Jay Leno steals material from fellow comics says J.J. Walker
Remember J.J. Walker, the goofy, funny guy on “Good Times” who’s signature phrase was dy-no-mite? He’s in the news saying that Jay Leno steals material from fellow comics. He’s gone as far to say that Leno drove one writer to suicide.
Sean Daly of the New York Post reports that J. J. Walker hired both Leno and David Letterman as writers for his sitcom in the 70s and claims that once Leno became famous, he turned his back on all of the comedians who had previously helped him out.
Back in the 70’s and 80’s in New York, the comics really banded together. They all knew each other and, to a point, had each others backs. If one would get a gig, it was not uncommon for that lucky comedian to try to help get one of his fellow comedians a break. Comedians are everywhere and very few make it to the “big-time”.
J.J. Walker in a scene from Good Times. Photo courtesy of dynomitejj
J.J. Walker went on to say, “Because of Jay Leno, we have changed and segregated comedy. In his however many years on the air, he has not broken one comic”.
Of course it’s wrong if Jay Leno steals material from fellow comics or anyone. As far as breaking in comics, there’s no law that says you have to. It’s just “comedienne etiquette”.
Not so nice allegations against the comedian that we the public see as, “the nice guy”.
Walker, who continues to perform stand-up at age 64, says that he was banned from “The Tonight Show” in 1993 for telling a joke about serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer that Leno said he didn’t like.
“A couple weeks later, according to Walker, Leno was quoted in a national magazine with a joke about Dahmer,” he remembers. “It was my joke!”
All this and more will be in an upcoming memoir.
There’s also a guy named Brian Kamerer, who says a video that he made was shown on The Tonight Show. He was thrilled when he found out figuring it was great exposure. He was soon very upset when he found that Jay Leno had blocked access to HIS video on YouTube claiming copyright infringement..
Kamerer has even penned an open letter to Leno on his website. It’s a pretty interesting read.
So is Jay Leno really a nice guy – – or not such a good guy?
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