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Comedian shares the story of his mother shushing the audience when he was performing at Carnegie Hall. (2:21)
 

Full interview. (16:57)
 

Tavis: The second part of my exclusive conversation with Jay Leno begins with Leno sharing stories about his youth in New England.

Tavis: You grew up in a funny household, but when did Jay know that he was funny?

Jay Leno: Oh - I guess probably when I was in high school. My mother never got comedy. My mother was - I remember one time I was playing Carnegie Hall. The first time at Carnegie Hall, so I invite my parents to come to the show.

Tavis: Your mom didn't say, "Ooh, Carnegie Hall, you're playing (unintelligible)?"

Leno: Well, yes, yes. My mother's sitting third row center, Carnegie Hall. I see my mother sitting and behind my mom are five college kids. And I'd done like 25 or 30 "Letterman" shows, so these college kids were fans and they kind of knew certain routines.

So I get on stage and I start the act and I hear these guys laughing. My mother turns around and goes, "Shh. Shh." And I go, "Ma, you don't shush people at a comedy show. It's a comedy show, Ma, they're supposed to laugh." And of course, my mother (makes noise). Now she's been singled out at Carnegie Hall.

But this all goes back to when I was in high school. See, I'd been suspended from school. What happened was I said to my mom, "Can I stay home today?" She goes, "No, you can't stay home." "Oh, come on, I never miss school. Let me stay home one day." She says, "Okay," and I stayed home. And I said, "Ma, I'm going uptown." And my mother said, "Whatever you do, don't go near the high school."

So of course, being an idiot, (laughter) I have to drive up to the high school at lunchtime and my friends are in the parking lot. So I've got my Buick Skylark, and I put it in low gear (makes noise) - I burn rubber just as the vice principal comes out and he sees me.

So the vice principal calls my mother and says, "Is Jay there?" My mother said, "Oh, he's upstairs, sick." "Oh, he's sick, is he?" "Yes." (Laughter) "Well, he was just here at the school." So, okay.

Now, I pull in. As I come in the door, my mother's standing behind the door with a big pot. As I come in the door, she goes bong and knocks me - actually knocked me out with this pot, right? So now I'm out cold. Now we have to go up to the high school and the principal's yelling at me. "Now you're suspended for three days."

And then he turns to my mother and goes, "And you, a mother who would lie." (Makes noise) Now my mother's in tears, because my mom never got out of the second grade, so she had great respect for education. So to her, to be yelled at by the principal - so it was just a funny, funny place to grow up.

Tavis: What did your father specifically - here's a working guy, I assume - your dad worked for a living?

Leno: Well, my dad was a prize fighter and a truck driver and then he sold insurance, and I was real proud of my dad because my dad went into the Prudential Insurance Company in Boston - in New York, rather - and he said, "What's your hardest route?" And they said, "Oh, Harlem - you can't sell insurance in Harlem. Nobody wants to buy insurance up there."

And my dad was always - my dad did not like racism or any of that kind of stuff. And my dad said, "Black people - why don't they like - why wouldn't they buy insurance?" So my dad went door-to-door in Harlem for years selling nickel policies, and when my dad passed away, I talked about it on "The Tonight Show."

And I had gotten a letter from a woman who was about 70 years old. And she said when she was a little girl there was a White man named Angelo Leno who would come to their house and always have a candy for her. And she said he was the first White person that had ever had dinner in their house, and he was the first White man that she had ever really talked with or teased, and she said, "He was always very nice to me. Was that your dad?"

And I just cried reading this letter; and my dad really believe all that stuff. He did not - if any of the kids, when we were little kids, anybody said anything, my dad, (laughs) he was a fighter, he would deck you, and he didn't like that kind of talk. But I was very proud of this, that this lady had written me this letter that my dad had had such an influence on her life.

Because she grew up in Harlem and my dad was the only White man that had ever been in their apartment and had dinner in their apartment. And he would always bring her candy, and every week he'd come around to collect the nickel and give you the receipt for the insurance policy. And that's just the kind of guy he was.

Tavis: Not that they're not talented, I love them all, they are awfully talented, but does that have anything to do with the embrace that you have had of African Americans on the show? Leading the band - not just in the band, leading the band, et cetera, et cetera?

Leno: To me this is a problem, I think it's like - I don't get it. I don't get why people don't get along, and to me I think it's an important part of America the show should look like America. When we started "The Tonight Show," Kev and the band, that's - we were always equals. He handled music, I handled the comedy. We never had a set-up where oh, I was the boss.

We were always equals on the show. A lot of times you'll see I'll do a joke that doesn't get a laugh; Kev will - (makes face) you know. Or I'll do some joke - the funniest thing to me, and this goes back to something my dad would do, because whenever we'd do, like, jaywalking, as an African American guy, when there's an African American guy on the stoop and I see Kev go, oh. Because now he represents all African Americans.

Tavis: All the Black people, yeah.

Leno: Exactly. Like my dad, when we'd watch TV and "The Untouchables" were on, and they'd show the Italian guy eating a salami sandwich with the rolled-up shirt, "Oh, why do they got to do that? All the time they got to make the Italians as a gangster. Why - turn that off. Turn that off." We always had to run over and turn it off. (Laughter) And that always reminded me.

My grandfather used to do that. My grandfather, when we would go out to eat, he was from Italy, hardly spoke English, and he was always amazed that people would eat out of their ethnic group. I remember being five years old, my grandfather going, "Look at that - a Black guy eating spaghetti. Look at that. Isn't that something? And a Chinese guy with a hot dog. A Chinese guy eating a hot dog - look at that." (Laughter) He was amazed that, like, Black people would eat African American food, Italians would Italian food, Chinese people eat - he'd always comment when he'd see somebody eating out of their ethnic group. And this just struck me, even as a little kid, as just the funniest thing in the world. (Laughter)

Tavis: Your dad and mom lived long enough, obviously, as we've already established, to see you become successful.

Leno: Right.

Tavis: But prior to that, what did your working dad think of his son going into show business and comedy?

Leno: My parents were always fine - just finish school and you can do whatever you want. And they never even understood, to the day - I remember when I was in - 1992 I was on the cover of "Time" magazine. So I called my mom. I said, "Hey, Ma, I'm on the cover of "Time" magazine this week."Which one?" "'Time' magazine, Ma. It's the big - 'Time.'" "Oh, okay."

I said, "Yeah, I'm on the cover this week." "Oh, 'Time,' yeah. Oh, well, we'll pick that up, okay." I said, "Oh, yeah, and listen," I said, "And call Aunt Nettie - I mean Aunt Edie and Aunt Nettie in New York and New Jersey and tell them I'm on the cover, too." Long pause. "Well, I don't think you're on the cover, dear. I think they put you on the cover here, because they know you're from this area, but I don't think you're -" I go, "No, Ma, I'm on the cover all across the country." (Laughter)

She goes, "No, I don't think so. Why would they put you on the cover in New York? You're not in New York." "Ma, I'm on the cover everywhere. It's a national magazine." She just thought I was on the cover for the people that lived in Andover, Massachusetts. I really wouldn't be in for, like, Oklahoma or Boston or New York. So that's - they got it, but they never quite got it.

My father, when people would say, "Oh, Angelo Leno - any relation to Jay Leno?" "Yeah, he's my son." "Oh, hey." And my father, "Oh, you know my boy? Here - here's his number, call him." (Laughter) And these people would call me - "Hey, I'm in California." "Who gave you my -" "Your dad gave me it." "No, Dad, stop giving my number."

"No, he knew you." "No, he doesn't know me." (Laughter) So this would go on and on. And there would be people who would sit at my parents' - my dad goes out to get the paper one day and there's a magician out at the end of the driveway. When he sees my father coming he sets up his table, and my father goes, "Hey, look at that."

So my father sits down there and he watches the guy do tricks for, like, 20 minutes. He goes, "You should be on my boy's show. I'm going to call him up." (Laughter) So my dad calls me, he has this magician at the end of the driveway. I go, "Dad, I'm not putting -" So they got into it - they never quite got it, but they got into it. (Laughter)

Tavis: That's funny stuff. You referenced Letterman in this conversation, and since you referenced him, now that that's behind you -

Leno: He's talking like a lawyer - "Since you referenced him, that door is open. I can legally - you opened the door. Your Honor, permission to treat as a hostile witness. He opened the door to this line of questioning." (Laughter) What do you want to ask me?

Tavis: I want to ask you -

Leno: You can ask me whatever you want - open the door.

Tavis: No, you did, you said Letterman. Okay, so now that we're past the late-night head-to-head competition, in retrospect what do you make of all the articles, all the media, Leno, Letterman, Letterman versus Leno, in retrospect?

Leno: It's fine. People have their own opinion of what happened, and that's what it is. The only time I get annoyed is when people get the facts wrong, maybe on ratings, things like that. But it's whatever you see, that's what you see. I don't really - it doesn't bother me a whole lot, no, I can't say it does. Are you referring to something specific?

Tavis: No, no, no, I was just - over the course of that 17-year period there've been all kinds of stories. I just wanted to know what the relationship was like, is like, given now that you're not in that head-to-head thing.

Leno: Well - my relationship with Dave, you mean?

Tavis: Yes.

Leno: Well, I don't really have a relationship with Dave. I think Dave - it was a situation where I was guest-hosting the show from '86 until '92, and then the show was given to me. And I think Letterman and his people thought the show was going to go to him.

But whatever problems he had with the network, it didn't work out that way. And at some point I was perceived to be oh, like some sneaky person that stole the show, but that's not really the case. I was working there every week and they said to me, "Do you want to do this?" And I said, "Sure." And I said, "What about Dave?" And they said, "Well, we're not offering it to him, we're offering it to you." And I said, "Yeah, I'd love to do the show." And somehow I was perceived as some sort of bad guy. Two guys go out and play football or get in the boxing ring, one wins, one doesn't.

Okay, that doesn't mean you can't be friends. But there was just, I think, a bad feeling. I think Dave took it pretty hard. Dave was always a great guy, I enjoyed doing his show. I would not have even gotten "The Tonight Show" if it was not for Dave. So there was a little bit of irony there as well.

It's just one of those things, if we were both in the same city, maybe we'd bump into each other, but we're on different coasts so it just hasn't happened.

Tavis: You were on "Letterman," of course, doing great stand-up. You still do stand-up today. Why? Why still do it?

Leno: Well, I think - if you're a runner, you have to run. I think if you're a musician you can sit in your basement and play the piano and write songs, but you can't yell jokes into an empty room. Most comics need to work, so to me to go to Vegas and work for, do a 90-minute show, it's like going to a gym for 90 minutes.

You're carrying all this material around in your head, unless you actually say it and get out and do it, it just - it begins to atrophy. It goes away and so you need to work, that's really the trick.

Plus, I like - I did this for years of boo, you suck, you stink, get off the stage - years and years. (Laughter) I used to open for Miles Davis and Muddy Waters and all these guys. I worked with Muddy one time at the Cellar Door, I remember the owner, Jack Boyle. We were at the Cellar Door, we had two shows. First show, I walk onstage, "Hey, everybody, how you doing?" Guy comes up from behind me with a Heinz ketchup bottle, bonk, splits my head open, knocks me out cold.

They drag me off the stage. Jack comes back and says, "I'm docking you the show's pay. You're a professional. You should see these things coming. You should have seen that guy." (Laughter) I go, "I didn't see him; he jumped me from behind." He goes, "Sorry." So I lost $75. But that's what it was.

So years of doing that and now you're at the point where people actually want to come see you - oh, great. I always tell people this is not unlike if I have a funny - if you work in an office and there's a funny story and someone walks by your desk and you tell them that funny story and they laugh, well, pretty soon you're waiting for people to walk by your desk so you can tell it.

And by the end of the day, you've got this story down. It's killing - every part of the story is hilarious. Now you're waiting for people to walk by your desk. (Laughter) And that's what this job is like. You think of a joke, you can't wait to get out and tell it.

Tavis: What made the comedy start to work for you, to your point now? Was it because you became more popular and folk wanted to see you, or did the comedy get better?

Leno: No, I think the comedy got better. I remember Johnny Carson came in to see me one day and I was primarily a nightclub comic. And Johnny gave me some good advice. He said, "You can sell a joke well, but the jokes you're selling weren't that strong and they were too far apart." I was good at being, "Hey, how you doing. Hey - oh, yeah, that's a good idea."

I was loud, boisterous, I could get laughs based on the physicality of the joke, but if you wrote the joke out, it wasn't that funny. So I learned that from Johnny, just from watching every night. You tape your act and if your act starts out this big, you keep tightening and tightening and throw out everything that's not funny until it's only this big, but it's really - it's just bam, bam, bam and it's just really tight and really strong.

And that's the real trick. It's more editing. You keep throwing out things that aren't funny until you have just the best joke, and if you're any good at it, a year later what was your funniest joke is now probably your weakest joke because you have stronger jokes. And you just keep moving them back. If that makes any sense.

Tavis: Is your process - we've all read, those of us who are really fans of yours know your process. You do the show, you go to the -

Leno: Write joke, tell joke, get check.

Tavis: Exactly. (Unintelligible) at night when you and your guys get together, every night you go through this, is your process going to stay the same for the new show?

Leno: Oh, yeah, the process stays the same. Oh, yeah, yeah. Because it's basically the same. The things that will remain on the show are the things that work. Monologue works, we'll keep that. Headlines, Jaywalking, that kind of stuff. We'll move a lot of the stuff to the back 15 minutes of the show because we want to provide a strong lead-in for your 11:00 news.

See, when you do "The Tonight Show," everything after 12:00 is gravy. If you can keep them up till 12:00 then you have that long, six-minute commercial from 12:00 to 12:06 or 12:07, and then (makes noise). Now you're fighting sleep. So you have the comedian, the author, the band, and then they kind of drift off. But when you're doing primetime, you've got to keep the whole hour solid.

Tavis: Before I let you get out of here, I thought about you with that Cash for Clunkers program. You don't have any clunkers to trade in because all your stuff is priceless.

Leno: Well, no, no, it's not priceless, but I don't have any - but no, I don't. I guess it's okay. I think it's good and it stimulates the economy, that's wonderful. But I just - what's the next step? We have all this cheese, how about eat cheese, get a check? (Laughter)

It seems - sooner or later we're going to have to produce something. It's like they want to legalize marijuana, and I'm against it. Not because of marijuana, just the fact that well, you now have legalized gambling, legal - it's all - there's no product. We don't make anything anymore. If times are good and there's plenty of money, then legalize marijuana. But as a fundraising source, and then we'll have what?

Oh, that's what California needs - more high people. So to me, (laughter) I don't get it. I would like to see factories make a product the rest of the world wants to buy. Oh, and then there are other people that come in and make products to augment that product. That's how you raise tax revenue.

To me, just constant syntaxes - gambling, drinking. How about prostitution? So where's your base? That's the part about it that bothers me.

Tavis: I guess because I'm curious, one of the great joys in my life, I so enjoyed hanging out at that garage one day.

Leno: Oh, that was fun when you came over, yeah, yeah.

Tavis: I loved it. What's the - have you bought anything recently? What's the last thing you bought? I'm just curious.

Leno: The last thing I got. Well, I got something kind of cool. It's a car I saw when I was 14 years old at the New York World's Fair - the Chrysler Turbine car. They built those in the mid-'60s. They only built a few of them. So I managed to procure one of those, so that's pretty cool.

Tavis: There it is. I love that. That's cool.

Leno: There you go.

Tavis: So here's the exit question. So I'm laughing now, thinking about what your mom said to you about - that humility advice she gave. But now the show's called "The Jay Leno Show."

Leno: Oh, well, yeah, well, well, my mother's no longer around. She would have a field day.

Tavis: What would she say about that?

Leno: "Oh, Mr. Big Shot. Oh, Mr. Big Shot - has to have his name on everything, Mr. Big Shot." (Laughter) But not my father. "The letters aren't big enough." When my parents would come with me to Vegas - this is the difference between my mother and my father - you go to Vegas, and whenever you work Vegas they have a beautiful spread in the dressing room. There's liquor and wines and they put out a cheese plate, all kinds of stuff, because it's Vegas.

So one day I'm playing Lowell, Massachusetts, the auditorium, and I'm backstage and there's, like, you're in the locker room, essentially, and there's a couple of sodas. And I hear my father with the guy, "My boy plays Vegas, they put a big spread out." (Laughter) I go, "Dad, Pop, you're not my manager. Pop, come over here." "My boy gets -" "No, Dad - I'll take care of this, Pop. This is not Vegas; they don't put a big spread out." So it goes to their head.

Tavis: "The Jay Leno Show," as if you don't know - 10:00, starting September 14th on NBC stations.

Leno: Give it a shot. Thank you, my friend. Good to see you again.

Tavis: Honored to have you on. Congratulations.

Leno: Thanks, thanks.

Tavis: Just in case you need one more reason to tune in to Jay's first show on September 14th, here it is - the music line-up that night? Jay-Z, Kanye, and Rhianna, together. All right.