I was wondering the same thing too, then I looked on his wikipedia page and saw he was an outspoken defender of Israel. (to the point where he was critical of Obama over US Israel policy).
Both statements are very true! Leno received and deserved courtesy laughs at best. I can't decide whose suit was worse... Carson's or Leno's! They both looked like characters in some Broadway comedy!
He got that far because he really is just a real person, he is approachable and you could have a conversation with him, try the same with letterman , I don’t think so
He did allot better in his interviews with David Letterman. He was actually funny. That's what got him started, in my opinion. You can find them here on RU-vid.
Joan Rivers didn't think he was funny, but she nailed the reason why he got the job. She said people fell asleep in front of their televisions at that time of night, and if they fell asleep to Leno it was OK. They knew they hadn't missed anything.
@@bradthompson5383 I'll have to disagree. I think Letterman was the GOAT, even better than Carson. That's probably not a popular opinion but bbn oh well. I liked Jay too, more than Carson also. 1st would be Letterman, 2nd would be Conan, 3rd would be Jay
Was thinking the same thing...and Leno's first standup here bombed...yet he replaces Carson years later. Funny thing about fate. I'm guessing Leno had good Hollywood connections.
Johnny got his dad's old Chrysler Royal as a gift from the network. He later gave it to a museum with a note to give it to Jay when they were done with it. So after he passed, Jay got the car as an inheritance. Dude really appreciated the kid.
@@AhPhoey Dude...the car (as a CAR) being work $12k is HARDLY the point (It's NOT like Jay NEEDED an old Chrysler to tool around in...LOL). It was Johnny's FATHER'S car. I have my Grandfather's LAST "Conger" railroad lantern. It's "only" from the 1960s, (he worked on the New York Central from 1928 to 1973) it's worth about $45 on eBay. To me it's work MORE than my car and truck combined. NOT EVERY THING IS A MONETIZED. Sentiment has uncalculatable value. Johnny Carson, making sure that Jay Leno got THAT car says A LOT more than the "book" value of the car. Oh, besides RESTORED '39 Chryslers are $50K and above.🤷♂️
For all the people complaining it was a bad set saying Jay Leno isn't fun - he bombed here but he had really good sets in later appearances. The miracle was that he got another chance. I guess Carson saw him live and knew he could do better.
When I lived in Oklahoma City in the late 70’s my buddies and I used to go see his act at Joker’s Club. We were always on the front row. Years later Jay said that his favorite gigs were at the Joker’s Club in OKC. You’re welcome Jay.
Fun fact: the big "HAH!" you hear at 1:23 is Robin Williams backstage. Williams wasn't a guest on the show, he just knew Leno and decided to go along with him to the filming that day.
Jay Leno is one of the kindest and most giving people on earth. I've seen him give away vehicles to disabled vets that cost over $100,000. He went over to their house and picked them up and took them to his garage and showed his car collection and basically had them spend a couple of hours with him riding around in this awesome SUV taking them out to lunch and things like that, and at the end of the day he gave it to them with a Year's worth of gas and insurance. He is one of the greatest charity givers on Earth. He has done more kind Acts for humanity than all the stupid actors in Hollywood put together.
I don't know what it is with Leno, every big comic who was around when Jay was a stand-up always says he was like the funniest guy around so I kind of have to trust that he was decent but whenever I watch clips of his stand-up it always just seems so forced. At the very least it hasn't aged well
Comedy is whats going on in the present so yes if you are trying to watch stand up that's 40 years old, its not going to make you exactly LOL, its more like taking a peak into the past for a history lesson..
Nicholas Verukkt His subject material here seems pretty evergreen. These jokes aren’t about Jimmy Carter or the Big Red Machine, it’s stuff a 2010s audience can still get.
rufio'smousse Actually this stuff seems pretty timeless to me. A 2010s audience should be as familiar with what he’s talking about as a 1970s audience was. And even his topical humor always felt 40 years old, too.
In case y'all are wondering how Leno got the Tonight Show; just watch his appearance on Carson in 1989. Guy was making Johnny and the entire audience crack up with his stories. Complete opposite of this one.
Oh yea that “delta frequent survivor program” line was so funny, I laughed and laughed, Leno is probably the funniest man who ever lived, I’m still laughing.
@@nooneimportanttoyou5050 Feeling uncomfortable on stage telling bad jokes is more simply explain by a total lack of talent. If not, making a 1st appearance on TV to make a fool of yourself sounds like a lack of judgment, self-criticism or self-esteem ("forced" or not). Poor guy, doesn't have much for himself. Good thing he inexplicably made a lot of money.
Leno just suffers from the Seinfeld affect, if this were the 1970s Jay would be in the top five on everybody's list. Since this is the 21st Century we have been exposed to so much different styles that we fail to remember how cutting edge Jay Leno truly was back then.
I agree to an extent, I find Carlin and Pryor to be a little overrated (and he's my favourite comedian). I actually never liked Seinfeld's standup routine but I enjoyed his show.
Mohit Garg That's the thing, being ballsy doesn't equal greatness and I feel like a lot of people have forgotten that. Nobody would call Johnny Carson edgy even by 50s standards, but we sure will call him funny.
@@trevorleeoakley7434 I think it’s a good thing. That was almost embarrassing, but somehow he made it in the end. You gotta love his Leno’s garage videos. Those are the best
@@billbuyers8683 Nothing like a biography to get the truth and the whole truth. Do you know how many people in US works their ass off and have nothing to show for. Another fan of the thinking : if you work hard your going to be successful. If not, it's your fault.
@@SonnyGTA You've expressed your opinion so eloquently that, I now have doubts. Am I an idiot ? Have I wasted my money on my education ? Why am I making complete coherent sentences ? Let me guess. Trump supporter that looks and acts like Jeff Lebowski.* * The big Lebowski (Movie)
Jay sure improved a lot. He's hilarious on later appearances. But this set was all jokes you would try out at an open mic, see nobody laughing, then go back home to work on new material. I can't imagine using these on something like the Tonight Show.
@@maxxammo5562 I always reply when somebody replies to something I posted many years ago. I figure they aren't expecting to get a reply but I've had the same account on here since like 2008!
No, I'd have to say Drew Carey had the best First Time on Carson. He got the holy trio of compliments. 1) the wave over, 2) "you're as funny as hell".."Can't beat that...no way". 3) "Will you come back and see us again?"
So not funny. I honestly didn't even crack a smile. His jokes are just plain corny, for any time. "It snowed on the sun". People were giving him mercy applause.
There’s actually a major life lesson in this. It shows you what self-belief, determination, and hard work can do. This is not a promising routine, and on the face of things you wouldn’t say that this is a stand-up comic of any talent or much in the way of prospects. But he’s been a bigger success not only than most comedians, but most show-biz people in general.
this isn't very good...but to be fair a lot of very famous comedians from back in the 60s and 70s material doesn't stand the test of time. It may have been funny then but it's not that funny now. Look at some of Bill Cosby's stuff...his stand up from back then looks AWFUL now.
You know whats pathetic is most comments insult jay. Give him a break he was just starting out... What is funny is had he known then that when johnny retired the tonight show would be his in the 90s and he would own his own garage and have a RU-vid channel jay leno's garage. Amazes me . my late grandfather loved watching johnny and then Jay . strangely my grandfather died February 11 2014 which in Feb 2014 was jays last shownot sure of date of his last show but seems weird how that happened.
I like how the comments completely ignore the fact that everyone in the room is laughing. It's not that he killed tremendously, and he wasn't hired to replace Johnny based on this one 3 minute performance. Y'all are just pretending to hate him out of parasocial solidarity to Letterman or Conan
I did the math a little wrong at first, I thought he was 17 when he did this set and I didn’t like how hard people were ripping on him in the comments because for 17, it’s not terrible. Then I realized he was 27......alright....
I heard his old stand up was incredible so I gave this a try, but after 1:22 I gotta stop. I tried watching him when he got the Tonight Show & it was just boring. Maybe there's some video of him in a club where he's really good.
"Literally"? That would imply that at one time they would film the show at night and at another time, in the day. "Night and day." Or did you just meant that one man had a dark complexion and that the other had a lighter complexion?
Harman Singh everything wrong with that, he should say "like night and day". period. A phrase like that is said figuratively speaking, never literally.
I would have lost a lot of money had I ever made a bet that this guy would never make it and end up one day hosting this show! Based on this performance, my logic would be sound.
So all the people who wanted to hate on Jay searched for his FIRST TV appearnece to do so. I recommend you watch the 10 min. of leno on the tonight show with carson where jay constantly cracked him up. Carson even said "you crack me up, you're funny" at the end
So many people keep looking up Jay Leno vids, trying to see whats the big deal, so have i, good comical point of view, but boring devilry. hes really overrated
Every time i hear people talk about Leno on comedy podcasts, they say what a shame it is that he's terrible now given how good his early stuff was. So I googled "early Jay Leno" and find this. Conclusion: All comedy was terrible before Mr. Show.
this is the beginning of an underdog story. The trailer for the movie starts with parts of this clip and dismal music. Then it cuts to him with a gun in his mouth crying, suddenly an angel (naked, played by jimmy fallon) comes down from the sky and appears to him. "Don't do it Jay Leno" one day you will have so many cars and your won show just like Johnny Carson. "Will it be as good as Johnny Carson's," asked Jay. "no, no it wont," said Angel Jimmy Fallon, " But you will make more money than him" Then it cuts to 20 years later a sign that says applause and Jay leno walking onto stage looking like a real life quagmire.
Lol!.. he sucked then, and sucks even more now. I'm a comedy fanatic. I've watched all of the best and lots of the mediocre. Jay doesn't even fall in the mediocre category. Why people continue to think he's funny, will boggle my mind forever. Jay's the "comedian" that comedians make fun of.
I think one has to remember that the host only has to be a nice guy that people will spend an hour with before they go to bed and funny enough to keep the show going if the guest is boring ... not meant to be the star, but make the star (guest) look good ... and Johnny, Jay and Fallon are just that: nice guys who are slightly funny.
