Adam Carolla remembers the exact moment he wanted to give standup comedy a shot — and he has Jay Leno to thank for it.
It wasn’t because of a classic Leno joke making an indelible impression on a young Carolla, either. No, it happened while Carolla was working a construction job at Leno’s neighbor’s house back in the late ’80s; before ever saying a word to him, Leno made it clear to Carolla that he was in the wrong line of work.
“He would come out at noon, get the newspaper, walk back in the house, dressed like Rodney Dangerfield in his famous bathrobe. And I’m across the street sweating my ass off, spreading stucco,” Carolla told TheWrap.
“And I’m just looking at this guy’s schedule, and I’m going ‘I’ve been here since seven in the morning. I’m just covered with stucco. We haven’t even broke for lunch yet.’ He’s just getting his newspaper, [and goes] back in the house. I’m looking at this guy’s schedule and I’m like, that’s the schedule for me.”
Decades later, Carolla is more than just a standup comic. He’s taken a long and winding road to get there — from starting in LA morning radio, to co-hosting “Love Line” with Dr. Drew and “The Man Show” with Jimmy Kimmel, to, more recently, hosting his namesake podcast since 2009 — but it’s replaced swinging a hammer to make a buck. And he’s now teamed up with Leno — who has since become a friend, with the two bonding over their mutual love of comedy and cars — to help others follow their standup dreams.
The duo is set to host their third annual Comedy Fantasy Camp in Los Angeles from Jan. 23-26, 2025. The four-day camp offers workshops, Q&A sessions, and panels on all-things comedy, from TV writing to podcasting to performing onstage. Campers also get to participate in open mics, before ultimately performing their own set at the Hollywood Improv.
Comedy Fantasy Camp is operated in collaboration with Rock ‘n Roll Fantasy Camp, the long-running operation where rockers teach novices how to perform. It’s not cheap — the early bird price is $3,999 — but the experience is undoubtedly star-studded; Natasha Leggero, Brad Williams, and Patrick Warburton are set to co-headline the event alongside Leno and Carolla, and more stars are expected to announced before January.
Carolla, who hosts his “The Adam Carolla Show” podcast five days a week, and Leno, who still tours frequently and hosts his “Jay Leno’s Garage” YouTube series post-“Tonight Show,” both took time to speak with TheWrap recently at — where else? — Leno’s garage in Burbank, California.
Topics covered include the state of comedy, artificial intelligence’s affect on the entertainment industry, and Donald Trump.
TheWrap: Let’s start with the Comedy Fantasy Camp. Why come back for a third year — what’s bringing you back for more?
Carolla: Well, for me, I met the guy who started the Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp, and I was like, ‘This a great idea. We should do this for comedy.’ The first two [fantasy camps] went so well that we thought, why not turn it into something we do once a year? And Jay was kind enough to get involved, but not just lend his name to it, like, really get with the campers and really get granular, really spend time and burn calories. And I think Jay had a good time.
Leno: I had a good time. Because when I [was starting out] I was lucky enough to meet the comics: Robert Klein, Gabe Kaplan, all these comics would come through Boston. I would meet them and talk to them — and that’s where I learned from. Because when you’re usually taught from somebody who can’t do it, you kind of go “Who is that guy?” (Laughs) People you respect as comedians, they’re going to have a more unorthodox view of how to do it.
There’s also a coaching aspect to this. What’s the first thing you’d want to know as a camper, or rather, what is it that you’re imparting to you campers?
Leno: If you’re going to do it, it’s the only thing you can do. To say, “I’m thinking about being a comedian, maybe I’ll be a writer…” — well no, I’m sorry, then you’re a writer. If you think you’re a comedian and a writer, you’re a writer. If you think you’re an actor and a comedian, you’re an actor. Because comedians just want to comede. That’s the whole thing. You just want to do stand up. It’s something you have to do, and you’ll go to humiliating lengths to do it.
My favorite thing is when I see actors playing comedians on TV shows, and they’re always more conscious of how they look. “Do I look good? Does my hair look good?” I never heard Rodney Dangerfield say, “Do I look okay?” No, it’s what you are. It doesn’t matter — comedians aren’t afraid to look stupid.
Carolla: I always tell young comedians — or young anything, writers or podcasters — I go, “What do we need you for?” Like, we’ve got a lot of comedians. You know what I mean? There’s a lot of podcasters. There’s a lot of people who think they’re funny, or there’s a lot of people who think they can sing country music. Why you? And if the answer is no, then maybe it’s no. But if you think you’re different, your angles are different. We’ve never met you before, then show up and bring us something we need.
Leno: The best advice I always give young comics is, don’t go up as a comic. Try and be an MC. If they have a talent show in your town, try to be the MC. Speak at your synagogue, your church, an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, whatever you need to do, to get in front of an audience.
Just talk, and if you get a laugh, continue to talk. If you don’t get a laugh, then sit down, okay, and introduce the next act. But first get comfortable in front of people talking. My favorite thing is when writers do stand p they go “And so I exclaim … ” Writers exclaim. Comics don’t exclaim. We just do it.
Is there a common trait that you guys started off with, that would still translate to today? Maybe you’d start off on TikTok or YouTube, but are there some common aspects that are always going to be true for comedy?
Leno: Yes, the most common is a girlfriend or boyfriend going, “Why do you have to work every night?”
If you’re the spouse of a comic, I’m sorry, you might be close to equal or second [in importance]. But you’re not first, especially if you’re starting out that relationship, no comic — male or female — is going to be happy in a relationship unless they’re happy with their act, unless you’re happy with how you’re doing on stage. Then, I am worthy to give my love to this person. But if you’re dating one of these people, they have to do it every night, because it’s repetition. It’s the only way. They sit around that other 23 and a half hours waiting for their little set to come out.
And there’s nothing better than killing an audience. There really isn’t. People say “Sex is great” Oh yeah — it’s really not as good as [a good comedy set].
You guys know this joke, right? A comic’s in Vegas for the first time. He’s all excited. It’s like 1 o’clock in the morning. He goes back to his room, after just playing his set. The phone rings. “Hi, my name is Felicity. I’m the leader dancer across the street, and I saw the show tonight and I thought you were really funny and sexy, and I thought maybe we could come over and we could fool around. I mean, I’d leave before morning, I’d just like to spend some time with you.” The comic goes: Did you see the first show or second show?
Carolla: (Laughs) That is such a universal comedian thought. Because you do two shows, and there’s always one you like more. And then at some point, you run into someone, they go “I saw you back when you’re at the whatever,” and [you go] “Ohhh, which show?” When they go to the bad show — which isn’t even bad — it’s just not as good as the good show, that’s a “God hates me” kind of moment.
For anyone thinking about signing up for the fantasy camp this year, is there a baseline sense of humor they have to have? Or can you take almost anyone and give them some comedic spark?
Carolla: I don’t think you can make a non-comedian into a comedian.
I think you can take somebody who’s got some little acorn of comedy and maybe turn it into a mighty oak tree — but I need some acorn in there. But being good on your feet and being relaxed and being sort of conversational in front of people has a universal application.
If you’re an attorney, certainly, or socially, whatever it is. So it’s like, even if maybe you’re not going to end up being up on the marquee, playing the theaters that these guys play, it’s still like, I would always tell people, take a Groundlings class, take an improv class. Why? Because you’re going to join the cast of “SNL”? No, so you can be funny at a party, give and take, [and] have good conversations. And it could pay off on a first date.
Leno: I always find people’s comedic ability is inversely proportional to their intelligence.
You want to try and take as much from your real life as you can. If you’re like, a dull person, a dullard, if you come across sort of boring — then be really boring on stage. That’s what your humor is.
Carolla: That’s what Jay does. He draws from a slice of life. “Show of hands — how many people have had their Duesenberg breakdown on the 405?”
Leno: See, being a comic — have you ever seen a group of animals, and one of the animals is injured, and all the other animals try to come and eat it. That’s kind of like being a comic. That just happened now. (Laughs)
Adam, you came to standup through a circuitous route. You started at the Groundlings and did radio for years. If someone like me, who is 34, wanted to go to fantasy camp, is there an age where you’re past the point of no return and shouldn’t try it?
Carolla: No, that is the beauty [of comedy] — it’s not like playing cornerback for the Baltimore Ravens where you age out at 26 and a half. I would say I didn’t get skilled at doing standup until much later in life —
Leno: He was working construction across the street from me when I bought my house! “I want to be a comedian” — Okay, good luck to ya!
Carolla: He would come out at noon, get the newspaper, walk back in the house, dressed like Rodney Dangerfield in his famous bathrobe. And I’m across the street sweating my ass off, spreading stucco, and I’m just looking at this guy’s schedule, and I’m going, ‘I’ve been here since seven in the morning. I’m just covered with stucco. We haven’t even broke for lunch yet. He’s just getting his newspaper back in the house…’ I’m looking at this guy’s schedule and I’m like, that’s the schedule for me.
Leno: Now, you mentioned too old. Rodney was a comedian when he was in his 20s. He got married, had a family, became an aluminum siding salesman, and then he got back into it — at age 44. But Rodney’s face had to grow into his act. When you’re 20 years old — you’re a young kid — it really had to become that.
The Fantasy Camp is here is SoCal so I have to ask, considering Adam is from SoCal and Jay moved here from Boston years ago — is there a difference between SoCal comic sensibilities versus East Coast sensibility?
Leno: No. You know, Mark Twain said “Travel is the enemy of bigotry.” And the fact [is] the more you travel, the more you can pick up things and take them from other people.
When I started to get popular in Boston, I left town, because I’m going to wind up having a Boston-based act and I just left and said “let me go someplace else.” But back in New England, I was a lazy guy. I came here, and suddenly I was the hardest working person because I didn’t have the SoCal mentality — I didn’t go surfing in the daytime. So I think it’s good to travel around. And if you got a joke that works in Texas and Anchorage, Alaska, it’s going to work everywhere.
Awful things happen to you. It’s a panel story, just keep that in your mind. I mean, that’s really what it is, it’s [like] going to college. Your first year you come here, okay, you learn who’s a crook, who’s not, what agent is bad. Second year you get a couple of jobs. It takes three or four years [before things click]. You sort of learn who’s who in town, who’s a real agent, who can really do something for you. You know, it takes a while, but it’s a lot of fun. It’s a great way to make a living. I mean, I figured I’d do it ’til I had to get a real job. I just never had to get a real job.
I’ve heard it takes about 7 years to get good at being a standup comic. If you were talking to a camper, what would you tell them — hang in there because, why? You get to hangout with your pals at night, it’s a more fun job —
Leno: No, it’s a job. Don’t hang out with your pals at night. I mean, I saw it at The Comedy Store. It became people just live there. You’re doing coke in the back, and you have jokes about the thing on the wall here at The Comedy Store and about the window, and [then] you go to a real place, it doesn’t have those things. Nobody knows what you’re talking about. You know, I would see that happen in Boston. Guys have 20 minutes on Kenmore Square, then you go to Hartford and people go “What?”
I wanted to ask you guys something I’ve been hearing a lot about at my job, which is AI taking over everyone’s job in Hollywood. Is standup comedy AI-proof?
Leno: You know, it’s the one form of entertainment that’s not changed — with the exception of the invention of the microphone — it’s been the same since the 13th Century. You stand in the town square and you just yell and say things, or do physical comedy, juggle, or do something. But it really has not changed at all. And I find a lot more made of political correctness. Funny is funny. You know, if you have something, you know, Nikki Glaser is a good example. Couldn’t be filthier, but hilarious. And the stuff is so funny — it’s funny, you have to laugh at that.
She was the best thing at that Tom Brady Roast. Everybody else was just using obscenities, I’m [thinking] ‘I’m getting bored of this.’ And she came out, and I really laughed out loud. It was really, really good jokes. So that’s a case of, if you’re really funny, all bets are off.
Do you get the sense we’re on the verge of a “comedy renaissance”?
Carolla: We’re there.
Leno: A young comic said to me and Seinfeld, “You guys were lucky, you started when comedy was easy.” It wasn’t easy! It’s always been exactly the same. If you believe that, uh, no.
Here’s how old I am. You remember cabaret cards?
Carolla: Cards? No.
Leno: In New York — this is how they got Lenny Bruce. You had a license to perform in New York City. If you’re on stage and you say the F-word or something, a cop can come up and tear up your license, boom, you don’t work.
Carolla: Oh, so like a license to do comedy. Wow.
Leno: When the Warren Court came in, in ’68 or ’69, all of that went out the window. Suddenly, pornography was legal, comedy was interpretative. But all of that was against the law. If you said an obscenity, a cop would put the cuffs on ya and take you to jail. People think “Oh, it’s so terrible now.” It was way, way worse back then!
I always laugh when people say [that]. If you’re funny, that’s the renaissance.
And the thing is, now is actually better for comics, because music is so expensive to do. You have teams to load in, load out, put up the stage, set up the sound system. A comedian, you just show up.
Carolla: Every time I play a theater and see the posters, like Santana was here 8 years ago, and the percussion section is 14 dudes, and you just look at it and go “Well, I sold out a show, and they sold out a show … how is this working here?”
The thing that is funny, though, is when that theater wants to know if you want to come by that afternoon for a mic check like you’re in Santana.
Adam, you’ve been ostracized in town for your takes on COVID. Now, a few years removed from it, does it seem like it’s abating at all, or have you just been pushed over here?
Carolla: You know, comedy is about squeezing on this and having it bulge over here. And then squeezing on that and it bulges [over there]. Comedy, we find the rebellion. Initially, people are caught off guard. Like, “Oh my God, what’s going on.” And then a whole group of rebellious comics rise up.
Leno: Here’s what happens: you never know the job you didn’t get. You just know you’re not workin’ as much as you used to. That’s how it works. Because you realize, ‘Oh, I did that gig two years ago, how’d he get that job? Well, they’ll call.’ Well, no, they don’t. You just don’t know what you don’t get. It’s a small business.
If a camper said ‘Hey, I’m more of a Bill-Maher type’ comedian. Would you say go that route, or almost have them steer clear of politics?
Leno: No. People say to me, “Oh I bet you wish you were doing ‘The Tonight Show’ when Trump was president.” No, I don’t. Because when you really don’t like a guy, it’s worse.
I had a fondness for Bush. “I don’t think President Bush quite understands … ” and people would giggle and laugh. But if I really hated him — I mean, you see how polarizing it gets now. I sort of blame Trump for all of that. Because at “The Tonight Show” we used to make fun of both sides, and people couldn’t really figure out your politics. So you got the whole audience. Now, you either get the Trump people, like Gutfeld, or you get the anti-Trump people, like Kimmel. Which, to me — I’ll take everybody’s money, thank you. I play both crowds.
When I announced I’m taking politics out of my act, my ticket sales went up 20%-30%. Instead of doing 1,900 [capacity theaters] I was doing 2,400, 2,500 [capacity theaters]. Oh, Okay. People appreciate that, it’s been so rammed down their throat now. But if politics is what you do, that’s fine. As long as it’s funny.
You touched on it Mr. Leno, but if you were given “The Tonight Show” today, for round three, would you do the same amount of political content, more, less?
Leno: Well, I didn’t call it political, I just called it topical. To me, the monologue is like going through the paper. You start with the big story of the day, and then, as you’re get near the end of the newspaper, the stories get sillier. Usually, when times are serious, you do silly jokes. And when times are silly, you do the opposite.
To me, it was really just like going through the newspaper. And you can sports and cover a bunch of different subjects. I always tried to have one political joke, one kind of silly joke, one obvious joke, one clever joke, so hopefully there was something there for everybody. Because we were doing 14 minutes every night because the guests weren’t drawing numbers anymore.
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.