Leno: Free show is to cheer the unemployed

BURBANK, Calif., March 11 (UPI) -- Talk show host Jay Leno says he decided to plan a free stand-up performance in Detroit because he wanted to cheer up some recently unemployed fans.

Tickets to the April 7 show will be distributed starting Monday at the Palace at Auburn Hills box office. NBA's Detroit Pistons have donated the Palace, their home court, to house the night of free entertainment, NBC said.

"I'm watching our president and he's saying what we should do to help. We got this bad economy thing and well, I tell jokes … so how can I help out? So I was thinking, an awful lot of people unemployed, out of work, don't have any entertainment dollars ... Well, one of my favorite places is Detroit and there are so many out-of-work autoworkers. People work hard their whole lives, they're saving their money and so I thought, why don't I go to Detroit and do (my comedy) show?" said Leno before Monday's "Headlines" segment of "The Tonight Show." "I want to do a show for the, not just the auto workers, but anyone out of work in Detroit. But it'll be free. It won't cost you a dime. Not that I'm the greatest comic in the world but it's free. If you don't like it, you get your money back!"

Sponsor Pepsi will be underwriting the show, NBC said.