Jay Leno
Jay Leno is a comedian, best known for hosting The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and the web series Jay Leno's Garage.
He'll be performing stand-up at the Genesee Theatre in Waukegan, Ill. on February 6, 2026.
To watch the interview with Jay Leno, click the play button below (or click here to open the video player in a new tab/window).
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To listen to the interview, click the play button below (or click here to open the audio player in a new tab/window).
More information, as well as tickets, for Jay Leno's performance on February 6, 2026 in Waukegan, Ill. can be found on the Genesee Theatre's website.
Mike Reflects
While I'm not a comedian (though I am prone to the occasional bit of inadvertent comedy, such as the end of this interview), I've been doing interviews like this in various formats for almost 20 years.
I always love getting to talk with people who worked on the big talk shows, especially shows like The Tonight Show that I grew up watching.
When I talked to Jim Wise a few years ago, the bulk of the conversation centered around his time on Disney Channel's Even Stevens, but I made a point to discuss his time working on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
Similarly, when producer Dave Berg first published his book Behind the Curtain: An Insider's View of Jay Leno's Tonight Show, I jumped at the opportunity to talk to him about it.
I especially love talking to the hosts of those shows, and Jay is certainly no exception.
Booking an interview for 20 minutes always feels like a lot, until I realize that I have to somehow condense a 40+ year career into that 20 minutes.
So while I didn't get to go as in-depth into, well, anything, as I wanted, and I was a bit all over the place trying to hit a bit of everything, it's still worth a watch/listen.