# "Jay Leno Was Hilarious As A Stand Up" -- Substantiate This Trope! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 19, 2010, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-leno-was-hilarious-as-a-stand-up-substantiate-this-trope/525626 "2010-01-19T23:07:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2010, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-leno-was-hilarious-as-a-stand-up-substantiate-this-trope/525626/41 "2010-01-21T05:15:32Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > FWIW, I never really much cared for his show and have barely ever seen it. I’d prefer Conan but if I’m up late I generally only watch Jon Stewart or Craig Ferguson. Maybe I just prefer guys whose last names end with an ‘n’? Well, that covers Johnny Carson, David Letterman, Conan O’Brien, Craig Ferguson, and Jimmy Fallon. Still doesn’t explain your love for Jon Stewart, though… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![BMada](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/96bed5/32.png) [@BMada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMada)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2010, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-leno-was-hilarious-as-a-stand-up-substantiate-this-trope/525626/42 "2010-01-21T05:16:33Z")
> [@Indistinguishable](#): > > Well, that covers Johnny Carson, David Letterman, Conan O’Brien, Craig Ferguson, and Jimmy Fallon. Still doesn’t explain your love for Jon Stewart, though… 🙂 Stewart, Jon ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2010, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-leno-was-hilarious-as-a-stand-up-substantiate-this-trope/525626/43 "2010-01-21T05:19:29Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Jay Leno fans think his stand-up is funny… True. But I think what the OP is getting at is really more along the lines of “Is Jay Leno’s old stand-up material really that different in style from his later talk-show material, as would be indicated by all those who say they despise the latter but greatly enjoyed the former? Show me some examples that illustrate this alleged great contrast”. It’s still not the most objective thing in the world, but it’s coherent enough of a thing to ask for. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2010, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-leno-was-hilarious-as-a-stand-up-substantiate-this-trope/525626/44 "2010-01-21T05:32:20Z")
Let me try to parse Spud. He thinks Jay Leno is funny even though he’s not a fan, therefore Jay Leno fans don’t think he funny but Letterman fans do. One of us should try posting drunk to see whether this can be nudged into a antipodean balance. :eek: Here’s the weirdest response I can make. The funniest stand-up routine I ever saw was by A. Whitney Brown. He was a frequent guest on Weekend Update doing The Big Picture (later a book). His best line was I’m A. Whitney Brown. Some day I hope to be The Whitney Brown. He did not gather a huge crowd. We would up seeing him in the equivalent of a seminar room. He did long bits, not jokes, but almost stories that built castles of erudite absurdity. Talk about smart comedy. This earned up to three college credits. The closeness allowed him to be very low key and conversational, good for a comic who was at his best leaning against a desk. [A clip from The Tonight Show](http://www.metacafe.com/watch/3104137/a_whitney_brown/). Warning. May contain intelligent language. ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2010, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-leno-was-hilarious-as-a-stand-up-substantiate-this-trope/525626/45 "2010-01-21T05:34:46Z")
I was watching some of the clips above and clicked on some of the related links and found a clip of the show I remembered from 27 some years ago. It is about 9 minutes or so in and he calls it “Speed Week.” That got about 10 college guys to pay hard earned beer money to see him so you know he had to be good. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coacWEhWT50) ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2010, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-leno-was-hilarious-as-a-stand-up-substantiate-this-trope/525626/46 "2010-01-21T05:43:24Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Let me try to parse Spud. He thinks Jay Leno is funny even though he’s not a fan, therefore Jay Leno fans don’t think he funny but Letterman fans do. Sorry… I wasn’t trying to dispute you. What I was trying to say is that I’m not a current Leno Fan, but I have to say he did a great job when he was doing standup. I just don’t think it is only his fan club that thinks he was good “back in the day.” I appologize if you felt this was an attack on your comment. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2010, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-leno-was-hilarious-as-a-stand-up-substantiate-this-trope/525626/47 "2010-01-21T05:50:57Z")
> [@Spud](#): > > Sorry… I wasn’t trying to dispute you. What I was trying to say is that I’m not a current Leno Fan, but I have to say he did a great job when he was doing standup. I just don’t think it is only his fan club that thinks he was good “back in the day.” I appologize if you felt this was an attack on your comment. You just threw me with what seemed contradictory statements. I didn’t feel as much attacked as confuseabobbled. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2010, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-leno-was-hilarious-as-a-stand-up-substantiate-this-trope/525626/48 "2010-01-21T05:51:39Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > I see Leno as a businessman. He tailored his style to the audience that he was asked to entertain. His ratings bear out that he did it well. Some others might call that being a corporate shill. A comic who was once pretty funny, who sold his comic soul to further his career. Bill Hicks left us [this perfect account](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfkvpcjNk7c) of Leno-- replete with Doritos shilling, Satanic buttsecks, and a studio backdrop curtain covered by a bloody brain-flecked blast-pattern in the form of a peacock-logo. [Here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWB-kd09GXY&feature=related) is an animation of Jay Leno doing a _Tonight Show_ interview fashioned from part of the Hicks performance. I think it works better if you listen to the first link (Hicks entire 4:35 bit) first, and then watch the 1:08 cartoon. ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2010, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-leno-was-hilarious-as-a-stand-up-substantiate-this-trope/525626/49 "2010-01-21T06:05:10Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > You just threw me with what seemed contradictory statements. I didn’t feel as much attacked as confuseabobbled. Yeah… sometimes when I’m throwing quick comments out I forget that others don’t have a direct line into my brain like I do to understand the who “he” refers to when I happen to be talking about multiple people. I also didn’t mean to say that it was wrong that Leno fans find Leno funny… I intended that others do too sometimes (even if they don’t consider themselves a Leno fan). I’m just most happy that I found a clip that I remembered from 27 years ago… that ultimately resulted in a great evening despite a $100 ticket. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2010, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-leno-was-hilarious-as-a-stand-up-substantiate-this-trope/525626/50 "2010-01-21T16:06:22Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > Some others might call that being a corporate shill. A comic who was once pretty funny, who sold his comic soul to further his career. What do you think standup comics DO? Trying out material, keeping what the audience liked and throwing out the rest; working on their presentation to give the material the maximum impact to a live audience; learning how mean or how blue they can go before the audience turns on them; working the club owners so they can move from third billing, to second, to first… ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2010, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-leno-was-hilarious-as-a-stand-up-substantiate-this-trope/525626/51 "2010-01-21T16:14:47Z")
Comedy Central listed Leno as #27 in their list of [100 greatest standup comedians.](http://www.listology.com/list/comedy-central-100-greatest-standups-all-time) It’s hard to know what criteria they were using, but clearly _someone_ thought he was very funny. ---
**Author:** ![CJJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecc23a/32.png) [@CJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CJJ)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2010, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-leno-was-hilarious-as-a-stand-up-substantiate-this-trope/525626/52 "2010-01-21T16:55:01Z")
I saw Leno live in 1983-4, and I can say he was probably the funniest stand-up comedian I have ever seen, and in fact his basic act really hasn’t changed that much. But I really never cared for his “Tonight” show and rarely watch him now. Looking back on that performance and recalling my fondness for his appearances on Letterman’s old “Late Night” show, I think I see the problem. Even then Leno has a quick comic mind and now he can probably write dozens of jokes a day, but the stand-up circuit gave him more of an opportunity to separate the wheat from the chaff. Of course that problem affects any performer transitioning from stand-up to (live) TV, but it’s especially acute for Leno because he doesn’t really have an established persona (beyond the usual, comically-exaggerated delivery and reaction). On the contrary, he puts all his effort into the setup–he doesn’t exactly telegraph the punchline, but his tone leaves little doubt where he’s going with it. Anyone who saw Jerry Seinfeld live–even before his sitcom–would get to know his as fussy and slightly obsessive. Letterman’s cranky nerdiness is legendary now, but that was always a part of his act. Leno is–well, I guess he likes cars and has a big chin, but otherwise he doesn’t really seem to have a personality. The result: Seinfeld and Leterman can rely on their persona to help move the joke in the right direction, and that persona can evolve over time (which means it remains interesting). Leno, by contrast, relies on a heightened inflection/delivery/reaction to do the same thing, and seeing it night after night reveals how labored and affected his process is, especially when he can’t always ensure–like he could when he moved from club to club–that he’s working with his best jokes. The failure rate in Letterman’s monologue is probably about the same as Leno’s–maybe even a bit worse–but at least Letterman can recover by falling back on his personality. Leno can’t; unless Kevin Eubanks does that cleanup work for him, he usually just moves on to the next yuk, and his comedy therefore appears much more scattershot. Don’t get me wrong; all great comics put a lot of work into their act, but most rely on subtle techniques (like an particular persona established during the act) that make it seem effortless. Leno doesn’t, and while that worked well for him in stand-up–where there’s less of a repeat audience–it makes him appear forced when presented day after day. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2010, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-leno-was-hilarious-as-a-stand-up-substantiate-this-trope/525626/53 "2010-01-21T17:13:38Z")
My sister told me something a few nights ago that I thought I’d share. I was arguing that Conan was worse than Jay because half his jokes don’t get laughs. Sis pointed out that Jay has as many stinkers, it’s just that he’s more personable and pulls it out so that you don’t really notice. That’s what I think helps Leno. Part of his act is to sell you on the idea that he’s always funny, even when he really isn’t. Conan just makes too big a deal when his jokes go bad. I think Letterman does it to, but I’m not as easily fooled by it. It’s just obvious when the audience does that little hesitation thing and then claps like there’s some sort of applause sign. Conan gets it right when he talks about how weird that is. He just doesn’t keep it fresh and interesting enough to not get old. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2010, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-leno-was-hilarious-as-a-stand-up-substantiate-this-trope/525626/54 "2010-01-21T17:15:07Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > What do you think standup comics DO? Trying out material, keeping what the audience liked and throwing out the rest; working on their presentation to give the material the maximum impact to a live audience; learning how mean or how blue they can go before the audience turns on them; working the club owners so they can move from third billing, to second, to first… Sometimes they get their priorities wrong and turn into Lenny Bruce. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2010, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-leno-was-hilarious-as-a-stand-up-substantiate-this-trope/525626/55 "2010-01-21T17:17:56Z")
> [@Huerta88](#): > > I’ve heard that statement many times as apology for what most would agree is a determinedly unfunny, unsophisticated Leno-as-host persona. Well, I disagree. I think Headlines is hilarious, for example, and often so is the monologue. But funny is as funny does and if your determined to NOT find something funny, it won;t be. There’s also taste- which in this comes down to Conan vs Leno. Either you think one is funny or the other one is, and rarely is someone a fan of both. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2010, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-leno-was-hilarious-as-a-stand-up-substantiate-this-trope/525626/56 "2010-01-21T17:27:20Z")
He’s the white Sinbad. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-leno-was-hilarious-as-a-stand-up-substantiate-this-trope/525626.md?page=2)