Love What You Do, Work Hard, Help Others: A Different Kind of Comic
Jay Leno, comedian and former host of "The Tonight Show"
Jay Leno is a different kind of comedian. Why? He is a genuinely happy guy. His humor springs from a place of joy, not pain. In a time when cynicism, neuroticism, and disdain define most comics, Jay’s lack of angst–his simple love of writing a joke and telling it–makes him oddly radical.
Jay’s love of comedy started when he was about four-years-old. Something he said got a reaction from adults. He doesn’t remember exactly what, but he remembers them laughing. In fourth grade, peers chuckled at a wry observation in class. His teacher, Miss Allen, scolded him, but he was making people laugh.
While attending Emerson College in the early ’70s, he tried out material in local night clubs. After graduating, he opened his own comedy club nearby, gaining experience while helping other young comics. This would become another theme of Jay’s life: love what you do, and help others do what they do. In his auto-biography, “Leading with My Chin,” he recalls the camaraderie in the comedy clubs of L.A. and New York. He loved it, and it was something he valued.
He came up during the peak of the comedy boom, and made it to Johnny Carson’s “The Tonight Show” in 1977, regularly filling in for Johnny. He loved being a guest on the show, but it wasn’t because it was making him famous (OK, that part was nice). It was because Johnny laughed at his jokes.
In 1992, Leno replaced Carson as “The Tonight Show” host, which, in 1995, won an Emmy Award. Leno's final show aired in February 2014.
After more than forty years of success, he finally took a vacation, right? Nope. He’s not a “vacation guy,” as he puts it. He loves to work, and work hard.
As a kid, he was dyslexic, and his mom told him he’d have to work that much harder than the other kids. He soon learned that if something didn’t work, it was because he wasn’t working hard enough. “Like when the whole thing with "The Tonight Show" {was} going on,” he recalls in an NPR interview. “Is Jay going to get fired? Are they going to replace him with Letterman? Well, obviously, 16 hours a day is not enough. Maybe I needed to do 18 hours a day. And it worked.”
Jimmy Brogan, a longtime writer on "The Tonight Show,” recalls studying jokes with Jay each night for the show’s monologue. “I would go to Jay's house every night at 10 p.m., and we would sift through 200 jokes to get the 10 to 15 that were comedy gold for the next day’s monologue. I would limp home at 2 a.m. The next day I would drag myself in in the early afternoon. Jay had been there since 9 a.m… Maybe somebody else could do that once or twice, maybe once a week, but day in day out, month after month, year after year. He is just a great white shark–never sleeping, always moving forward.”
He still writes and performs live shows every week. Why? “It’s fun. I like being a comic.”
But Jay doesn’t only follow his own passion; he helps others follow theirs. Through his JDM Foundation, he and his wife Mavis support myriad causes, including organizations in education, health, women’s rights, hunger, the arts, youth programming, and animals. He gives to many colleges in Massachusetts, including Middlesex Community College, Mount Holyoke College, Boston University, and Northeastern. Due to his longtime penchant for cars, he’s supported the McPherson College Automotive Restoration Technology program for years.
As one of the most successful comedians in the business, having made a living in comedy for almost fifty years, with too many awards and accolades to mention, Jay doesn’t have to do comedy anymore. He doesn’t have to share his wealth. He need not continue to be a living example of what it means to follow your passion, work hard, love what you do, and help others along the way.
And, his fourth-grade teacher, Miss Allen? She and Leno are still friends.
That’s Jay Leno.
A different kind of comedian.