Jay Leno comedy show coming to Southwest Florida

Reporter: Lois Thome Writer: Johnathan Minehan
Published: Updated:

One of the most famous comedians in the world is coming to Southwest Florida.

Jay Leno is putting on a comedy show as part of the Naples Automotive Experience next month to benefit St. Matthew’s House.

WINK News Reporter Lois Thome spoke with Leno about the show and what he’s been doing to help the victims of the California wildfires.

Leno can find the humor in just about anything, but the wildfires in L.A. have him stunned.

His home is fine, but he feels for those affected by the fires.

“I’m one of the lucky ones,” Leno said. “You have 10,000 homes that have burned down. I mean 10,000, think about that. I mean, I don’t think you could drive past 10,000 houses in a day if you wanted to.”

To help, he took a vintage fire engine from his famous car collection to the front lines to feed first responders.

“The firemen love it because it’s, what is it? 86 years old, yeah, and they’re interested in it, and then you load it with food, and it’s just great,” Leno said.

He is also matching the show with his love of cars and comedy in Southwest Florida. The show gives viewers the opportunity to get up close to some of the finest cars in the world.

For some people, a car is just a mode of transportation, but for Leno, it’s a whole new level.

“Well, the people [who] think cars [are] just a mode of transportation are the people who put pineapple on their pizza, so I don’t really have much juice for them,” Leno said. “The fun thing about it is, we’ve reached the point where it’s automobiles as art.”

His interest in cars has always been strong, especially with Ferraris.

“So, a lot of these Ferraris, the designs are so beautiful that even if you’re not a car person, they’re just pleasing and interesting to look at,” Leno said.

Thome asked Leno about autonomous cars and his opinion on these types of vehicles.

“You know, it’s interesting because I got flipped off by a driverless car the other day, and I thought, wow, that’s really technology moving forward,” Leno said.

That quick sense of humor, like his cars, is still running smoothly.

His comedy show is Feb. 6 at Hertz Arena, and tickets are still available.

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