The Tonight Show & Electric Hot Dog: Jimmy Fallon

How I Built This with Guy Raz

Guy Raz | Wondery

Business

4.8 • 31.1K Ratings

🗓️ 27 June 2022

⏱️ 75 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Jimmy Fallon may talk like a comedian, but he thinks like a restless entrepreneur. In addition to his day job as host of The Tonight Show, he runs a TV production company, writes best-selling children’s books, and creates products you never knew you needed, like all-day pajamas and “hands high” jerseys that show the name of your favorite team in the armpit. As a kid, Jimmy was obsessed with perfecting his impressions of Richard Pryor and Steve Martin, with the goal of one day starring on Saturday Night Live. After an incredibly successful 6-year run on that show, he tried to make it in film, only to eventually find his way to one of the most coveted jobs in television. Today, he’s constantly generating new ideas, whether for a new TV show, or a Christmas tchotchke called Elvis on the Shelvis.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, Prime members, you can listen to how I built this early and ad-free on Amazon Music.
0:07.0	Download the app today.
0:14.0	Conan O'Brien was promised to take over the tonight show.
0:18.0	And so I was leaving and Lauren goes, would you ever want to host a late night?
0:23.0	You know, because you could take over Conan in six years.
0:26.0	You're kind of laughing and I asked my wife, she goes, are you kidding?
0:31.0	Yes, you have to do this.
0:33.0	You're on a list. There's David Letterman, Conan O'Brien, and you.
0:36.0	That's it. That's an amazing list to be on.
0:39.0	You have to, without a doubt. And so I said, I called Lauren and go, yes, I want to do this.
0:44.0	And he's like, okay, great.
0:46.0	Now I just got to convince NBC.
0:49.0	Welcome to How I Built This, a show about innovators, entrepreneurs, idealists, and the stories behind the movements they built.
1:03.0	I'm Guy Raaz, and on the show today, how Jimmy Fallon dreamed of a career in comedy and became an icon of late night TV,
1:14.0	with a side hustle as a serial entrepreneur.
1:24.0	A few years ago, I received a call from a producer on the tonight show.
1:29.0	She wanted to know if I could come to New York the next week and appear as a guest.
1:34.0	Once I cut through my minor panic and heart palpitations, I asked, why me?
1:40.0	Well, to my great surprise and delight, she told me Jimmy Fallon was a fan of the show.
1:45.0	Turns out, he's obsessed with stories about founders.
1:48.0	Over the years, I've had a few more opportunities to come on his show and talk about some of the founders we've had on this show.
1:55.0	And usually, Jimmy pitches me on a bunch of his business ideas.
	...

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