Jay Leno, comedian and former “The Tonight Show” host entertained the H. Ric Luhrs Performing Arts Center audience through stories and jokes on Saturday.
Before Leno appeared, the show was opened by The Towne Singers. The Towne Singers are directed by Blaine Shover, a professor of music at Shippensburg University.
After the 15-minute opener, it was time for Leno. The audience was bursting with excitement.
As the curtain rose, Leno appeared between two classic cars — the backdrop for the evening. Leno joked that “parking was a premium” and that is why the vehicles were on stage. The cars were a nod to Leno’s current series “Jay Leno’s Garage,” which will return for its fourth season in April on CNBC.
The cars were a small part of his hour and a half long set. Leno poked fun at many topics including obesity in America, side effects to medications and politics. He was not shy about politics, specifically Donald Trump. He did have some Hillary Clinton jokes to “please the other side.”
Leno also made some timely jokes about sexual harassment in Hollywood. Matt Lauer, former NBC anchor, was the brunt of several jokes. Harvey Weinstein also took a few hits from Leno.
A joke that made fun of arming teachers with guns gained a lot of applause.
Leno made numerous jokes about how he is an older comedian in a younger business. This made the audience really laugh.
Living in Los Angeles, Leno noted how different it is from living on the East Coast. Leno was born in New Rochelle, New York.
He mentioned how he does not understand some of the job titles people have on the West Coast. He also did some jokes that involved earthquakes. While most of the audience could not personally relate, Leno gave enough background to make the room light up with laughter.
Leno ended his set with a few “to go jokes” that the audience could take with them and tell others. These brought perhaps the biggest laughs of the night.
The show ended and Leno walked off the stage. The audience was thrilled and gave a standing ovation.
It is safe to say that Leno truly has a wealth of knowledge on how to entertain, and make a crowd laugh. After spending two decades as the host of “The Tonight Show” and moving on to other endeavors, he has not lost his charm and personality.
Spending his whole set with just a stool, two cars and a bottle of water, all eyes were on Leno.
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