When Jimmy Fallon landed a spot on Saturday Night Live in 1998, he told executive producer and comedy kingmaker Lorne Michaels, "I'm going to make you proud." Six years later, Fallon departed as a audience favorite, the show's go-to impressions guy, and the co-host (with Tina Fey) of SNL's "news" unit, Weekend Update. But he became famous without "working blue," and has always wanted everybody to be in on the joke. It's a trait that makes him a perfect television personality. Now, he occupies the most coveted seat in the business, as the host of The Tonight Show. He tells Here's The Thing host Alec Baldwin that he got his start in Saugerties, New York, practicing the stuff that every comic needs in their toolkit: impressions, musical numbers, and...a troll routine.
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This is Alec Baldwin and you're listening to Here's the thing, My chance to talk with artists, policy makers, and performers to hear their stories. What inspires their creations, what decisions change their careers, what relationships influenced their work. My guest is comedian, television host, actor, singer, producer, and author Jimmy Fallon. Do you know what a podcast is? You know that is because you're like old school entertainment. Now you're the host of The Tonight Shore. I couldn't get any more older than that format. Real to real. You're part of a legacy of people who are dead or nearly dead. As a kid in Upstate New York, legend has it that Fallon's kindergarten photo had a caption that read most likely to take over from David Letterman. In fact, after a detour to Saturday Night Live and Late Night, Fallon eventually succeeded Carson and Leno at The Tonight Show at year. Since then, he's taken the legendary NBC franchise beyond monologues and celebrity interviews to create some of the most viral moments in recent TV history. Whether He's mom dancing with Michelle Obama, lip sync battling with Emma Stone. We're doing his perfect Neil Young impersonation next to the actual Neil Young. Jimmy Fallon has become the omnipresent prince of comedy in our news feeds. Do you always do this shirt? List? Listen to me. What I want to know is what you're doing right now? Was this the plan? No? What happened? No, there there was no plan about this at all. My ultimate goal was to be on Saturday Night Live. That was the dream, beyond dream. I didn't even know I could dream bigger than that, or that was it. That was the ultimate dream. I'm in Socratuse, New York, Upstate New York. I had my sister Gloria, and my mom and dad and my grandparents. No one was in the business or anything. We had no action to anyone that has an agent or anyone from Hollywood or anyone knew anyone to knew anything. It was you and your sister. Yeah, my sister is really funny. Oh yeah, the whole family's board. But you grew up people thought you were funny. Yeah, and you tried to be funny. Yeah. Like if we would go out. You know. My parents would have friends over, have a party, very irish. Our neighbors were Italian, uh, and we were between both of us. There was a party every weekend and it was good. And my parents would make me do stand up and they would go, go do Rodney. So they encouraged you to perform. Yeah do Ronnie do Rodney Dangerfield and you would yeah, you know how old. Probably it's crazy now, you know, look back and go wait, that's right. I did all that stuff. I remember that. I used to imitate him, and I would listen to Rodney records. My dad would have the records, but they were very you know, overprotective, and so they didn't want to hear any dirty words. So my dad would take a car key and scratch out the words on the record. On the record, you're kidding. I would skip over. I still have the record skip over. Ever heard of that technique? Before learning the joke, Rodney even said, up this whole joke and just skip to another premise. You know, I'll tell you my wife, you know, she came in the back. Get out of here before you it's even worse. Yeah, get out of my room before. So the other day, so I used to guy. I used to love his voice and his delivery, and you know the sound of that. So I used to imitate those jokes. And but I always thought if I was cutting a birthday cake, which is normally a Carvel ice cream cake, or wishing on a star or throwing a coin in a fountain, I would secretly wish to be on Saturday Life. What are the people? Uh? Did you think there? And go? God, he's funny. Steve Martins. So Steve Martin was a hero. So who else? Who else? I listen to? Jose Men is Bob Newhart old school guys? Yeah? I love the Smells Brothers. But they weren't not when you were a kid. Well I think they were. I mean that's how they had to have been. I remember them. Uh, John Binder's Bizarre Do you remember that? You? Super? Dave Osborne, Jonathan Winters? I love Jonathan Winter. Did you want to go into the business From the beginning it was you were Jimmy Fallon said I'm gonna be a cop. I mean, I'm never going to really get into show business or did you think you would? I think in order it started. I want to be a baseball player because my grandfather. They lived in our backyard. My grandparents in like a cottage in our backyard. It was legal, but we fed them through a slot in the door, I mean. And they were from what we hear, they were healthy when they died. So I would come from school and I go hang out with my grandparents. My mom went chopping or something like that, and you know, and my mom didn't drive, so she would walk everywhere. My dad barely drove there from both from Brooklyn and my grandparents so no one in Brooklyn knows how to drive because they take caps and buses everywhere. So they taught me how to drive. So I'm awful to this day. But I would just go home and hang out with them. I talk to my grandma and I take things apart and try to fix things, and she'd call me. She's like, you're my Einstein. You're a little at your Einstein. You're gonna fix things. Where's the moment you see yourself I think I can do is professionally or did you ever have that moment? Until years? Like the big thing was I heard my mom heard about an impression contest on the radio. They said they're gonna be a bananas comedy club funniest person in the Hudson Valley contest right outside of Socrates, New York, but Keepsie, New York. And they said, but that was the local comedy club. And they said, I have two minutes ready of an impression, any impression you do the best that you do. I did more than one. I did. You don't have to do it now, But what are some of the impressions you could do in my act? I think now, but I did. I had a troll doll that someone gave me for my high school graduation, which one am I gonna do with that? But it said it was a troll doll with the graduation cap said like best the luck or something. I took the hat off and I said, I'm doing commercials for different I want different stars celebrities to be the spokesman for this troll doll. Let's start up. First, Jerry Seinfeld, I go, okay, what got of dolls? Are theys? The hairs? His arms on? Av move? This is a doll move bins theys eggs. He doesn't even have bands on. And then the I can I do? Uh Bill Cosby or something like what the look at the thing with the lip panguin down and then you see the web the troll what drunk? After then I do uh from voter like, see I can't be dislike look this thing over here at my head, Yeah, my head. I did the hair thing, then did the big joke. The closure was it was boewinkle. I said, well, maybe I should play with myself. And then I pulled out a bow winkled from the back, and then and then and then the next The last person was pee wee herman. I go, I know what you mean, blwinkle. I'd like to play with myself, tiff. It was topical at the time. Crush. That was a good thing. It was on two minutes. I ran through it and I won first place. You won first place? Yeah, and so where does that lead to? What happens? I made money off that. I forget now how which was it was five hundred bucks or somebody have cash? And I go, oh, my gosh, I got this for two minutes of work. This is the biggest money I've ever I'll ever have. I laid it on my kitchen table and took pictures of it and posed next to it and stuff. Uh, it was a big deal, and I go, oh, maybe I'll just so that. I started entering contests, talent contest and then Banana's Common clubs, So why don't you come and start being the m C here? So I started doing that. Every weekend. My dad would drive me down to the comedy club. We'd stay overnight in the hotel. I do these things. I opened for Kevin James and all these people. Should you should you get into that circuit you Lewis Black. Lewis Black was the first time I realized what comedies like the idea of having an act. He was a guy who's talking to me like we're talking like, oh, yeah, so your your name is Jimmy, Okay, it's good and you're gonna go out all right, good to see it. And then he goes and Lewis Black and he goes on say he's like Clinton, Little Clinton, And I go, what what is going on? That's you can do that? He was just a normal dude. I go, oh, he's doing an act. It was unbelievable. Sign Felt even told me that about himself. He said, I go up on stage when I before he goes, he goes on me, but I blow myself up. Yeah, Because we hung out with Seinfeld before we're together. Do you find yourself becoming him a little bit when you hang out with him? I just stare at him. Whenever I'm around him, I just stare at him. I'm like, it's signed felt, you know, he's very normal. I started, then it'll go like we'll have we'll talk about the weather boats. Because then the funny I'm staring him, We'll go, we're friends. Why are you doing that? But he he I started acting like him in making observational comedy about anything. Like he called me up for the comedians and cars thing, and so I go, uh, I call him back and go, sure, I love to do comedians cars. He goes, oh, well, thank you for calling me back. The least I can do? Yes, Do you really have to say that the least the least you can do? I go, let's not getting a fight, alright, I just got goo phone. The least you can do. Really, it's the least you can do. What's funny. Thank you for doing the least you can do it. But but that's a perfect insight into you, which is the comics that you emulated, like Steve who you can send up certain things, you can mock certain things, but he's not mean. You're not mean. Did you try me materially when you were younger you didn't like it? I try, well, yeah, I did. I try to keep my eye clean. My grandfather said, don't work blue or try to him. He's getting the tray split under leaf. They ate great, they ate like kings. But but you thought about being more cynical and more snarky and mean. I did have a couple, you know, I'd say the FD a couple of times and it just didn't come out. But I mean making fun of people. No, I never really did that. Nod would have some of that, but that wasn't you. That was more like, it's the news. You have to talk about topics and that's just had yeah, which is what we have to do now with the monologue and the tonight show. It's like sometimes we get into them like I just have to do I'm gonna get to the tonight show. But prior to that, your nature is to be I want everyone to be in on the job, and you don't do anything in anybody's expense, which is kind of a mirror I remember, you know, I don't remember. My comedy wasn't like that. I think I also I used to tape all these comedians from the eighties where you did the Kevin you're opening for Kevin James. You're doing the comedy clubs in your how old? Yeah? I probably yeah, probably yeah. I went to college where Colleges Saint Rose in Albany, how long for three years to study what communications? You idiot? No, I can. I did computer science first. Karthri even more of an idiot. I knew three years up in snowy Albany and with all those legislative trash up there studying communications and you could have been doing stand up. I didn't stand up on the weekend, That's what I'm saying. So you kept doing that, and I did. I did a show at my Saint Joseph's auditorium in the college, and I go, I think we got paid fifty bucks and we split me my friend Frank, did you lay that on the table, the fifty bucks and take a picture for it? That was the check. It was not as much fun. Cash is much more fun. But my point is that you're you're going down to New York. While you're at the college, You're going down to the city still doing stand up. I started, no not really. I really just stuck around the Albany area and just doing because I was city was after, the city was after before. You go to l a um barely barely months. I just started because I couldn't get booked at Caroline's or you know, a comic strip. I went to l a because I knew that Randy Siegel was Her name was no as a manager and Randy Siegel, and she said she called me she worked for Ray Rio, and ray Rio worked at Brostein Gray, and I, being a fan of sarent Live, knew that every every cast member was one with Bernie Brolstein, and Lauren was Bernie Brostein. So I go wow, and she was like, yeah, I just did something with Sandler, and at the time Sandler was my idol. Like, oh my gosh. So I said that. She goes, I think you should come out for pilot season. What do you want to do? And I go, I want to be on Saturday Ight Live. She's like, okay, but realistically I just said pilot season. She was as I didn't know what that means. So I go great. So she was but it's now, so you gotta come now. This is the perfect time. It was just no one knows you. You will be the fresh new guy out here. And okay, call my parents. I go, I gotta call from a manager. They got my tape and my resume, and I think I should do it and move out there. And my parents like, okay, we's gonna feed grandma. Yeah exactly, we don't try. We have to drive the car to the back of the driveway. They're all the way in the back of the yard. At this point, they were trying to fasting. Was cool. You don't need to eat now, you got the meditation, grandma, grandpa, real quick, real quick. They're they're eating cloth that passes through them. Yeah, they're pulling that rope through there where. It's a good trick either way. So they and they go, great, we believe it. You didn't go for it. I go great. So I have my guitar and I have whatever money you can get out of my hand. On your show, I want to come on where we swallow the rope and we pull it out. Would that be great? Wait? Do we read like jokes? Like hanging out to jokes and when it comes out, but you gotta keep pulling. You get to the bunt side. The news, take your table, But can we pull things out of ours? We have to do there? Yeah, we have to do it. So pilots done, one's done that, we're bathrooms pilot season. Then went out there and I just I started taking acting lessons with Gordon Hunt, Helen Hunt's dad, and I did you needed that? Yeah? I figured? Was it just what everybody was doing them? Nobody? Manager? I was telling me that, look, as a comedian, you don't know how to act with other people on stage? Is that true? It is true? Did it help you? Definitely helped me? Well, the Groundlings help me more? Uh? Then yeah, Groundings, but they're both expensive. It's not cheap. Ground Lings is a very very admired program. How long were you win that? I was in there for a year and a half and it was Jim Wise, my first teacher, and he went around the rooms like no wy in this class, and he went around to everybody. He reminds me of the story and uh, he's a great writer. Now he's worked for Lano and now he's doing something else. But he goes, why are you going to go? I want to be on Saturday Live. And he goes, okay, all right, Well the good luck and it's like like the guts that no one else would just say that. Of course, that's why everyone's there. That's all I really wanted to do. So I wanted to I did impressions so I would be the new Dana Carvey. I knew. I figured he's gonna leave, and so I wouldn't be the next Dana car had people told you, I mean, what thing do you think we have the greatest influence in terms of helping you? Who do you credit most prized? Stand up was the best because you could really build confidence. It's all about getting knocked down when you go out. I mean, people are gonna just reject you. And it's just insane how many times. I mean, if you don't have confidence, then you start losing your confidence. But maybe I'm not good. Maybe I'll start changing my act for your confidence. Now, No, never there like in my career with what I do, or's it there and go it's over. You know that I'm never gonna get another job again. It's over. But that's crazy. It would be hard for you to feel that way. We have six year contracts and six years we'll talk never really difficult, really difficult for you to feel. But if I'm playing with you and I feel like this is just uneven, like you're just crushing me. Then I'd be like, then my conference will go down. But I feel comfortable with you, and I feel like I can play with you. But like if it's you know you were when you have someone like Martin Short and playing with him, and it's like, you gotta be on your game. When it's Alca Bowin or Martin Short, you have to be on your game. So it's like, that's the only thing where I feel like I'm having a bad day someone when you're working with them like that, when you say on your game, you really gotta be on your toes. They're so they impress you, well you Martin Short is unbelievably. It's like log rolling with him and you're going off the log Oh, totally, no way. I can't hold my own. He's just Unbelievable's think he's already on two different levels and then he'll save some reference that it's so funny that I can't my brain can't work. It stops because I go to that reference and I go, did you just bring up you know who? We thought? You're actually looking in your mind at what he just said, and he just said that word. Yeah, Higgins will do that to me now. And then Steve Higgins is our my announcer, but sidekick or whatever, but he's just an amazing comedian's a genius, and he'll just say something and I'll just screw my head up for days. Because the other day he said, maybe this's beacon. If anyone remembers this, it was a typing tutor. It was. It was a computer program to teach you how to type. Maybe this beacon teaches you how to type. It's the hottest thing, and like the eighties early nineties, it's an awful reference. The crowd went its complete silence. But it stopped me in my tracks. A year and a half of groundlings, and that stops because you're done with it, or something else happens next. Here's a good story. I get center at Live, I get an audition Marcy Klein and I Alicon semi to New York to audition for Lauren. They're looking for a new cast member. I go on stage at the comic strip from Los Angeles. Come in, I have three minutes. I go on the stage. I could show live in front of an audience. It's an audition with just nobody else in the room, an audience. There, I see Marcy and Lauren. Lauren's wearing a hat, a baseball hat pulled down on and Marcy has the blonde hair, and I know who everyone is, and I was like, wow, that's Marcy Klein, that's Laura Michael as well. So I go on stage and just I could just couldn't get people. Three minutes was not enough to grab people. It's tough to kill people. Didn't understand the troll a bit. They're like, huh, I don't know what he's doing with the celebrities with the troll doll. I don't know, And I just bombed. I bombed, yeah, and I knew it. I was like, that was just just sweaty. That was sweaty. There was a diner next door to the comic strip and it's like Boulevard and Broken Dreams. It's like obviously the next to Marl H. Monroe, impersonator and drinking common. So I died painting and those dudes from the beam or eating lunch they came into as well. They oh, that was a terrible set uh. And so I went back to l A and I got an independent movie called The Entrepreneurs or something, and it was I was like, Wow, this is cool. And I was doing this thing and I Warner Brothers want to sign me for a TV show and I said, Okay, I'll do it, but one out if I get Saren Live wat Hamburger Man it was coming. It was like that. It was a thing about waitresses and I was the delivery boy and it was it was man, I don't remember any of it now. Any Sunshine cater So sold delivery or something like that. It was like it was a catering service and here you go, here, here you go. That was like the fifth leade was But I said, like, if I get Saren Live, I can't do this show. And well, they go, what I might put that in the contract, but it was so crazy to say that. They let me do it. I don't think anyone's ever done in the history of anybody. They put in the thing. If Jimmy Fallon gets satur Alive, he's not doing Here you go anyways, I go back to audition. How much longer after you bomb and how much they give you another shots? Year and a half so it is a long time. Yeah, we're maybe a year maybe they end up hiring Tracy Morgan. That's their next round, and you go in and what happens. They said, don't do the troll bit, which now that's my only act. Don't t would be let me come back. I don't do the troll bit. I did instead do a celebrity walkathon, which basically is the troll bit exactly the new like your backstage years and looking at me, I didn't understand, and you're looking at the troll You're coming with me. I went to Ellen Stardust Diner, which is here and right by the Dirty Rock. Next time I do your show, I want the control on the desk with us talk about this. So go ahead, Ellen Stardus, go there. I get a cheeseburger, any banana health shake, okay, I will say, there's no such things, be like, just like there's no healthy muffins. They've recently changed the name of the drink to the Jimmy Fallon Shape Perfect, which is cool. I want to go back there. So I went back to the hotel and I've eating my cheeseburger, going over my act and drinking the shake, and I go, I'm ready for this. I'm gonna do it. And it's like it was the same kind of bit, like, uh, this is the celebrity walk. It's on, please everyone come up. And I was, do you know the same Adam Sandler? You know, as I told my mom, I was doing there now the walk, and she was she goes, hey, do hey, hey, Doe, Yeah, you know whatever. But I wouldn't say who I was doing. I just go into the impressions as opposed to the other thing like next up, Bill calls me, next up, John to the bat this one, I would just do the person and then I just picked up a guitar and I would do Atlantis more center um the Cure, I remember I did, which is how how many times you use that in a sketch? Can we get someone to do Robert Smith from the Cure? I mean we topical, we need that now? Why would you even audition with that? But I did kill. It was great. I killed, and Marcy Clank came out to As soon as I found your way out to audition, everybody comes out to you. The gout. The audio guy put the microphone on. You goes, how are you doing? Jimmy Couluk, who just won't let you know a little advice one does. We would like to live, so don't let the throw you. Okay, buddy, good luck, good thank you. A going and get my hair done. The girl's like, okay, there's your makeup or whatever? Your hair? When did they go and just to make a camera ready because they're beating it out to California. Just remember, hey, I've seen these auditions. Lauren doesn't like to laugh, so just go out there and just let that throw you go. Okay, he's in the wrong business. I mean, he's in the comedy business. Why would he be this. He doesn't like to laugh. So I go out and I start doing my my act. My outfit is awful. I'm wearing I look like I'm auditioning for a search to Sola. Everything is so tight, A tight brown shirt and he's tight. It was so embarrassing. My hair was spiked up because I saw a picture of I'm gonna forget her name now, actress and she's British and she had spiky hair. I forgot her name. She's young, I don't remember. Okay, Kate that can stale has spiky hair. Yeah, okay, she had short, spiky hair. I'm just cute. So I changed my hair to look like Kate Beck and sALS hair. So Kate Beck and Sale is the barometer for you in terms of fashion. Thank you. A lot of people think it's Brando exactly it was for me, it was Kate Beck and Sale had my hair spiked out and uh, and it did the other thing. And as soon as I got off the stage, I remember thinking like it was also emotion. I was thinking like, look, no matter what, you can always tell your kids. I was on the stage. I was on the stage Studio eight age where Steve Martin did his word Richard Pryor did that. So the second one, when you come back, is in studio just them, just Marcy and Lauren and Iala and Tina. I want to say. I was there and she the head writer then about to become the head right now yet and and and when and when you kill and it's oh, McKay was there. That's great. And when you kill and you're done, and Higgins was there. Sorry, did Lauren say anything? So when you've done, Marcy said something to you. She grabbed me on the way. I just want to say, it's one of the best auditions I've ever seen. That's what they all tell me really, They said, your second audition was one of the short list of people. Where they were when you were done with that audition, They all went, he's in, he's in. I was floating. I didn't remember. I didn't touch the ground. I got in the elevators. I took a picture of the elevator floor, the carpeting. There are peacocks, NBC peacocks. When you're done, how much later after what do you find out? I would say six weeks. Oh they waited that long that that was awful. And then I go in to see Lauren. Lauren comes to l A. They go, Lord like to talk to you. Didn't give a definitive yes or no. Six weeks later, I'm in l A. I'm doing finishing up in this movie The Entrepreneurs. And then Lauren has an office at the Paramount lot and you go and I was sitting there as waiting, you know, his assistants are outside. You just kind of hang out. I was there till maybe four hours. I waited for Lauren. Then finally said, okay, you can't come in, and so I walk in. Everything is white, everything's cream colored or white. And he was like, it's it's seriously like going to heaven or something, and Laurence city amount of desk. His feet were up on the desk and he goes up right, Jimmy, do you do you wear wigs? And I go, oh, I do this to my hair And I want to say kate bag and sad, but I said, I spike it up and he goes, no, I mean in character have you done characters? We wore wigs because we want you for the show. And that was just so Lauren himself, face to face, was the person in the toach die. It was just I don't start crying, right. It was I'm gonna make you proud. That was my last thing I said to him. I'm gonna make you proud. And Jimmy did make Lauren proud, going on to anchor Weekend Update with Tina Fey and eventually getting the host job, and all of television explore the Here's the Thing Archives, where another Late night legend, David Letterman, talks about when he reached the big time. This was it. The Tonight Show is gonna make or break you. If if you don't do well, you'll never be heard of again. There's there's no such thing as a guy bombing this first time when the night show and then having a delightful career that just doesn't happen. You're gone. Take a listen at Here's the Thing dot Org. This is Alec Baldwin and you're listening to Here's the Thing. This is Alec Baldwin, and you were listening to Here's the Thing. I first met Jimmy Fallon back when I was hosting Saturday Night Live and he was new to the show. Since then, a lot has changed for Fallon. It's been a remarkable a few years. I want to actually write the step down because I kind of forget how it all went down, but I remember. We'll give you a copy of this tape then. It's pretty fun. I appreciate it. You give out tapes, gut eight track tapes. Player. Yeah, you give me a player as well. I have any TRACTI football. It was a good guy. I talked to you. He's not with Ruin Arlage. Go ahead, you know, I do want to tell the story before I forget about you, though. Can I just talk about you for one second because I think you're listening to you would go ahead? So this is this is a true story. This is probably my fourth episode. Ever, it's you're hosting, uh, and it's the Ghost of Christmas Past President Future. Yeah. And we're rehearsing and you go, what is your name? I go, Jimmy Fallon. You okay, Jimmy Fallon. I'm about to say your name more than anyone's everybody on TV ever, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Fallon. Oh, Jimmy Fallon. Sound like that, and you ket you kept saying Jimmy Fallon. No matter what ever happens in your whole life, you could diss me every day in press, you could come, you could bricks in my window. I will love you for the restaurant. If the Fellons love you, my parents love you. My parents hate people that say one little remote bad thing about me. We love you, your bulletproof. And then do you remember this? This is the part that I had to write this down because this is crazy. Now in the sketch, this is only my fourth show. I go, yeah, I'm the Ghost of Post Future. Apparently I become famous and go and I end up hosting the show in two thousand eleven. So I go, come with me to the future, and we go to the future and it's the future that so it's a fake stall life opening. There's a down part of Robot. I'm the dumb part of two thousand. But there's all the same cast members. The fat guy from Chicago, there's the quirky girl, there's you know, all the cast member looks like kind of similar cast to what S has. And when I come out to host is December twelve, two thousand eleven. Now, since that my life did whatever happens in my life, I get Late Night and do I host a show in real life and real time on December twelve, two thousand Eleven's that is that insane? That's insane. There's no you can google it YouTube and check it all out. I mean, this really happened. It's we predicted the future. Take us through the process. Because when people think of Late Night, which is obviously been churning and royaling over the last couple of years with Letterman leaves, and this one comes in and this one comes in, and and also they think of late and think of messes, there's some messy transitions, especially at NBC. You know, meet the presses of what But I'm not asking to comment on that. I always got meet the press. They begged you, I think Todd to get a haircut. Look like he didn't listen to me. That's why he's fired. To the extent that you can say, because some of this is obviously proprietary and private, I mean, the way these things are done, how does that whole thing be you're doing late night? And when do you first get any intimation that you're even in the running to become the host of the Tonight show? Gosh, I don't know. I mean, I think who says it to you or someone says it to your agent. No, it wasn't an agent, as Lauren. If anything, you know, I think we would just you know, we got to dinner and just talk or something and said, you know, what's going to be the next thing? Is there next thing? Or eventually will that? Did you want to host this actual at that point? Yeah, I mean there's no knowing knowing that having that job and you've reinvented that show. I'm not say saying these figure about it. I don't have people come on the show for me to say these things that I don't mean it and everyone loves you. Yeah, but every time you see this, you hold up like a different sponsor you're sponsored by you just hold up a sign said subway, eat fresh. You don't have to do these things. All these compliments are sponsored. This compliment is underwritten by Squarespace lick stamps dot com. I like those commentators on the sports seems like I'll tell you Alan, I think it's got a broken leg, but we'll talk about that. If you want a good breakfast, then the Hardys has the best deals at three for one saucer, Big muff is over at hard Is and deal have the best, eat the hardest, and you got Joe Franklin. Just remember you remember Joe Franklin, of course and paints. Yes, it's the greatest. Can I finish saying you don't want to say to you apologize. You are the host of a show, and more than any other man that's done that job. Are a host. You welcome people, You welcome the audience, you welcome the audience at home, you welcome your guests. Not everybody was that good at that. I like that. I think you also you have to like what you're doing, and I'd like late Night. I would have been happy at late Night. But but what I was gonna say was, you've given up things in order to do that job. You made movies. Do you miss making movies? No, you don't do stand up anymore. I don't need to know what was it, But do you miss it? I don't because I'm doing a monologue in front of people, which is stand up. You get to do everything. I wasn't talking about that. Who created your show? What do you mean? But the Tonight Show now is very different than the Tonight Show was when its previous host was. It wasn't that far away from Late Night. It's kind of the same thing because you basically took a lot of the Late Night components abo at the moment and you you dressing up as Neil Young. Not a lot of people are doing that. Yeah, the Johnny Carson wuld dress up as Willie Nelson, would Johnthan Win, It didn't have the same effect. Yeah, if Johnny Carson dressed up, we were like, what's Johnny doing? Dressing up with Neil Young? Which when you do, when people sit there and they go, wow, that's really cool. You know, we faked out some people when I first did Neil Young. You faked me out. I did for about I say, Hollywood Reporter or something. We have it. I have it the I have a screen grab of it and say, like, I don't know how Fallon convince Neil Young to sing the theme song to uh whatever it was Charles and Charge or something like Anthio, but he did it. Anyway, It's really funny. Here's no Young singing and it's just me dresses Neils in the seventies. It's not like Neil addressed like that now, but it's like great brown hair. Oh totally, but they thought they go, it's great that we've got to fake them out. But either way, it's fun. I just think, you know, Lauren has been a big help with the whole thing, just talking to him and seeing what's going on. I think once Jay called me and said, I think I'm rounding the the last lap here, and I would love it if I think you got it. I think you should take the Tonight Joe and make it yours and keep it number one. And I was like, oh my god, in a way, did you feel that that was somebody telling you you were going to get the Tonight show? Yeah, well that's as good as it gets. I guess, I mean that's him from him, Yeah, I mean, he's hell kept it. When when when an NBC incorporated, whether it's Lauren or any of people who work there. When did they come to you and tell you you're gonna do the show? Now? I think I met with Steve Burke came down to the office and met with me and goes, who is the head of Comcast? Whos NBC? And Lauren's like, it's gonna be fun meeting with Steve already, because Lauren knows before I know, he knows it's my birthday before right, He know's what I'm getting. He knows you're gonna be arrested. The third gives you open You're gonna lat's a fitbit. Uh. So I go, okay. So Steve comes down and I kind of know that it's gonna be good news. He goes, well, we'd love for you to do it tonight, Joe. I want Jay to be happy because it's you know, like you said, it's just always been a nightmare. He said, I'm not gonna make this a not a nightmare. I'm making this as smooth as can be. And Jay's involved all the way. So I talked to Jay every step of the way. You know. I went out to l A and Steve when out Dlien met with Jay and she was, again, we'll do this the right way, because we never had anything any be for anything mean Jay. I think we wrote him into a sketch like everyone was so afraid, like, how do we we don't screw this up? How would Jane go? Just it's all cool. We're both adults. I'm in no rush. I'm happy, I'm in New York. I have my wife, you have a baby. I mean, this is Everything's great. I don't need to move to l A. I don't want to, so I'm very happy. But did anybody think that that was problematic for you to be in New York? Yeah? I talked to Lauren about it. That would be great. I just kept it here and just kept it in the studio that Johnny Carson was at, which is where we're doing. They were receptive to that right away. No, the Lauren was. But then we got on the phone with everybody, the president of NBC and Steve Burke and Yeah, and all his executives and and I just remember saying they go, well, what are you thinking? You know, we could do it this, you know, and Jay's studio, and what is the timing for it on? I just said, I'd love to keep it in New York. Long past, long long silence, and they go, oh, well, okay, well let's well, you know what, let's call you back, let's all think about it. I was like, okay, and then I was in and then I called Lauren. I go, why did that go? He was like, we'll see what they say. But it would make sense to bring it back to New York, where Johnny started, where it was, where it was when the Time show first began. It would be something at least different that you could, you know, and I'm used to the building. I've worked at that building for NBC for you know, and then for people who don't know, A tremendous expense was laid out by NBC to renovate the building and renovate the facility for you it was like they were starting all over again. Yeah, it was actually gonna be a bigger thing to cut all that out. I go, I don't want a balcony, because you know. I talked to of course, Phil Himes, one of the best lighting directors in the world, and he was like, you don't want a balcony because then you're doing a bit underneath the You go in the audience all the time. If you're doing a bit underneath, the people upstairs can't see what you're doing, and then they won't even laugh. At Filis. I would do Saturday Night Live over the ark of several years, and I love Philips because he said that. He said me, stay over here and stand right there on that piece of tape. You know you could move around more when you were young. You know, when you were young you were good looking. Stand here and put your face in that light. Because you were much older. You always give it to everybody, know he does. He gives it to everybody. Jimmy, get that hat off, you know whatever, and he God, what are you yelling at me? I'll take the hat. You can't see your Face's funny, just your costume. This is what you're wearing. Oh god, is that your hair? Was that a wig? Jeez? You know it's my hair. The first night you do the show, nerve, come out, come out. The curtain is there. It's exactly. It's so show busy and awesome. It was the most show business and traditional and awesome. I loved it so much. That was so fun. But we invited him. Sigourney Weaver was actually there because their dad created the Tonight Show and the Today Show. We had this bit that I did where people would give me a hunter bucks saying I never thought that you'd do the Tonight Show. This is it, I said, my buddy, who bet me? I never do the Times? You owe me a hundred bucks. De Niro came out, was the first guy to come out and throw the hundreds done and shook his head like and then it was everything. Tina was Mariah carry, Kim Kardashi and Lindsay Low and uh Sarah, Jessica Parker was great. Joe Namath, Mike Tyson came out, Joan Rivers. Joan Rivers came out and it was her first Tonight You appearance since Johnny, since the fallout, and it was emotional. Dude. She came out and she kissed me and then I started crying. It was awesome, I said to Lauren once, and of course he was wise to ignore my ideas, but I wanted the show to come on and you see the old Tonight Show. You here done, Dona and Carson comes out, then he go it was like a record skipping you like. Then Jay's theme plays like it's a line and then you come out like you did that kind of did that. Spike Lee directed the opening video of our show. But when you see right now with it's New York City, I go, I want it black and white because the Roots were trying to think of the theme song, and the Roots had the selling hey do do do do do Hey Hey, I go, that's good. I want something like you think of New York. I want like Woody Alleny type of black and white jazzy. So the show starts in black and white and here d dom do no Dun Dun, dune dune and turns into color. Then hey, then it's like, okay, so we all took the ride. I know it's only but we took that ride from old to New and it's classy and new great, and we have the giant curtain, which is like, there's nothing like a giant curtain. And you come out with the giant curtain, and I remember just going, this is it. I go to Lauren before the show. I go the day before I go. I think I want to come out and explain who I am, where I'm from, and who the Roots are, and who Steve Higgins is and what a talk show is. Because there's kids out there that don't know what a talk show is. They don't grow up with it. They stream everything, they don't they see clips of stuff. They don't know what to talk to you is. And if there was any young Jimmy Fallons like me out there watching the first night is when people watch any show, they'll give it a shot. So this is a big audience, a big opportunity for me to explain what talk shows are. So here's what I'm doing. That's my name, my managed, Jimmy Fallon, fourty years old. And you know, blah blah blah, and I come out here and I make jokes about the news. So in the first time it's made jokes about the news and then hopefully you laugh and you're in a good mood and you go to bed with a smile on your face. That's my ultimate goal. I know this is a big job. This is a legacy that I never thought i'd get. But I hope to keep it number one in classy and the best it can be and I'm only gonna get better. And what I love most about the show since you've done it is that and everyone who's done the show, and all these shows, you know, have their talents, but yours is the most guest proof. You're the most versatile guy that's ever done. This job is like nothing you can't do. So the show is going to be entertaining because you showed up. If the guy shows up and he's good, but that doesn't work your flows, you do something. You've got so much stuff. Now you have a family, you have a wife. Yes, Nancy producer, Um where did you meet on the set of Fever Pitch? She was producing the movie, was trolling the cast. You know, she was not She was this beautiful girl who she was having to be the producer of the film. She works to Drew Barrymore, their partners, and she produced the movie. And I met her, you know when I got cast in the movie. And I remember was driving through the streets of Boston about to do a scene like five in the morning or and it's just raining, gloomy in Boston and just very dark, and you know that type of Boston color. It's just kind of rainy and foggy. And there's this girl in white corduroy pants with a pink sweater and maybe a backpack, a green backpack or something, and bright bright white explorer had a monkey with and I go, I go go with. Uh said, can you say I'm in love with you? Uh? And so I go, She's in my head like I was so pretty. And then my driver, you know, the he was the Union guy, and goes, oh she's hot. Oh my gosh, that hot. I go, hold on, it's our producer. It's had some respect you seriously, So I go it. We just started hanging out and just being friends and just found out we had a lot in common musically, listen to the same music. And after this show that we'd hang out, we have some drinks and listen to like Harry Nelson or Randy Newman, stuff like that no one likes, but she liked it. And so we just started getting along. And then we're selling the movie in London. The movie came out, selling the movie in London, and uh, I see you, and I go, I miss hanging out with you. That was so fun. She goes, I miss hanging out with you. And that was it. So then from then and we just never friends the same. Um. I mean, I know you work hard, it's a full schedule. Does your job and the way you live your life now because you become so successful do you find you have less time for some of the things you wanted to do with your friends. You don't get to see him as much as you used to know you do, you see, that's a great excuse to nazi them. No, I prefer it this way. Yeah, it's much better this way. Yeah. I see you enough. Yeah, we see each other enough, don't we. Do you have friends? Were you and I see each other more than enough? This hour? Right now? We're good for three years. Now, I'll see you next summer on the beach with a piece of corn. Yeah? But but but but do you find like you have dear friends of yours, close friends of yours? Are they around or do you have that show bus this thing like I do, where we got to pick up where we left off, and everybody's spinning around the global that I don't really have that many friends. My wife's my best friend. Yeah, I just says the other day because we had to go some dinner party thing and my wife and they want to split us up, you know they do that. They go, all right, Nancy sits here, and you're gonna sit I go, NaN's gonna sit with Harvey Weinstein. I don't want to do this. I want to sit next to my life. I love my life. Yeah, I prefer to prefer to I can talk to her. That's why I'm married. I met my wife. I don't want to meet new people. I don't want say with your wife, Yeah, you have to sit with you would be my wife, the wife, your dear dear friends. They're out there in the whole galaxy spinning around. I see you know the same group of people that we just it's Lauren, it's justin, It's you know, Drew. It's just kind of the same people to come in and out and and my family and my actual family. What keeps you saying? Now, I'm not breaking, so I don't know. I don't everything's keeping me saying. But my thing is is that you have such success. Maybe there's some douchebag DNA and you somewhere but no one can find it. Is that it's what he could. The show keeps me whatever I think of it. I think of a dumb idea. I go, but is this remotely funny that we're gonna sing the Hello video? And Lena Richie's head is the bust and he's like a statue in his head turned out it's really Lina Richie and I'd sing hello and they go, we'll pitch you to him. Then Lina Richards like love it, Let's do it. It's like all right, you just think of ideas and they happen, so I write them down. Don't know the dumb ideas that I have. I have a thousand ideas. The p muffin is one of them. But who is your critical eye on the show, Lauren? Lauren is the person. He is your yeah, consultant producers to Josh Leeve is a good producer. Gavin our head writer, Miles. You know, I talked to these guys and the writers. They have your ear. Yeah, and then they give you notes and I go, do we need to do that? And I don't know, you know, Lauren will come in and go, I wouldn't do that, do this thing, do this that. He's still a writer at heart, and he points at the key Carsley, that would be better if you ended on that line. You know, you're right. Is there a person you've tried to get on the show that you couldn't get on the show? The Pope? Literally literally yeah, I tried for the Pope. It turns out being serious. Yeah, yeah, turns up. He's like, you can't come over here. He came to New York and it was down the streets at St. Patrick's. Yeah he's not I didn't want to do. But who else booking is such a big part of your show. Yeah no, nobody, nobody, the Queen. I'd like to have the Queen on be fun, but everyone else's just you know, he's been real lucky they've come. Yeah, great New York City. It's alive, it's fun, and once you do it, you go, oh yeah, this is great. We had the best. I made sure we had the best sound, the best audio. So if you're a band and you come on and play these because you have to do this thing to sell your records or your tours, this is the best sounding show on television. I got the guys that did Lincoln Center to do my studio similar to yours. Oh my gosh, I feel like we're in a bunker. But anyway, Springsteen comes on and he loves it because it's not the stadium and it's not a club, but it's it's only two hundred seats. It's a hot ticket, and everyone's there wants to be there. They're not there because there was nothing else to do. What do your parents think now? They're the most proud thing in O my world. My mom still gives me criticism, but they both love me. They're so proud of everything, my sis. And they see you the same way. When I went to that party at your house a couple of years ago. We were there and your parents, like your father almost looked at me, like, you know, who could believe Jimmy. It's got the same job as Johnny Carson would have figured out. I know. My mom goes. She called the other day, she goes, you know that Tom Cruise is great on the show. Thanks watching. He looked really good with his long hair. He does his Tom Cruise. Yeah, I really liked his long hair. I go, yeah, he looks good with long hair. He's Tom Cruise. Yeah, I really like his long hair. I go. I heard you the first three times there, Okay, I'm giving you a hint. Grow your hair out. It's too short. Hang up the phone. Oh I started hooking out. I started making hands returning green. My short started to rip. My mother is like a sitcom character, like the neighbor in like a sitcom like Cravit. She watches the food Network and she's seen every episode of Chopped twice. I don't know. I don't get the reference anything she's saying because I don't watch as much Food Networks as she does. So she like, you don't know Walter. He goes like, I put a little cheese on it. You know, it just makes some slogan. I go, I don't know that guy. No, you don't know Carla. She's like, y'all I want to do and I go, I don't know these references, mom, but i'd love that you're making these jokes. I don't know them, So I act like I don't know them and just tell the story. And are you have your parents on the show, like like davidd No, we wouldn't know. You wouldn't have your mama. No, they were already. My dad was one of the first show. He was well, not on purpose, but they were in the audience because it was my parents are there, and so I could do the thing. I go, welcome, I glad you're all here, and I go, now I'm going to do the monologue. So let me run through the curtain and do what you're gonna see every night. So come out, do my first joke. Um, it was something. Wasn't even it was okay. And then I said, and who'd have thought I'm hosting the Tonight Show. I never even finished school or somewhere I'm gonna drop out or something. So it was a joke. I didn't really drop out high school. And my dad yells from the audience, we paid a lot of money for that's cool, he heckles me. The first Tonight Show ever, my dad heckles me, what's wrong with people? I go to we are you kidding me? And everyone's clapping and they're laughing at it's my dad, the heckled me, and I go, and I go. First of all, I went to public school, so you didn't pay a lot of money for that school. So the whole thing is crazy. Chill out, wait till the commercial security. Yeah, put some of the end. I haven't stopped talking anyways. Now they honestly can't stop talking about me. Well, I'll end with this and that as I meet a lot of people who are content and not very talented, and you are the most talented and the most content person I've ever met in this business. Good for you, Good for you, thanks so much for you can watch the Tonight show starring Jimmy Fallon every weeknight on NBC and at nbc dot Com. This is Alec Baldwin and you're listening to Here's the Thing.