Morgan, a "Saturday Night Live" alumnus, and Jordan both seem funny, outspoken and unpredictable. But Morgan wants to make it clear Jordan is just a guy he plays - and "30 Rock" is just one aspect of his career.

"Are we ever going to talk about my stand-up?" he said during a recent interview, sounding as passionate as Tracy Jordan as he spoke by phone from South Carolina, where he's filming "Nailed," a political comedy with Jessica Biel, Jake Gyllenhaal and director David O. Russell.

Morgan described stand-up as his most personal art form.

"When I do stand-up . . . I get to do whatever I want to do. There's no boundaries. You'll get to know me," he said.

"You'll leave with a piece of me."

Q: Do people think you're as crazy as Tracy Jordan?

A: I couldn't tell you what people think. I lost that ability a long time ago. If you're asking me am I anything like him, I would say no.

Q: No?

A: We share some characteristics, but that's human. . . . Tracy Jordan is a character that Tracy Morgan plays and that's it. Outside of show business, I live a normal life.

Q: Do you have a favorite thing your character has done on the show?

A: The very first episode, I ran down the street in New York in my underwear, and that's fun.

Q: What is Tina Fey like as a boss?

A: She's really cool. She's not bossy at all. She's just creative.

Q: What should we expect when we see you onstage?

A: You're going to see Tracy Morgan, who's much more interesting than Tracy Jordan. Tracy Jordan is just a figment of my imagination, a figment of Tina's imagination. You ain't seen nothing yet until you see Tracy Morgan.

Q: What are we going to find out about you from your act? Are you going to get real personal?

A: Stand-up is really personal. It's not like somebody else is writing the script and you have to do what they write. Stand-up is mine. It's a part of me. Everything I talk about in stand-up is my experiences as an American, as a father, as a husband, as a black man, as a human being. You don't get to experience that on "30 Rock" in a half-hour. . . . That's why I love doing stand-up and I would never give it up.

Q: With the news that George Carlin passed away, are there comics who . . .

A: You know what? I didn't even know George Carlin passed away. . . . I'm so in a bubble here filming this movie. I'm on the set and I'm back in the hotel room.

Q: Was Carlin one of your favorites?

A: George Carlin is an influence on a generation. He made me want to do comedy. Amongst Richard Pryor and Eddie Murphy, he's one of the masters. I'm so sad to hear that. Young stand-ups, we ought to do comedy in his spirit, in Richard Pryor's spirit, in Jackie Gleason's spirit, in Lucille Ball's spirit, because they did it with the spirit.

Q: Is your stand-up primarily adult-oriented?

A: Absolutely. . . . I don't like doing stand-up for little kids. It's not geared for that. I like to do stand-up for people who live real life. I don't really take the college tours and all that. Those are young people and I'm quite sure they're mature enough to understand, but they haven't seen or lived real life yet.

I touch on sex in my stand-up and it's funny, because when I talk about sex from an adult point of view, people cringe. But if I talk about war or killing, people laugh. So it's sick. It's really demented.

Q: Do you think people know how passionate you are about certain things?

A: No, because I don't show them that. They've got to come see me perform. I talk about it, and I'm not afraid to move away from funny. I'm not afraid of that. I can make people laugh at the drop of a dime. God's given me that ability. But I've also got to say something. I've got to show life as I see it. *