by: Jeremy Hart A-list Eighty all day Wave, say Hi Mister Cruise Car capital Have it all Hello Big Boy

Detroit may be Motown, but Los Angeles is the real car capital of the world. It is the home of the drive-in everything. Nobody walks. In fact, to put one foot in front of the other is a social faux pas worthy of excommunication from the Tinseltown set. So we drive not walk into a 1950's era burger bar.

Massive quantities of burgers and fries and lashing of ketchup are ordered. And then comes the question of beverages (Americans do not drink 'drinks'). "Why, I ask you, do they make cups?" Jay asks. "I'm talking buckets of Coke so massive they contain more liquid than your bladder has room for." He turns to me: "Whaddayouwant?"

With the exception of its hillside sign, Hollywood has no defining landmarks - strange for a place of its renown. No Eiffel Tower, no Buckingham Palace, no Sydney Opera House. In truth, it is a suburban sprawl, which just happens to be inhabited by stars.

Mann's Chinese Theatre is home to many movie premieres. But today it is covered in scaffolding. The only sign of showbiz is a guy dressed in a Spiderman suit handing out advertising flyers.

"There but for the grace of God all of us," mutters Leno, who started life as a comedian in New York improv clubs. "During the day I worked at a Rolls dealership. Once I had to deliver a Corniche convertible. I had to collect $30,000 from the guy buying it. But on the way back I stopped at a comedy club in Times Square.

Jay and Jag

"They let me do a set and afterwards I left to drive home. But 2 hours out I remembered I had left the paper bag with the $30,000 in it on the piano. That was one of the longest two hours of my life. I got back to the club at, two or three in the morning and a girl was singing on stage. I jumped right up there, saw that the bag was still on the piano, grabbed it and apologised, saying that I had forgotten my lunch!"