Tracy Morgan, onstage in Reading this Saturday, talks about his journey back 'from the other side'

Tracy Morgan isn't all about the jokes these days. He says he has changed, not an uncommon result of living through a near-death experience.

"I went to the other side and came back," Morgan said during a phone call from Austin, where he was performing.

The former star of 30 Rock and Saturday Night Live almost died in 2014 in an accident on the New Jersey Turnpike. Morgan was being shuttled back from a performance when his limo was struck by a Walmart freight truck. He was in a coma for nearly two weeks.

"I have a different perspective after going through that," Morgan, 47, said. "I've been crying. The reason I cry now is that the world lacks love. Love is the strongest thing in the universe. When I came out of that coma, I knew what my duty was. I need to make people happy."

Prior to the tragic accident, which claimed the life of Morgan's close friend and fellow comic James "Jimmy Mack" McNair, the lovable wise guy was loose and unpredictable. During a 2011 interview, Morgan asked me about teaming up for a book, even though he had just written an autobiography.

Morgan proposed meeting during a Yankees game in New York to discuss the project. He said he had six tickets for the game. Asked what he'd do with the other four, he had an immediate plan for a post-game diversion in his native Bronx: "We're going to scalp the extra tickets and take the money and go to a strip club after the game."

Those were the days.

"I remember that," Morgan recalled. "We were kickin' it."

Morgan is more sedate off stage these days. "I have my wife and daughter to think about," he said. He married Megan Wollover in 2015, 14 months after the accident. They have a two-year-old daughter, Maven.

But Morgan, who will perform Saturday at the Santander Performing Arts Center, is still wild under the lights. "It's my outlet," Morgan said. "I'm not going to be up there being serious. I'm about making people laugh. I want to make people feel good."

The Emmy-nominated humorist wasn't sure if he would make it back after the accident. He suffered a brain injury and numerous broken bones. "It was hard and I'm not fully recovered yet," Morgan said. "I still have a way to go."

But he had no fear when he returned to a movie set last year for Fist Fight, a comedy that also stars Ice Cube, Christina Hendricks and Charlie Day. It's scheduled for a February 2017 release.

"It was literally like getting back on a bike," Morgan said. "I had no issues and I had a great time with everyone. Ice Cube and Charlie Day are very funny people, who made it easy for me to start this up again."

The long-awaited Richard Pryor biopic, Richard Pryor: Is It Something I Said?, has finally been green-lit, with Mike Epps in the lead. Morgan is in talks to play legendary comedian Redd Foxx.

"He was one of the all-time greatest, and he inspired me to try comedy," Morgan said. "I want to do right by him."

In the meantime, Morgan will be onstage riffing about his life and sharing his thoughts on a variety of subjects. "I like to mix it up," Morgan said. "That keeps things interesting."

That includes Morgan's take on what he calls "the other side." What was it like?

"You have to come to the show to find out," Morgan said. "I can't tell you that now, but you will find out as long as you come out. You can bank on the most amazing story you'll ever hear."

Now that sounds like the old, cocksure Morgan.

"I'm still here," Morgan said. "It's not like I became a completely different person after that happened. I just don't take anything for granted. You never know what's going to happen. I'm just happy to be alive doing what I love. How many people can say that?"

Tracy Morgan, 8 p.m. Saturday at Santander Performing Arts Center, 136 N. 6th St. $25, $45 and $55. 610-898-SHOW, santanderarena.com