Jay Leno back on stage barely two weeks after burn incident
Jay Leno hates to be idle. Just over two weeks since he suffered third-degree burns in his garage, requiring doctors to cut away much of the skin on both sides of his face, the comedian was back on stage at his regular haunt, The Comedy and Magic Club in Hermosa Beach, California. “So tonight we have two shows—regular and extra crispy,” he joked to a packed house that had already been warmed up by longtime friends Arsenio Hall and Jimmy Brogan.
A crowd of local news reporters and paparazzi had waited for Leno to arrive at the club for his regular Sunday night show, which he has been performing at the Hermosa Beach fixture since the 1990s. The local police were there as well to keep order, having parked a black-and-white Jeep Wrangler in Leno’s traditional reserved spot in front of the club. It caused a minor embarrassment when Leno accidentally sideswiped one of the Jeep’s tires while trying to maneuver his Tesla around it. “Hey, at least people care,” he said backstage after threading his way through the thronging crowd with his wife Mavis.
Leno was under his 1907 White steam car on November 12, working to unclog a fuel line, when a spray of flaming gasoline rained down on him. “I saw it coming and I closed my eyes,” he recounted to me before going on stage. “I could feel it burning, and I said, Dave, I’m on fire.” Quick action by employees at the garage to smother the fire helped save Leno’s eyes and ears and, ultimately, his life.
When asked if the ordeal has been painful, Leno assured us “it’s not that bad.”
He shared a few pictures from his phone which can’t be published here. They show the bloodied and scalded mass that was his face when he arrived at the Grossman Burn Center in the San Fernando Valley north of Los Angeles. The fuel burned his hands as well, and they remained scabbed and raw two weeks later. His face, however, looked almost as before.
“It’s all new, everything,” he said of his extensive skin grafts and plastic surgery. “Hey, I’m the new face of comedy!” Then he turned back to his friends in the club’s green room and shouted, “I’m not an animal, I’m a human being!” (In case you don’t know the ref, it’s a line from The Elephant Man.)
The crowd gave Leno a standing ovation, no doubt many surprised by how normal he appeared despite the grim tabloid headlines. Before launching into his regular set, he made a couple of jokes about his accident. “I’ve never really thought of myself as a roast comedian,” he quipped to laughs. “Actually, the most expensive part of the whole thing was the gasoline.”
Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it.
Of course people care, Jay – you’ve made yourself a loved man by being the “real guy” that you are!
They say that some of the best jokes are ones you can tell on yourself. “Regular and Extra Crispy” is one of the funniest lines I’ve ever heard!
“Roast comedian”
I love Jay Leno. He is a true car guy.
Glad you didn’t post a photo of him on arrival at the appropriately-named ” Grossman Burn Center.”
Hollywood culture can seem so shallow. I feared that facial damage could ruin Leno’s career as a media star. But no matter how injured he might have been, the accident would only have endeared him more to the car & motorcyclist community. It’s a wonderful blessing that Jay Leno appears to have recovered so quickly and so well.
So glad he is back and just being himself!
Glad he was relatively unscathed. He is one of the Hollywood elite keeping the car hobby front and center. Hope his full recovery is just around the corner.
Both the car hobby and the comedy world are glad to see you back in the saddle so quickly. I second what others have said here in the comments; a true gentleman and hero to “workaday” car hobbyists everywhere (basically world-wide).
Can’t keep a good man down!
Great to have you back Jay.
Ditto that.
I agree- what a relief! The world would not be as good a place without him!
I love his sense of humor and positive outlook throughout this ordeal. God Bless jay!
Jay, you da man. We are so glad you’re back. You are a hero to all of us fellow car nuts.
Glad you’re doing well Jay hated to hear but looks like you found some funny material and it was funny great guy and love all the car stuff
Glad Jays back at it even found some new material great guy love all the car stuff he is involved in. God Bless from another car guy!
Jay, we all love you and wish you a full and speedy recovery. Be careful next time – please.
Bill LaMontagne
I am very glad that Jay is healing up well. But the big question that nobody has answered is, how is the car!?
He and Jonny; 2 of the greatest!