“You get to find out what people really like and what they think is funny, and you can see their faces,” he said. “When I was a kid, my mom had a hard life, so I always enjoyed making my mom laugh. That was one of my great thrills or joys. My mom would cheer up when I came around. I get to see people come to a comedy show, especially older folks, and they really seem to enjoy themselves.”
There are a few topics and styles that Leno tends to stay away from in his shows and that includes politics. He said that politics can be divisive and sometimes do not help the show because people’s political leanings are all different.
“I think you should at least try to make everybody laugh, and I’ve just avoided politics now because I don’t really care about a performer’s political leanings,” Leno said. “I think you want to go to a comedy show to get away from that.”
Leno said that he tries to have a joke every six to nine seconds because the audience must be engaged. He also said that he tries to stay away from using obscenities because he finds that a lot of comedians use it too much and it can become gimmicky.
“I don’t use obscenities in my act, not because I’m offended by it,” he said. “I’m just bored by it. I find it really lazy, you know? And then when I say that, I’m the old guy complaining about the new comic. Plus, for the comedy to really work, there has to be a certain structure.”
Some of Leno’s comedy influences include Rodney Dangerfield, Bob Newhart and Richard Pryor. He was also friends and worked alongside many of those comedians when he was starting out. He said they helped shape his style.
“I mean, your job as a comedian is to tell a joke,” he said. “It’s nice to be socially aware and be conscious and do all that kind of stuff. I try to do that in my private life, but to bring it to an audience, that’s not what they’re there for. You went to Rodney Dangerfield because he had jokes. He just made you laugh. Just stupid, silly, you know? And that’s what we try to do here.”
Leno said he loves watching comics work on their craft. Leno does like some of the newer comedians including John Mulaney, Bill Burr and Nikki Glaser. He said he was one of the first people to put her on TV when he hosted “The Tonight Show” around 2009.
“Glaser is great, because here’s the thing, her stage act is so filthy, but it’s funny,” he said. “In comedy, the one exception is that everything’s OK, as long it’s funny. When you see her do the Golden Globes she really works on that set. She’ll go to five nightclubs a night just to try the five minutes and keep taking words out to make it tighter and tighter. She’s a real pro, and I really admire her … She’s a professional comedian and she gauges her material to the audience, and that’s what I try to do.”
On top of touring, Leno also still loves cars and hosts his “Jay Leno’s Garage” show on YouTube. He enjoys it because he said the late-night scene is so different now. There is so much advertising it is pointless to watch. He said that even though technology changes, comedy does not, and that should always be the focus for a comic.
“If you watch Chaplin or Keaton or any comedy from that era, I think you’d laugh as hard as people did back then, even more so just because of the cars and the clothing,” he said. “The idea of a rich guy falling in the mud puddle is always going to get a laugh, and that’s what’s fun about comedy.”
Leno said that he rarely writes any of his jokes down because he is dyslexic. He tries to keep all his jokes and stories in his head, which might sound difficult, especially for someone who does a 45-minute set. However, Leno said that when he says something funny, it makes a “notch in his brain,” and he tends to forget the things that aren’t funny.
“It makes a footnote in your brain, and you just remember to try and say it again somewhere,” he said. “It doesn’t always work, but for the most part it does. When bad things happen to me, I seem to forget them. I know my parents passed away. I love my parents very much, but I still can’t tell you what day they did because I don’t want to remember that. But with other things that get a laugh or stories that get a reaction, I remember them like they happened yesterday.”
Laugh Riot Girl is a column by comedian and writer Jessica Graue that explores the local comedy scene and issues surrounding it. Reach her by email at jessica.graue@coxinc.com.
Credit: Chris West
Credit: Chris West
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Tickets for the show are $47.50 to $141 and can be purchased at www.hobartarena.com.
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