Why Tracy Morgan Didn't Want to Live Without His Comedy

For Tracy Morgan, being funny saved him. It was a gift he believes that was given to him by God. Laughter allowed him to overcome a home life darkened by addiction and the loss of his father. He says it was his gift for comedy that took him out of the housing projects, all the way to the height of fame and success.

In a terrible twist of fate, Tracy almost lost that gift when a car crash put him in a coma and left him coping with a traumatic brain injury. No one knew whether he would ever fully recover his brain function, let alone perform comedy again. Oprah says that the idea of Tracy never again making his audience laugh was devastating for his fans.

However, no one was more scared than Tracy himself. He feared that he had lost his gift permanently—and he even questioned whether he wanted to continue living without it. "My sense of humor was my gift that he gave me to survive all the hardships of my life," Tracy says. "And I just feel like this: If I can make you laugh and forget about the things that you're going through for a minute, then, you know, I love that. If I couldn't do that anymore, I don't know if I would want to live."