Promoting her new memoir, comedian/actress Leslie Jones stops by Late Night w/ Seth Meyers to discuss how her editors couldn’t control her while she was writing her memoir, talking for 16 hours while recording the audiobook and all of the odd jobs she’s held in her career.
Jones attended high school in Lynwood, California, where she also played basketball; her father suggested that she play the sport because she is six feet tall. Jones attended Chapman University on a basketball scholarship. While initially unsure of what she wanted to study, Jones worked as a disc jockey at the student radio station, KNAB, and contemplated playing professional basketball overseas.
Jones began doing stand-up comedy in college in 1987, when a friend signed her up for a “Funniest Person on Campus” contest. After winning the contest, Jones left school for Los Angeles. She performed at comedy clubs while working day jobs at Roscoe’s House of Chicken and Waffles and UPS to make ends meet. Comedians Mother Love and Dave Chappelle encouraged her to move to New York City to hone her craft for two years, where she appeared on BET’s ComicView before returning to Los Angeles. She performed at The Comedy Store in West Hollywood, but received unfavorable reviews of her shows there. She then went out on tour, opening for Jamie Foxx where she was booed by his audience. Feeling as though she lacked experience, Jones stopped performing for three years. Fearing that she would only ever be known in African American circles, around 2010 she began to stop playing so-called “black clubs” One night, Chris Rock saw her perform and gave her name to several of “the biggest managers in comedy” all of whom “didn’t get it”. Rock would eventually help Jones get a job at Saturday Night Live.
In 2008, Jones was part of Katt Williams’s It’s Pimpin’ Pimpin’ tour.
Late Night w/ Seth Meyers: With his signature monologue and sharp newsy segments like “A Closer Look,” Seth Meyers hilariously breaks down the day’s biggest stories and takes the current political circus head-on. He then welcomes Hollywood’s most beloved A-list guests, as well as people not seen anywhere else in late night, like political figures and other interesting newsmakers. With fan-favorite comedy segments that become viral sensations, and the talented 8G band at his side, Seth consistently brings home the last laugh.
