'Jay Leno & Friends' Set for No Limits for Deaf Children Benefit at Geffen Playhouse, Today

In partnership with No Limits for deaf children, Geffen Playhouse will host a one-night-only Spotlight Entertainment fundraising performance of A Special Evening with Jay Leno and Friends on Saturday, May 23 at 8:00 pm in the Gil Cates Theater at the Geffen Playhouse.

Acclaimed comedian, author, speaker and philanthropist, Jay Leno is joined by Kathy Buckley, "America's First Hearing Impaired Comedienne," who will host the evening, and warm-up comic Fritz Coleman, California broadcasting icon and longtime standup comic.

Jay Leno began his career in night clubs, where he worked 300 nights a year before hitting it big in 1992 with his own late-night talk show, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno(1992). By that time he had appeared on television, acted in a few films such as American Hot Wax but hit paydirt with his late-night television appearances: he made a record number of visits to Late Night with David Letterman and served as Johnny Carson's permanent guest host on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. A big, sweet guy with a very good comedy routine, he vied with David Letterman to inherit Carson's seat when Johnny retired in 1992. His victory was well-publicized, but empty, though he did gain a measure of revenge when his show beat Letterman's for the Emmy in 1995. On April 3, 2013, NBC announced that Leno would leave The Tonight Show in spring 2014, with Jimmy Fallon as his designated successor. Leno's final show as the host of The Tonight Show was on February 6, 2014 with his final guest Billy Crystal and musical guest Garth Brooks, along with a few surprise guests including Jack Black, Kim Kardashian, Jim Parsons, Sheryl Crow, Chris Paul, Carol Burnett, and Oprah Winfrey.

Kathy Buckley's television appearances include The Tonight Show, Good Morning America, CBS This Morning, The Today Show, Entertainment Tonight, Extra, Inside Edition, CNN, HBO, VH1's Stand-Up Spotlight, Comic Strip Live, Evening at the Improv, and Caroline's Comedy Hour. E! An spokesperson for the charity No Limits for deaf children, Kathy dedicates her life to help low-income children with a hearing loss and their families have a better future. She is also a sought after motivational speaker, who has inspired people around the nation, speaking at corporate events, conferences, and universities. Whether performing in a comedy club, appearing on television, speaking publicly, teaching at camps for children, or appearing in any number of other settings, Kathy Buckley bears her message that anything can be achieved when the heart and the mind work together.

Fritz Coleman is NBC4's longtime weekday weathercaster and known for his sense of humor and extensive knowledge of weather. Coleman has been named "Best Weathercaster" in nearly every major paper in Southern California, including the Orange County Register, the San Bernardino Sun, and four times in the Los Angeles Daily News. Coleman won a number of awards and honors for his dedication to community service. He has utilized his humor in a number of series and specials that have aired on NBC4, including Fritz and Friends and The Perils of Parenting, receiving four Los Angeles-area Emmy Awards for his work. He has also written, produced, and starred in three one-man plays.

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