgan, perhaps best known for his impersonations of Al Sharpton, Aretha Franklin, Maya Angelou and Star Jones on "SNL," said he improvises on stage more than most comedians.

"Things come to me when I'm on stage. I like to believe I do my best creating when I'm on stage. Life is, you know, unpredictable. So when you are doing live comedy, things can be unpredictable," he said.

Morgan said he was a high-school dropout, who dealt drugs and was living on welfare with three kids by age 23.

But it wasn't his talent that saved him from this life, the newspaper reported Thursday.

"Comedy didn't save my life, 'cause comedy was with me when I was dealing drugs," he said. "What saved my life was my family. Comedy is just something I do. It's a contract. When I get a cold, comedy doesn't bring me chicken soup. My wife does."