Jay Leno is proving that Americans want laughs, not lectures. The stand-up comedy legend revealed his show’s ticket sales have soared since he completely dropped political commentary from his routine.
The former “Tonight Show” host told Hoda Kotb on “Today” that he pulled politics out of his act altogether. Leno found that ticket sales are “up 20, 30 percent, just because nobody wants to be lectured.”
Leno noted that most of the country is not the liberal media bubble of New York and Los Angeles. He believes modern late-night hosts are only hurting themselves by being so overtly partisan.
He asked, “When you go to Indiana or Kentucky or any other place in the country, you’re always going to have a third of the people who don’t agree with you politically. So why even go there?”
Leno believes true comedy should unite people, not divide them with tired political attacks. He said he found success when the Left and the Right were equally angry at his jokes.
He shared similar advice earlier this year, telling Piers Morgan, “Now, you’ve gotta take a side and people are angry if you don’t.”
Leno also rejected the idea that comedy is getting “tricky” in the current climate. “I don’t think it’s any trickier than any other [time]… No. You know, we’ve always had tough times,” the 75-year-old replied.
He remains optimistic about the future, saying, “Ultimately, it’s a bit like a donkey — sometimes you gotta hit it in the head with a two-by-four to get its attention, but eventually it will listen.”