In 2009 during the recession, leno came to Detroit and did two free comedy shows for out of work auto employees at an arena and got a bunch of corporate backing to cover free concessions for every guest. If I remember that translates to a night out for about 32-36 thousand people.
I find Joe List is so relatable here. I'd sit there quietly, wait for the the conversation to come to an end, and say "I like Jay Leno too." That's a man after my own heart.
I did standup for 30 years. Jay was told my dad had an aneurysm and was recovering. It was touch an go. Jay made a call to my dad and my dad was incredibly touched. He made a full recovery. I was a nobody and Jay didn't have to do that. I'll always be grateful to Jay for doing that. As a standup he was the best. I remember going on at the Comedy & Magic Club and then sitting and watching Jay. He made 45 minutes seem like 10 minutes. Great joke after great joke. Good man!
On the other hand, Jay has the respect of the Car community because he has a deeper love for cars than most "car guys." Most car guys have a deep level of knowledge of a specific car give or take a couple of years. Jay's knowledge is expansive over multiple years, and brands.
In 2009 I took a tour of NBC studios. It was $7.00. During the tour we walked passed Jay's personal parking spot. One of his cars was parked there, a little purple car. Jay saw our tour group, walked over to us, and spent 10 minutes talking about his car. Jay is the real deal. He's also very tall in real life.
Yes indeed there is not one comic when talking about Jay who does not go into his high pitched voice! I know it's hard not to do that as I do it too! haha
I was a page at the Tonight Show when Jay was the host - my station was the backstage phone outside the hair/make-up room where he'd get prepped for the show - I'm a motorhead too, and he and I would talk about cars nearly every day. He never tired of it. Legit nice guy. He gave me a ride in a hemi - I think it was a GTX - green. That was pretty rad.
Between 06-07 i did security on TNT and later front gate graveyard shift. Your name sounds familiar. Anyways, he would come in early morn weekdays and we had some time to bs about cars as well. Such a rad guy.
I am a retired firefight/paramedic from the city where Jay lives, and he has brought some of his toys by the firehouse to show the crew. He has been extremely generous with his time (and donations) to the charity and fund raising efforts our department does. One of the nicest down to earth “celebrities” you could ever meet, and where I worked we saw a lot of celebrities that were not.
My guess would be Toluca Lake or Burbank. I worked security for the Tonight Show at NBC studios when I started. Then I got to greet him every early weekday morning at the main entrance. Sometimes we had time to BS about cars. I never really brought up his celebrity. The guy is the most laid back guy I met out of Hollywood. Most celebs are obnoxious dicks. The only other celeb that was just as kind to me was Joan Rivers.
I worked in Beverly Hills at an agency and lived in Sherman Oaks in the valley and would drive over Coldwater Canyon every day and would often times see Jay driving an old fire engine or an amazing convertible or whatever and he would always wave when people honked at him. Living his best life.
So I saw this comment halfway through the video and got all excited for "what's Joe List gonna say" and still when it came at the very end I buckled into laughter. God I love comedians.
Jay is an institution in the valley. I was lucky enough to live near one of his hangars. Everyone loved him. Cholos, young kids, old bikers, everyone would make time and make way for Jay and any of his vehicles.
Leno's car and motorcycle passion are extremely admirable to me. Not only is it fascinating, he's presenting history for all the rest of us to see. What a guy
So some rich asshole has a bunch of money he could use to help millions of struggling people, and instead he uses it to buy a bunch of stupid cars and that's admirable to you. Whatta chud.
I saw Jay Leno stand up in 1988 and then 30 years later in 2019. Front row both times. I had my playbill from the first show and I was hoping to get him to sign it. As we were leaving the venue, my friend said there he is. He was outside the back of the venue signing autographs. I ran out in traffic and asked him to sign it. He asked how old is this? ( It was from the 80's with the pastel suits and funky ties) I said I saw you 30 years ago. I wish I had thought of something clever but he was gracious enough to sign.
To this day, Louis ck on the tonight show when he told Jay Leno about the sketch artist asking "no really what does he look like", is still one of my favorite jokes ever
Great interview. I love all those guys. Joe is right about Jay. His car show is one of the most entertaining and you really get to see Jay doing something he loves.
Our family had rented an old creepy house for a summer while waiting to move into our new home. Below the family room was a garage with two Ford Model As from the 1920s. The only rule my young brothers and I were given by the owner was not to touch them because they were not his. About a month into our stay we get a knock on the door and it’s Jay Leno. He goes downstairs to his cars and about a minute later he yells up the steps “who touched my car”? We’re freaking out. We were blaming each other but swore none of us touched them. It was very hard not to though. He tells us to come downstairs. He shows us a couple of fingerprints on one of the cars. The longest silence that felt like minutes until Jay says nonchalantly “you’re too young to drive. I’ll do the driving for us” and he takes all three of us for a 15 minute car ride. Even let us honk the horn that made an “ahhooga” sound. I’ll never forget that day.
Thats exactly what i thought too. Seems exactly like what Jay would do. He seems like that guy. He really loves cars and in such a generous way that even more than cars he loves sharing the love of cars with others. Even kids. You probably enjoyed it more for the stress of being accused of something you didnt do. Did you touch it tho. Ngl, i totally would have been all over that car.
I grew up in Burbank and I've run into Jay Leno a few times. 1st time, one of his classic cars broke down in my alley. I was a little kid at the time, but I would stay up with my older brothers and watch his show. I recognized him, he was real nice, still have the autograph. 2nd time, saw him at Foster's Freeze and he bought Ice Cream for all the kids there. I've seen him around since and one of his car warehouses is near my work so I see him driving by occasionally. You can tell it's him because the classic car and he always wears denim pants and denim jacket. He performs regularly at Flappers, a comedy club in Burbank.
I will never judge a stand up comic for "selling out". They spend years sometimes decades touring and staying in filthy motels and apartments, having to neglect friends and family, staying up late with dysfunctional people (which, if you're prone to substance abuse like a lot of comedians are, isn't good for your sanity or mental health). It's a freaking brutal life. That's why when I hear people giving comedians like Adam Sandler or Eddie Murphy crap for starring in cheesy movies, or Jay Leno for doing hacky monologues every night, I just roll my eyes. They made it. Let them make some money and enjoy some luxuries.
I mean "some" luxuries bay be under selling it with Leno, but your overall point is valid regardless. It's their job and life they don't owe anything to anyone
I saw an interview with some comics (I think Theo Vonn) talking about Bob Saget’s goal from the very beginning when he was doing standup was to get a lead role on a popular family sitcom that would be on the air for a decade. He just wanted to get paid. 😂
He is. Whenever he is mentioned there's always lots of people telling their stories about meeting him and chatting with him and how nice he is. No cameras.
I've met many celebrities and to this day the nicest one I ever met was Leno. We chatted for an hour. He is the most humble easygoing guy in show business. You can just tell he was raised by very good people.
@@aspaceproductions Based on everything I've watched and read abt that whole debacle, I can honestly say that Leno wasn't entirely at fault for what happened to the Tonight Show. At worst he's in 2nd place. 1st place goes to the execs of NBC, at least for me. Jay wasn't ready to retire but they sorta forced him to, to make way to Conan because they promised Conan the slot . They then gave Leno, as part of the deal probably to step down, the slot before the Tonight Show which of course he accepted because he wasn't ready to hang it up just yet. That in turn hurt the ratings for Conan's Tonight Show which then NBC used as a reason to make Conan move his show the next day and give Jay his old show back. I think Jay's only fault in this whole scenario is accepting to host the show before Conan's. That felt probably felt disingenuous on Conan's part.
I really enjoyed this segment. Simply stated: Jay Leno is a business person. He adjusted his "act" to appeal to the widest audience and understood the demands of both the audience and the job.
Jay really was an incredibly underrated stand-up. Go back and watch some of his spots with Carson, his command of the audience and Johnny is absolutely masterful.
@@matthewscanlan2874 I doubt you've seen his stand up. This was back in the day day. Even David Letterman knows what's up. I'm not talking about Tonight Show monologues
I saw him live once. I was not prepared for what I saw and heard. He was way funnier than he was on the Tonight Show. As Louis CK said, he wanted to broaden his audience for TV.
Jay’s known for being very good personally with comics. But he also severely reduced the number of stand-up sets on the Tonight Show because they didn’t get ratings, in stark contrast to Letterman. So that was another thing that didn’t help his image.
Jay Leno is the real deal. I've had the privilege to see him live twice and each time he killed it. A hardcore performer. No agenda except to entertain his audience.
Saw Leno at the Circle Star Theater in like 1987. We were in the front row. And he absolutely killed. Just a great, memorable time. Edit: Weird fact: I just recalled Leno's opening act. A very funny man named Kevin Rooney. Looked him up because I was wondering what he was up to. Just passed away last month. RIP.
Jay is SUCH. A. LEGEND!! wholesome human! I hope he recovers swiftly and gets back on his feet shooting the cars he loves We all live you jmJay burns on your face won't change anything to the fans of Jay 🖤🙏
I grew up watching Jay and I too wish him well from his injuries. My heart dropped when I first heard about his accident thinking we lost another great one. Please get better Jay Mr. Leno, we are thinking of you. You are in our prayers. Thank you so much for the years of making us smile.
watch - howie mandel does stuff on youtube. look for jay leno interview. it will open your mind to the truth and it's howie who lays it out not jay. jay never complains.
I remember when Jay found out that Phil Hartman was killed while he was live on air...it was when the show was closing...the raw emotion was heart breaking.
Yeah, that's true. But before Jay, there was James Melton and Bill Harrah who also drove their cars. Harrah had many more cars than Jay. Leno can fix them, while the others could not
I love this type of thing. When you hear famous people talk about other famous people in a REAL way. I'm into cars and I'm a mechanic so of course I'm very aware of Jay Leno but because of what went down between him and letterman and him and Conan I kind of didn't like him but now I see that like any individual you can't just hear something or things and pass judgment. Same thing kinda happened with Louis even though I always find him to be extremely likable.
I worked valet parking at Harrah's Reno. Got some comped tickets as part of our employee appreciation package with me, my girlfriend, and 2 of her friends. I had no expectations and Jay gave us the best comedy show I've ever seen. So damn effortlessly funny.
I worked on a show at NBC in Burbank for 4 months in 2003. Jay's parking spot was right by the entrance. I never saw the same car twice. I saw the jet motorcycle too. I still see him driving around Burbank in these insane cars, all the time.
🤣 1996, minutes after being an audience member, was at the phone booth across the street, talking to my Dad in KY, Jay pulled out driving a Chitty Chitty Bang Bang car. Made my 1st trip to L.A.!
for not wanting to quit his #1 job because some smartass demanded his job from his boss? because conan was an asshole to jay. and conan was no good on the tonight show. his ratings tanked the first week when jay was OFF THE AIR and jay didn't come on till months later . so all of conans bitching about jay tanking him is bullshit . he tanksed himself.
Well there def was a reason. But the pressure that the tonight show brings with it , has to be enormous. I do love Conan he did not deserve that . He is such a great guy . So Conan good , jay bad.
@@Geekspeak1270 it would be one thing if it were just Conan but lets forget Letterman. This is a career pattern. I dont detest Leno but i wouldnt trust the guy with $5.
@@ChicCanyon Letterman didn't even try to get the Tonight Show. He just assumed someone would call him up and give it to him. Well.... It didn't work out that way.
In one of the earlier episodes of his series, he got someone to start up a hot rod and he was able to tell what kind of alternator they had used based on the sound it made when the engine was turning over lol. Completely changed my perception about him because I really didn't care for his late night role. His knowledge of vehicles is almost priceless compared to his comedy imo
Agree. He is an actual expert on cars and its obviously what he really loves. The tonight show made it possible. I likes his corny, bland style. He changed the Carson format only slightly. Carson teased Ed about drinking, Jay teased Kevin about weed. That's about it. He was the perfect successor to Johnny. But the Carson Era ended when Leno left, not when Johnny did. Fallon is a new thing.
I think Jay Leno not only a very good comedian but a fascinating soul that’s unaffected by show business. He loves his wife more than anything. Great man!!!
Glad to see Louis CK back in a good place. He comes off as kind and well-adjusted after his difficult times. Nice to see the appreciation of Jay Leno and the respect shown him. Nice that Joe List doesn't try to jump in the conversation with his two more seasoned elders. BTW Rogan is now 55, Louis 54.
Jerry Seinfeld has consistently said Jay Leno was the most talented standup he’s ever seen. The Tonight Show and his behavior around it definitely clouds the opinion of him, but he’s a true legend and a great guy.
@@Kochaine You mean what Conan and Conan's manager did to Jay? The only reason you believe the fake story about that is because Conan is a douche so he spread his false story to as many people as he could, while Jay is a great person who you can't get to talk bad about Conan.
@@Kochaine says that Jay was the best stand up he ever saw. That everyone in the up and coming comedy game wanted to be him in the 70s/80s. And Letterman hates Leno more than anyone
I am a biggest Conan fan and I dont feel jaded at all. It wasnt meant to be. Btw Conan should be thankful that happened, his comedy wasnt made for that mainstream slot, his ratings were already going down and he would be way more devastated if his show got cancelled(which it basically did but in roundabout way).
Back in the late 90's early 2000s I was a charter coordinator for Clay Lacy Aviation at Van Nuys airport. Few people know that at least once a week I would provide jet transportation for Jay. He would show up at the airport after filming his, usually Thursday "Tonight Show" around 4ish in the afternoon. We would fly him to mostly major city's around the US so he could test new material in different parts of the country. I got to know him quite well and he was always humble and respectful. One time he brought me a cajon chicken dinner from a famous cajon restaurant in New Orleans. FYI, it was Obama that didn't like a joke Jay did about him one night, that forced the network to terminate Jay's contract.
Wow, that’s crazy! I couldn’t figure out why Jay with number 1 ratings would just give it over to this kid Jimmy Fallon who kind of just fell into late night television.
Finally some truth about Jay Leno. Granted, Louis C.K. said the same thing when he was on Howard Stern, but that was many years ago. Jay would always call him and encourage him and congratulate him. And yet he is the bad guy? Incredible. Fired twice for the sin of being the #1.
Jay is the "every guy" comedian. He's unassuming but perfect for every situation. His car show touches all men in some way. A icon of the industry, today's comedians should all take notes.
Jay Leno got shit because he was competitive. So what? I like O'brien and Letterman too but Leno didn't owe them shit. The bigger fish gets to swim. I got nothing but respect for that.
I always loved Jay, thought he was hilarious. I never truly understood the hate he got. I'm guessing it had something to do with was that he just wasn't Johnny Carson, and it made some people never able to accept him as the host of the tonight show. But the guys comic timing is amazing. And I love when he's on car related shows, or talking about cars. I grew up with a mechanic dad, so that kind of thing is right up my alley. Love me some classic cars.
