Garrett Morris: The Forgotten Ant-Man

If you’ve seen Marvel’s new superhero film Ant-Man, maybe you missed the best cameo.  No, we’re not talking about the post-post credits scene with the vice, we’re talking about the taxi driver.  If you didn’t recognize him, don’t feel bad, most people didn’t.  What you missed though is the THREE Ant-men in the film.  Hank Pym played by Michael Douglas, Scott Lang played by Paul Rudd, and Mr. Garrett Morris as the taxi driver.

Lemme just say that classic Saturday Night Live (SNL) had some truly magical comedy moments.  One of the reasons being censorship.  Odd, right?  But it forced the writers and cast to be witty and carefully craft their double entendres and make the laughs without crude potty humor so prevalent today.  Garrett was a cast member during the first five years of the show on NBC.  That’s right, way back in 1975, among such other notable talents as Gilda Radner, Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Chevy Chase, and (joining the second season) Billy Murray.  He was the first black actor to join the cast, and opened the door for a young comedian named Eddie Murphy later on.

So why am I talking about Garrett and Ant-Man?  Well, watch this classic sketch from the second season of SNL featuring Margot Kidder as the host and maybe you’ll understand:

Needless to say, I thought the addition of this third Ant-man to the film was fantastic.  This is not something the average viewer understood, however.  In my showing (which I attended with the Ace of Geeks crew), there were only two people in the sold out theater (not including myself) who laughed hysterically when Garrett had his cameo.  A true shame.  But really, thank you to director Peyton Reed to including Mr. Morris.

Why not try one of Secret of the Booze’s “Ant-Man” themed 21+ cocktails before you see Marvel’s new superhero film?