Back in the beginning of November, Jay Leno was on Jimmy Fallon. Did you see this? Leno was a total jerk to Jimmy. Although I’m sure Leno thought he was being discreet, he wasn’t. Totally obvious. HERE’s a clip.
What Jay Leno hates more than anything, so I’ve heard, is when people do impressions of him. And Jimmy slipped a few Jay impressions in during the episode. So maybe that’s what made him act like a middle schooler on the playground who just got beat in tetherball by the new kid.
It’s true, the only impression that I can do is the same one everyone can do: Arnold Schwarzenegger. The phrase I usually use is “Get out of here”.
But I bet you or I could at least make a stab at some other ones, with words, actions or both: Bruce Springsteen, John Lennon, Bill Clinton, Bono, Jay-Z, Christopher Walken, Bob Dylan, John Madden, Ron Burgundy.
Why is that?
Repetition.
They are known for being one certain way, sounding one certain way and they do it over and over and over again. They are not afraid of being known as something. Except for Jay Leno. He hates it.
Can someone do an impression of you?
Or are you too afraid of being pigeon holed that you’re not known for anything at all. I know you wanna make your equivalent of Sgt. Pepper’s, but have you made Meet The Beatles yet?
For some reason artists get the idea that they can cast their nets as wide as the gap between Republicans and Democrats, and conquer all. But they fail to realize that when thinking of the big acts that they’re trying to achieve the same level of success of, they have the amazing ability to boil that artist down to “oh yeah, they’re the band that…”
Stop trying to be known for so many things. Start with one, and make it count.
I want to be able to do an impression of you.
Paul Harvey…..good day.
