JIMMY FALLON CHRISTMAS
The late-night host lights up the holiday season with a slate of new shows and reveals his fondest Christmas memories.
f you think Jimmy Fallon is enthusiastic while hosting The Tonight Show, you should see him give a tour of his office.
“This is me brushing my teeth next to Paul McCartney!” he says of a photo on his wall behind his desk. Next, he points to a framed ticket of his final Saturday Night Live show from May 2004. He proudly picks up a Rodney Dangerfield Centennial Respect trophy (“I loved Rodney, but this award is heavy, to be honest”), which sits on a cabinet next to a fish tank gifted to him four years ago by his former SNL boss, Lorne Michaels. And, whoa, that’s a handwritten note from legend Jerry Lewis, asking him if Lewis can say a profane word as a guest on The Tonight Show.
With the same level of exuberance, Fallon also singles out a photo of himself with his wife, movie producer Nancy Juvonen, at their 2007 wedding on the private Necker Island in the Caribbean—as well as one of his own parents, Gloria and James Fallon Sr., on their big day in Brooklyn. “My mom is in this beautiful wedding dress and my dad is in a tuxedo with a cigarette,” he says. “Like, Dad, you can’t wait five minutes?!”
This combination of unfailing humor and heart has endeared Fallon, 47, to millions of fans. More than seven years into his plum Tonight Show job, the SNL alum has made his mark by embracing old-school variety-show-style entertainment. “I like that we mix it up so I can sing a song with someone or dance and do sketches,” he says.
Now he’s branching out beyond late night. Fallon hosts and executive-produces That’s My Jam (premiering Nov. 29 on NBC), in which two teams of celebrities face off in music-and-dance-based games. He also oversees The Kids Tonight Show, airing weekly on Peacock through Dec. 22, and the E! network’s music competition series Clash of the Cover Bands. And just in time for Christmas, the animated
special 5 More Sleeps ’til Christmas, based on his bestselling children’s book, aired Nov. 26 on NBC and will run again in December.
Before the holiday crush, Fallon talks to Parade about his ghosts of Christmas past, his Tonight Show present and his never-beenbrighter TV future.
What’s it like working in Rockefeller Center during the holidays? It’s a mix between magic and chaos. There’s the tree, the ice-skating, FAO Schwarz and Saks Fifth Avenue with a light show every half hour. But after a while you go, “Maybe get your own tree?”
Are you a good gift giver? I think so. I always try to throw a couple curve balls, but I try to be thoughtful. Oh, God, I’m just thinking about the time I got my grandma a scent diffuser. She was like 80 years old, and I thought it would be calming. It was terrible. Oh, I had maybe one really serious girlfriend ever and I got her a long flannel nightgown from the Disney Store with Mickey Mouse on it. And we had no connection to Mickey Mouse! I can relive going to the mall and buying it and then seeing her disappointment.
Did you grow up performing for your family? We are a very Irish Catholic family, and my grandparents lived in a little cottage in our backyard. So we would have parties all the time and everyone would be singing and laughing and telling stories. I think at those parties, my parents would ask me to perform something. I actually have a reel-to-reel tape of my parents interviewing me when I was 2. They said, “Oh, Jimmy, do James Cagney,” and I go, “You dirty rat!” I did Don Ho too.
But you do have a musical side. When I started out, I only did stand-up comedy. Then in college [at the College of Saint Rose in Albany, N.Y.], I started adding musical impressions. I would do George Michael at the end of my act, and it was the perfect closer. I can harmonize, but my voice isn’t that amazing. And I’d be too embarrassed to write an original serious song.
How obsessed were you with Saturday Night Live as a teen? It was my ultimate goal. If I had a birthday cake, I’d blow out
the candles and think about SNL. Throw a coin in the fountain and wish for SNL. In college, I wouldn’t go to parties until SNL was over.
What was it like to be 24 and on the show of your dreams? I’d come home at like 5 in the morning and wake up at 1 in the afternoon. I’d save everything for the nighttime because that’s when I could really shine. That was my life.
Where did The Kids Tonight Show idea come from? I have kids and I realized they didn’t have anything just for them. Animation is good, but you need to see real humans