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your struggling so now it's fun.
The jokes you know are pretty good
and you put them all together and
it's good."
When asked if there was anything
he missed about the early days of his
career when he was getting started,
Leno said no.
"No," said Leno. "No. No. Noth
ing at all. No. God no."
Leno did say he learned from those
early days.
"We all started ou together, me
and (David) Letterman, Robin Will
iams, Jerry Seinfeld," said Leno. "We
all started out working in clubs. You
learn from every experience. I'm al
ways amazed when somebody tells
me this horrible story that happened
to them and I say 'but, isn't that
funny?' and they don't think of it as
funny until they go 'it is, that's what
it is, it's funny.' You have to be able
to laugh at yourself."
Leno told a story about working a
club early in his career and the bill
board not having enough letters to
spell his name correctly.
"I remember I was playing a club in
Chicago called Mr. Kelly's," said Leno.
"I was appearing with Frieda Payne.
The marquee said Frieda Payne and
Jay Leno, but the guy comes to me and
says Sve're out of Es. Frieda Payne
took all the Es. We got no Es.' So it's
Jay L no. So they introduced me as
Jay No. It was Mr. No for a week."
During the interview, Leno was in
formed than one of the larger families
in the Tribe has the name Leno as well.
The difference in pronunciation was
explained to him Lenno for him and
Leeno for the local family.
Leno said everyone in his Italian
family, except his dad, pronounces
the name Leeno.
"That is how everybody in my fam
ily pronounces their name except my
dad," said Leno. "My dad changed it
to Leno (Lenno). You know when
he was a kid everybody wanted to
be American, nobody wanted to be
Italian or whatever. So, he made it
more anglo-sized Lenno instead
of Leeno. It actually is pronounced
Leeno."
Leno said he likes this part of the
Northwest because it reminds him
of where he grew up in New En
gland. Leno was born in New Roch
elle, New York and grew up in
Andover, Massachusetts. Leno and
his wife, Mavis, spent the day of the
show driving around and shopping
at local used bookstores.
"Well, I've been lucky," said Leno.
"My career has been like watching the
hands of a clock move. It wasn't one
big break. It was a series of little
things. By the time I got the Tonight
Show gig I had been guest hosting
for like five years, so it seemed like
the next logical, progressive step. I'm
always amazed with these kids I've
never heard of have a show and then
they get canceled and you never hear
from them again. That's frightening."
Leno said audiences can expect to
see him out on the road again gath
ering new material for his regular job.
"You just sort of keep your eyes
and ears open for stuff," said Leno of
his desire to continue touring. "You
can get it (new material) anywhere
it is. That's why you are on the road
to have different experiences."
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BRENT MERRILL: I noticed there
was a wide variety of people in the au
dience. Older people, younger people.
JAY LENO: That's what you want.
You might have to take a few swear
words out, but I don't swear much in
my act anyway. People don't really
know that it's a clean show until you
point it out to them. I don't do any
thing that I couldn't do on TV.
BRENT: What did you think that first night when you knew you had the
Tonight Show gig?
JAY: Well, I've been lucky. My career has been like watching the hands of a
clock move. It wasn't one big break. It was a series of little things. By the
time I got the Tonight Show gig I had been guest hosting for like five years,
so it seemed like the next logical, progressive step. I'm always amazed with
these kids I've never heard of have a show and then they get canceled and
you never hear from them again. That's frightening.
BRENT: When you are on your own time and it's just you and your wife,
what are some of the things you do?
JAY: Like today, we went around to the bookshops and hit the Dairy Queen.
I'm a little more boring than most people. I don't drink. I don't smoke. So,
I'm basically pretty dull. I go to work and I work on my car.
BRENT: I don't think the audience thought you were dull.
JAY: I mean that my life is not... people think you go to parties all the time.
BRENT: It's not like you're hang gliding on the weekends.
JAY: No. I like working on my steam cars and stuff like that. That's what I
like to do. I don't think you would know I was in show business.
BRENT: I'm a big Hot Wheels collector.
JAY: Oh Yeah. I have some Hot Wheels out there.
BRENT: Yeah, but you can drive yours.
JAY: No. I'm talking about Hot Wheels. Mattel came out and made some of
my cars into Hot Wheels. They come out to my garage and pick out four
cars for the Hot Wheels collection. It's kind of neat.
BRENT: Tell me about your collection.
JAY: Well, I never sell anything. I have every car I've ever owned since I
came to California. I like to work on them and drive them around and crash
them and fix them.
BRENT: Do you ever take a tour of your own cars to see what you have?
JAY: No. Saturdays and Sundays I just work on my stuff in the garage;
sometimes for a couple of hours after work. It's great fun. Great fun.
BRENT: You said your wife is Iroquois?
JAY: Well, part Iroquois.
BRENT: Have you ever been to pow-wows?
JAY: No. Her mom is from up here. Her folks are from this part of the
country. Her mom and dad moved to California and only recently has she
just met her relatives because she was born down there and heard her mom
talk about it. They came up here a couple of years ago and drove around
looking for their roots and that kind of stuff. But, only recently.
BRENT: When you pick up the newspaper, what is the first section you go
to?
JAY: Probably in L.A. it would be the calendar section where they have the
entertainment news. That or the front page whatever the story is. I look
at the jokes all the time.
BRENT: I noticed tonight during the show you talked a lot about seeing
stuff on TV that sparked your interest. Is that where you get some of your
stuff?
JAY: Well, you can get it from anywhere. You just sort of keep your eyes
and ears open for stuff. You can get it anywhere it is. That's why you are on
the road to have different experiences.
BRENT: What's the difference between playing in Grand Ronde compared
to some of the other big venues you have played in?
JAY: The place doesn't make any difference if the audiences are bad. This
part of the country I like because people read, which means they listen. Here
they come, they sit, and they listen. It's great. These are great audiences. I
love the audiences here.