Jay Leno has revealed what he plans to do after his impending departure from NBC’s "Tonight Show." Leno told the Los Angeles Times’ Show Tracker that he’s going back to his roots and will work as stand-up comedian.
“I’ve always been a stand-up comedian that had a day job,” he said. “This is my day job. I’ve always been on the road every single weekend — and the week too — since I got this job. So I’m back on the road. We leave here on the 6th. The 7th I’m in Sarasota. The 8th I’m in Clearwater. The 9th I’m in Naples, Fla. The 10th I’m in Miami …”
He added, “It’s what you have to do if you want to do comedy. You can’t take a year off and come back. No one’s ever taken time off as a comedian and come back and been better.”
Asked whether he might do another late-night TV show, Leno said, “No, I don’t think so. I mean, the ground has to lie fallow for a while, I think. I’ve been doing this a long time. I have no plans to go up against anybody else. People go, ‘Oh, Jay’s waiting in the wings.’ It’s so stupid.”
Asked how he feels about leaving the show, he replied, “I’m not unhappy. This is a great franchise, and you like to keep it No. 1. I’m real proud we’ve been able to keep it No. 1.”
He added: “Look, if NBC didn’t have Jimmy Fallon in the wings, would I be here a little longer? Probably. But you know, he’s really good. I really like him. He’s a true couple of generations away from me. When I see him do his musical numbers and stuff, I say, ‘I can’t do that. That music is not my music.’”
Jay Leno
We sure do miss having the Jay Leno show in Cape Breton Nova Scotia, Canada.
It was a wonderful program, full of news of today, and so many interesting animal shows, skits etcs.
No one else will ever put on a show like Leno did. TV has steadily got worse in what it has to offer.
Taking Leno off the air was a big mistake. In a smaller area, we do not have the chance to attend Jay Leno shows, compared to bigger cities where he will be doing stand up comedy.
The shows on now are not even worth looking at. Everyone has the same idea, TV sucks and has
steadily declined. To take a good show off the air that everyone enjoyed is positively stupid, and I am sure everyone agrees that at night we who do not sleep early, completely looked forward to Jay Leno and his hard work at making his show worthwhile.
So sorry that networks are so dumb and do not recognize excellent talent. Jay, we sure do miss you. Thank you for the many happy night shows, and hopefully you shall put one of your own on and make millions of dollars from a new network Jay Leno returns better than ever.
Kindest Regards
from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada