He was leaning back in one of those old-timey desk chairs, the wood kind that squeaks loudly when it swivels. His appearance hasn’t changed much from that day, which was long enough ago that neither one of us would want to count it up. He’s back in town, for an appearance at The Joint, and is featured in a Tulsa World interview this morning. The article mentions Jokers Comedy club, the nightspot at which he was performing so many years back.
Jay Leno wasn’t so famous then. He was booked for a weekend performance at the Brookside club. I’m not sure I even knew who he was. He might have been filling in for Johnny Carson on the Tonight Show by then, but – like I say – it was that long ago.
I enjoyed doing the interviews. Back then, radio stations had to air a few programs every week that served the public interest – things like half-hour interviews with the mayor or streets commissioner. Potholes and infrastructure. We carried our share of those, but when Jokers Comedy Club starting sending me news releases about who was scheduled to perform, I began calling up and requesting interviews.
They were nothing like the one-on-ones with musicians that came ‘round the station. Those were about as formal as a radio interview could be, even if both the subject and interviewer were at ease. Studio, microphones, seated across a recording console. Reel to reel tape machine rolling (back in the pre-computer days…).
The stand-up sessions were almost always done at the club. Jokers had a little upstairs office – for the club manager, presumably. That’s where Jay Leno was sitting with his feet up on the desk.
It was early afternoon and I’m guessing for Mr Leno, it must have been the equivalent of 5am. Most of the performances were later in the evening, and many of the comics I talked with were up-all-night-sleep-through-til-noon kind of people. Leno mentions in his Tulsa World interview today that he doesn’t smoke or drink, that cars are his weakness. Maybe that was the case back then as well. He did seem a little put out, and I just figured it was a result of the lifestyle.
At one point, I asked him if Johnny Carson was critical of new comedians. My thinking was – from a competitive standpoint – any comic could be the next big thing. Bigger than Johnny, even (although he pretty well cemented his legacy). Jay Leno jumped on that. He told me that a Tonight Show invitation was the biggest break any up-and-comer could get, and that as a result, there was no competitive attitude. Everyone respected Johnny, he said.
Then and there I began trying to extricate my foot from my mouth. Didn’t mean to get him irritated. Was only hoping for some funny stories and an interesting half-hour.
It still was better than talking potholes with Jim Hewgley.