Legendary late-night host Jay Leno revealed in an interview Thursday that he got rid of politics from his stand-up comedy sets.
The veteran comic told NBC’s "Today" that his ticket sales have gone up following the decision because he’s not alienating a third of his audience with a political lecture.
"I'm on the road a lot. I just took politics out of it, completely. I know ticket sales are up 20, 30 percent, just because nobody wants to be lectured," he told "Today" anchor Hoda Kotb.
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The former host of NBC’s "The Tonight Show" said that comics can play more political jokes on their shows, but when touring to other parts of the country — like red states — they have to tone it down.
In the "Today" segment, first noticed by NewsBusters managing editor Curtis Houck, Leno said, "When you're on TV and you can play directly to your audience and there's a laugh track. 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?"
When Kotb followed up by saying it seems trickier to do comedy in the current political climate, Leno disagreed with her, noting his craft has always had challenges.
"I don't think it's any trickier than any other [time]… No. You know, we've always had tough times," Leno said. "It’s not that it's better now … But stuff that used to be the law is now against the law." "And that's great," he added.
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Asked if he seems hopeful about the future of comedy, Leno said yes.
"Yes, I’m very hopeful. I am optimistic," he replied. "'Cause 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."
Leno made similar points in an interview last July, stressing how people don’t want to go to a comedy show to get a political rant.
"And to me, I like to think that people come to a comedy show to kind of get away from the things, you know, the pressures of life, whatever it might be," Leno told Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation CEO David Trulio.
"And I love political humor, don't get me wrong, but it's just what happens when people wind up cozying too much to one side or the other."
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Leno told Trulio he got a kick with people not knowing where he stood politically while hosting his famous late-night show.
"It was fun to me when I got hate letters [like] ‘Dear Mr. Leno, you and your Republican friends’ and ‘Well, Mr. Leno, I hope you and your Democratic buddies are happy' — over the same joke."
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