Jay is actually very funny live. Ive seen him live at the Comedy and Magic club in Hermosa Beach quite a few times. He still performs there a few times a month and he doesn't hold back either. Completely different than Tonight Show.
IMPROV HISTORY: Leno was on his game even in the Improv Days - Can't stop laughing! I performed there at this timed (1976-77)with music satirist, Rick Duncan. Somehow we "won" an evening (audience filled out "Voting Cards"). Rick's songs were a big hit on the Dr. Demento Show - when Rick and the fantastic UC Santa Barbara college geek, Weird Al Yankovic vied for supremacy - but the Improv was REALLY scary. It was the "Big Time" in Hollywood. Kudos to Jay Leno - a real MASTER! He NAILS the Improv at the end of his monologue! "Dressing Room"? Ours was the back of Rick's VW Microbus. His send-up of Bud's fake bricks as "The Melrose House of Discipline" is absolute brilliance! A "dis" like that would've ENDED my career in Hollywood - but not Jay. The man had Big Balls.
I think if Conan- who is brilliant- had this kind of experience, he'd still be hosting Tonight. The way Leno cranks it in the 2nd half of this set, you can see where he learned to bob and weave through stretches of iffy material before getting to the takedown. It's not the same as when you have a band behind you and a sidekick and graphics and can throw to commercial.
I came here because I kept hearing other comedians saying that Jay was the best stand-up comedian ever. I don't see it honesty. I don't hate the guy, like it seems most of the people on here do. But when Norm Macdonald says that this was great, I had to check it out.
Actually, a lot of comedians DO say that Jay was great in the 70s and 80s. That's whats so tragic about the Leno we see today. When he was first starting out, he was respected in the comedy world as one of the best and brightest in the business. Today he's looked at as a sell out, who endlessly tries to appeal to the lowest common denominator.
Here's a millennial who grew up watching Jay on The Tonight Show and loved his comedy then and love his comedy now...as I laugh at his stuff from 42 years ago. ;) But in response to david100p's question, I understand the sort of reasons at work behind the hateful comments, and it's not really worth covering. It's mostly just sad stuff.
@@ellismarquez8410 It's not like Jay leno is some maverick comedian shooting from the hip. I'm sure your argument has nothing to do with why some people like me find him unfunny.
@@milkcarton6654....It's interesting to read the comments about who's a good comedian/bad comedian....jay Leno seems to be a polarizing figure now days (along with Sienfeild) Who do you consider to be a funny comedian ?
I've noticed that in all of his appearances as stand up comedian or national TV: Jay Leno always has the tendency to be clear where he's from[USA]. why would that be?? ha,ha,ha,ha. what? would some peoples be after him??
Ol' Chinno strikes again. Jay Chinno was and is a game manager comedian. There's observational comedy. And obvious comedy. Jay serves up the latter. Laaaame.
so in 1976 jay was still not funny yet people keep saying jay was funny a long time ago i'm wondering if cars were invented yet when jay was funny or did people ride horsed to get to jays gigs cause it looks like jay was never funny
Most young folks don't follow Jay's humor. They are to stupid with respect to world events, world leaders, and much of anything outside of video games and You Tube.... Am I lying? Who is the Vice President... it's ok, you can Google it.
Very true. You have to be somewhat up-to-date with world events otherwise you won’t get his jokes. I’ve seen him twice already in his 70’s and his comedy is the same so you need to be somewhat aware of what’s happening around you.
@ApocalypsePlough Can u just enjoy anything? U got too much to say. WHat is wrong with no controversy....and oh sometimes u don't need to think. Like a stallone movie. He can't even talk but sometimes u need that for a change, damn it!
Nicks Corvette Stop You're so special. Congratulations on personally wasting your own time to find a video of a comedian who you clearly do not like to tell all of us that you do not like him. Please tell us more. My life would be nothing without your input.
I miss old 70s-80s Leno when he used to actually be himself and tear apart the ugliness of life with sharpshooter poise and a Boston accent, not the sell out shell of a man who sold his soul to Flyover Middle America doing jokes about cheesecake in ice cream and product names at CVS.
Samuel Cole Almost every solid comic today says Leno was the guy back in the day. They all idolized him. You gotta remember this is the 70's. What will kids say in 40 years about comics today?
+canefan17 exactly.. recorded standup comedy has to be the most heartbreaking entertainment profession. People look back on what was funny 20 years ago and say the comedian "sucks" by todays standards. Jay Leno was doing stand up years before there were stand up comedy clubs, at that time hardly anyone was on stage just to tell jokes.
+Logan Miles it all depends on the comedian and the viewer. Go watch Foster Brooks do a roast or Joan Rivers do a monologue from the 70s. Those old timers can be funny as anyone today or better. Maybe not everyone right, but I really get a lot of laughs out of it
He sold out because he has a show that people watch at the end of the day before they go to bed. They don't want controversy. They don't want to think. They just want to veg out. His kind of humour - bland, insipid, milquetoast - is perfect for that. That's why he's more popular than people like Letterman and Conan......they make you think. He's 26 here, btw.
![Jay Leno- Standup Routine - Las Vegas 1980 [Reelin' In The Years Archive]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/V0lhKrKpkMY/mqdefault.jpg)
Simply amazing and without any F word
You could have made a lot of money betting people, "In 15 years this guy is going to be hosting the Tonight Show."
Jay did and that's how he was able to buy his early cars and motorcycles.
Norm quite often said that Leno was a legend during his time.....Always the headliner for more than a decade....
this is really old. he was really funny for his time.
I watched this through his car collection. I will continue to admire that collection.
8:19 Not a joke you'd hear him make on television 😱
A joke about the coffee. I heard that like 10 years ago and I never forgot it. That is a great joke simple.
A true profession
He came a long way..
i'm so glad came across this!! thanks for the upload!
He killed it
Very cool.
Jay is actually very funny live. Ive seen him live at the Comedy and Magic club in Hermosa Beach quite a few times. He still performs there a few times a month and he doesn't hold back either. Completely different than Tonight Show.
26-year-old Jay Leno. Wow. :)
the beach is on the wrong side...i love that one, so simple.
Show Business Is My Life, But I Can't Prove It (A Film About Gary Mule Deer) brought me here
Jay is a legend in his game of funnies
Game of funnies?
LOOK AT THE YOUNG JAY LENNO!!!
IMPROV HISTORY: Leno was on his game even in the Improv Days - Can't stop laughing! I performed there at this timed (1976-77)with music satirist, Rick Duncan. Somehow we "won" an evening (audience filled out "Voting Cards"). Rick's songs were a big hit on the Dr. Demento Show - when Rick and the fantastic UC Santa Barbara college geek, Weird Al Yankovic vied for supremacy - but the Improv was REALLY scary. It was the "Big Time" in Hollywood.
Kudos to Jay Leno - a real MASTER! He NAILS the Improv at the end of his monologue! "Dressing Room"? Ours was the back of Rick's VW Microbus. His send-up of Bud's fake bricks as "The Melrose House of Discipline" is absolute brilliance! A "dis" like that would've ENDED my career in Hollywood - but not Jay. The man had Big Balls.
This is really solid
Kept waiting for him to whip out a Dr Pepper and start dancing.
That's cool to see
He was fresh as fuck
Whaddya know...these are the same people who watch Leno now!
Jay was one of the few early stand ups who was actually funny.
terrymalloy69..you are brainless, even more so than that phony Leno , (the biggest FAKE, "comic"), in North America)...
I am from the future. Jay, you will be very successful and will have your own show and retire as a wealthy man
That's cool to
I think if Conan- who is brilliant- had this kind of experience, he'd still be hosting Tonight. The way Leno cranks it in the 2nd half of this set, you can see where he learned to bob and weave through stretches of iffy material before getting to the takedown. It's not the same as when you have a band behind you and a sidekick and graphics and can throw to commercial.
I came here because I kept hearing other comedians saying that Jay was the best stand-up comedian ever. I don't see it honesty. I don't hate the guy, like it seems most of the people on here do. But when Norm Macdonald says that this was great, I had to check it out.
How did you differentiate pimps from just regular people back then?
This guy is recyling the same exact opening and jokes as he did on the Johnny Carson show. Look it up with his green suit!
I was just about to say the same thing. Just jinished watxhing that video lol
TH-cam wouldn't exist until 25 years later...they will never know
N R Comics do the same routines all the time. They do 4-5 shows a week and do the same 3 or 4 routines over and over as they travel.
All comics do this.You’re not calling anyone out but yourself.
So what? You are repeating what everyone else already knew about comedians 🙄
This is actually true!! my doctor always says to me "that do YOU think?" ???
always funny, and I’m not talking about the clothes
Jay Leno did this same routine on the tonight show with JC
He is really funny!
I'm pretty biased against Leno, but that was pretty funny.
Tops!!
he looks like Josh Peck
Jaco Brown LOL
Actually, a lot of comedians DO say that Jay was great in the 70s and 80s. That's whats so tragic about the Leno we see today. When he was first starting out, he was respected in the comedy world as one of the best and brightest in the business. Today he's looked at as a sell out, who endlessly tries to appeal to the lowest common denominator.
I do not understand all the hateful comments???????????
Its Jay Leno, he is a scumbag, google him and face reality
(Yawn) still blaming him for Conan's tanking ratings on the Tonight Show. Sad.
Here's a millennial who grew up watching Jay on The Tonight Show and loved his comedy then and love his comedy now...as I laugh at his stuff from 42 years ago. ;) But in response to david100p's question, I understand the sort of reasons at work behind the hateful comments, and it's not really worth covering. It's mostly just sad stuff.
Pretty sure that's Bill Murray at 5:56
+Newtman98 Good eye!
Man I wish I could get 9 glasses of wine for $1.07
Pinto joke was pretty funny 😂
Nice to see that he got better.
CoCo!!
Then by all means where is your show?
nice hat
go to the channel of fivealex2009 to see Leno on Letterman on NBC. Ironically, they were friends at that time.
This is how you know that comedy has evolved to those that are smart enough to get it.
@ApocalypsePlough I love toast!
It's good to see that Jay Leno has been consistent throughout his entire career, as he wasn't funny in the 1970's either.
Just because he isn't a toxic leftwing hack masquerading SJW propaganda and hate as comedy doesn't mean he's unfunny.
@@ellismarquez8410 It's not like Jay leno is some maverick comedian shooting from the hip. I'm sure your argument has nothing to do with why some people like me find him unfunny.
@@milkcarton6654....It's interesting to read the comments about who's a good comedian/bad comedian....jay Leno seems to be a polarizing figure now days (along with Sienfeild) Who do you consider to be a funny comedian ?
@@ellismarquez8410you really projected a whole lot there.
I've noticed that in all of his appearances as stand up comedian or national TV: Jay Leno always has the tendency to be clear where he's from[USA]. why would that be?? ha,ha,ha,ha. what? would some peoples be after him??
I know I'll get flamed for this, but I found this actually funny somewhat. I guess this is before the magical Tonight Show "off switch".
Can't figure out if i'm watching the tonight show or brokeback mountain...
He always had sharp observations.
But that hat’s got to go!
The Crimson Chin's day job.
I'm with Coco
he was funny! but this video won't change my mind about COCO!
he looks like the friendliest pot dealer you'd ever want to meet.
He was right, the audience was VERY nice. He was OK, but visibly nervous.
I have yet to laugh at a Jay Leno joke.
He should have put the wall back to how he found it.
Ol' Chinno strikes again.
Jay Chinno was and is a game manager comedian.
There's observational comedy.
And obvious comedy.
Jay serves up the latter.
Laaaame.
At least he grew into his chin! Look how big his head is compared to his body! LOL!
So when does the funny part start?
what the hell is he wearing?
so in 1976 jay was still not funny yet people keep saying jay was funny a long time ago i'm wondering if cars were invented yet when jay was funny or did people ride horsed to get to jays gigs cause it looks like jay was never funny
demonocus drumocus this is terrible. What's worse is that he used this years later on Johnny Carson. :(
What's ironic is that you call Jay Leno unfunny while simultaneous believing that was funny.
So this is that dark and edgy early Leno spoken of in legend. Doritos weren't even in the horizon. Bill Hicks was right. He *used to be* funny
lmao
wow. he was actually funny at one point! lol nice.
you ever notice how comedians use the same bit?
Most young folks don't follow Jay's humor. They are to stupid with respect to world events, world leaders, and much of anything outside of video games and You Tube.... Am I lying? Who is the Vice President... it's ok, you can Google it.
Very true. You have to be somewhat up-to-date with world events otherwise you won’t get his jokes. I’ve seen him twice already in his 70’s and his comedy is the same so you need to be somewhat aware of what’s happening around you.
used to watch his show, wont when he returns, that was some scam he pulled to get his old job back, like to see him cancelled too................bumm
@IzZyTX1991 He sold out and endlessly tries to appeal to the lowest common denominator.
HOLY SHIT! HIS CHIN IS FCKN HUUUGE !!
@ApocalypsePlough Can u just enjoy anything? U got too much to say. WHat is wrong with no controversy....and oh sometimes u don't need to think. Like a stallone movie. He can't even talk but sometimes u need that for a change, damn it!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA you're funnier than jay already
It really didn’t take much to be a comedian in the 70s, huh?
I don't understand the laughter. What are they laughing at? Was this funny stuff in 1976?
I find it hard to believe he still living off his stand-up money then again his denim budget can't be to pricey...
I can't even watch this...back to George Carlin.
Nicks Corvette Stop You're so special. Congratulations on personally wasting your own time to find a video of a comedian who you clearly do not like to tell all of us that you do not like him. Please tell us more. My life would be nothing without your input.
He's like Sienfeld. Like Jay, Sienfeld's comedy is cold and calculated and has no soul. Except Sienfeld is 649 million times better.
i gave up at 2
I miss old 70s-80s Leno when he used to actually be himself and tear apart the ugliness of life with sharpshooter poise and a Boston accent, not the sell out shell of a man who sold his soul to Flyover Middle America doing jokes about cheesecake in ice cream and product names at CVS.
It's like a crappy Jerry Seinfeld.
No wonder Freddy Prinze shot himself.
im guessing this was before jay sold out to appease his middle american audience.....
This is terrible. The reappraisal of Leno is simply not warranted. Lowest common denominator trash.
He has been 'rich man funny' since the start... losers just dont understand.
pinocchio better not quit his day job
Yeah, Leno was never funny...must explain why Letterman and the audience cracked up so effortlessly during all his appearances. Losers.
So it IS True.........Leno was never funny.
Samuel Cole
Almost every solid comic today says Leno was the guy back in the day. They all idolized him.
You gotta remember this is the 70's. What will kids say in 40 years about comics today?
+canefan17 exactly.. recorded standup comedy has to be the most heartbreaking entertainment profession. People look back on what was funny 20 years ago and say the comedian "sucks" by todays standards. Jay Leno was doing stand up years before there were stand up comedy clubs, at that time hardly anyone was on stage just to tell jokes.
+Logan Miles it all depends on the comedian and the viewer. Go watch Foster Brooks do a roast or Joan Rivers do a monologue from the 70s. Those old timers can be funny as anyone today or better. Maybe not everyone right, but I really get a lot of laughs out of it
Where's the funny part......
Kevin Henderson Hilarious and original
He sold out because he has a show that people watch at the end of the day before they go to bed. They don't want controversy. They don't want to think. They just want to veg out. His kind of humour - bland, insipid, milquetoast - is perfect for that. That's why he's more popular than people like Letterman and Conan......they make you think.
He's 26 here, btw.
That was terrible
Nope, not funny.
was j ever funny??????????????
Boring.