Jay Leno's Class

Wednesday November 19th, 2008 - Chicago, IL

Every time I get a phone call and see ‘UNKNOWN’ on my caller ID it sends a chill up my spine. That tradition started years ago when I was in the process of going through my infamous bank robbery fiasco. When that word appeared on my caller ID it was usually a person from the government I really didn’t want to hear from but I didn’t have a choice.

I saw my phone ring this morning with that word in all caps on the caller ID and I felt it all over again. I answered with as much confidence as I could muster and heard the voice on the other end say “Hi, Dobie? This is Jay Leno.” Sure enough it was the real Jay Leno.

Apparently he heard of my rant from a few days ago that mentioned the whole big mess with one of his former writers and he called to ask me about it. He wasn’t condescending or mean or angry or pompous or anything other than a genuine guy asking a few questions about the situation. I told him my side of the story and apologized for even involving him.

I don’t think the average person realizes what a super solid reputation Jay has within the comedy business. When I started back in the boom years of the ‘80s everybody knew that the two top comedians in the whole comedy club world were Jay Leno and Jerry Seinfeld.

There were those two guys and then there was everyone else. But even with those two it was always Jay first and Jerry second. Obviously both of them have achieved unparalleled success in their separate endeavors but there were some similarities that they both shared.

One of them was a superhuman work ethic. Bert Haas from Zanies in Chicago tells new comics of how in his heyday in clubs Jay was cranking out about ten new minutes a week. Wow! If you’ve never done standup comedy before that’s amazing. NOBODY does that.

Another thing they both had in common was a solid plan and they both worked it to the utmost degree. Jerry Seinfeld had one of if not the biggest sitcoms in history and Jay Leno has huge ratings on his Tonight Show. It’s hard to argue with proven successes like those.

But even more important was the reputation these guys had. I’ve never heard a negative thing about Jerry Seinfeld other than a few newbie idiot comics calling him a hack. That’s beyond stupid because if anything he spawned a generation of hack comics who borrowed his style and did it very poorly. Unfortunately Jerry gets blamed for that but it wasn’t him.

NOBODY I know has ever called Jay Leno a hack. They can’t. He isn’t. Bert Haas said that Jay Leno was the one comic he’s seen in the last 30 years that gets to the best joke on any given topic the quickest. I’d have to agree. I haven’t seen him live in many years but I was blown away the times I did. Bert is right. Jay has an act jam packed with killer bits.

There are many people and unfortunately some comics who have never had the pleasure of watching Jay work live and only judge him from his TV show. I think that’s a gigantic mistake. It’s not getting a chance to see the whole picture. Jay Leno is in the elite class.

I think it’s the same way Bob Hope and Woody Allen have been perceived by some. I’ll admit when I first saw Bob Hope on TV he was an older guy and I didn’t find anything at all funny about him. I thought he was a lecherous old coot making Brooke Shields jokes.

Then as I got into comedy myself and studied his body of work I saw how truly great he was and have a whole new perspective and respect for him now. Woody Allen is a victim of that too to a degree. Some people only see his later movies or don’t like what happened with his step daughter/wife situation but that doesn’t hide how truly brilliant his mind is.

I’ve always been taught to respect Jay Leno from my earliest times starting out. I’m one of the regulars at Zanies in Chicago and the owner Rick Uchwat and Jay are friends. Rick always told anyone who’d listen of Jay’s fantastic work ethic and why he was the greatest comic working in America. I listened to those stories and I’ve wanted to be like that too.

Then I hear stories of how at the end of the night Jay would walk over and drop a $100 bill in the waitress tip jar and also how he would shake hands with people who wanted to meet him after the show. Time after time I’ve heard stories like that and I’m sure if you’d ask most other road comics they’d say they’ve heard it too. He’s a legend among comics.

That’s why it was so impressive for him to call me today. HE did it. He didn’t have one of his lawyers or assistants or secretaries do it. He did it himself. I think that’s totally how it should be done and I’ve always tried to be like that myself but Jay Leno doesn’t have to do it. But he does. That’s just plain smart business. Who wouldn’t agree? I’m impressed.

I really wish those other goofs would go away. That’s what I really want. Jay made a lot of great points in our conversation and one of them was that in any business people get an original idea copied. He’s totally right but this is painful because it’s been so personal. If I hadn’t worked with those two before this would be a lot less emotional. This is personal.

I’m not sure what’s going to happen but Jay said he’d give his former writer a call about this and I’m sure he’ll make his decision from there. I have no reason to lie and I didn’t. If the guy hadn’t made those promises I’d say it but he did and he never delivered. It was on me to a certain extent too because I shouldn’t have believed his pie in the sky promises.

But I stupidly did. Part of it was because I really admire Jay Leno and have since back in the ’80s. Not only is he a fantastic comedian and businessman he’s also a car guy and any person who knows me knows I love cars too. His are a lot nicer than mine but I love them anyway. We got to chat about one of his many cars I saw on a documentary a while back.

It was an Oldsmobile Toronado he restored and I love those. I had one and it was a big giant petroleum belching highway SCUD missle with dual exhaust and an 8 track player. I loved that car and if I still had it it would be a safe haven should terrorists attack again.

Jay’s website for his cars is www.jaylenosgarage.com. I have been perusing the cars for a while and enjoying them. No matter what happens next I think Jay Leno is a class act.