Comedian Jay Leno is coming back to his home state of Massachusetts on his national comedy tour.
For Leno, New England holds many memories. He who grew up in Andover, adding Andover High School and Emerson College here, and getting quite familiar with what he calls "Boston compliments."
"This guy stops me on the street. ... He goes 'My friend met you in California. He said you're not an A-hole,'" Leno recalled on Boston Public Radio Wednesday. "I said 'Oh, well, thank you.'"
From strangers who praised Leno for doing his own gardening to a neighbor who only chopped his own wood to heat his house, the comedian remains fond of the gruff and quirky New Englanders.
"To me, it's the funniest place," he said.
Leno still credits his teachers in Andover for teaching him what it means to be compassionate in the workplace — something he has sought to bring to every production.
"I was lucky. I had teachers. We have teachers that cared about students, and they really cared about teaching," Leno said.
He noted that one teacher, who he would joke with during detention, is still alive and living in the area. He's going to Leno's show at the Chevalier Theatre in Medford this Friday.
"It was a wonderful place grew up in, New England. I was the laziest person anybody knew. I get to California, I was the hardest [working]," Leno said. "It was just such a different way of doing things."
Leno first became the host of "The Tonight Show" in 1992 and hosted until 2009. He resumed his role as host from 2010 to 2014. He is the current host of "You Bet Your Life," which is currently on pause due to the ongoing strikes in Hollywood. Leno originally encouraged a "union show" when he joined the game show in 2021.
"When I started my show, most game shows were not union shows. I said, 'You know something? I'm in the Writers Guild. I've been a union member for 40 years. Let's make it a union show,'" said Leno.
He has since said he supports the ongoing writer and actor's strikes. However, Leno's history of standing behind his employees goes far beyond this year's movements. In 2012, he took a 50% pay cut at "The Tonight Show" to prevent staff layoffs. Reflecting on the decision, Leno jokingly said at the time that he and his wife would "somehow" survive on the remaining $15 million salary.
"You know, there's no reason the American workplace has to be this horrible place. I mean, it's better than it used to be, I think, for the most part, but I'm a union person," he said.
While Leno has openly used politics and current events in his comedy before, he said the upcoming shows are veering away from that due to the polarized culture of modern politics. By minimizing his use of political figures, Leno is striving for a fresh set of jokes to appeal to political leanings across the board.
"I stopped doing political jokes because people wait for the outcome first. And if the joke suits their political leanings, they laugh," Leno said. "I'm trying to write political jokes that don't have politicians."
Leno will appear at the Chevalier Theatre on Friday and Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut on Saturday.
