Comedian Jimmy Fallon Wanted To Be A Priest

HE FOLLOWING comes to us by way of the Musica Sacra Forum. Late-night comedy was a big deal when I was in 4th grade, but my parents didn’t allow us to watch it. To this day, I’ve never watched late-night comedy. (I’m told very few people do these days.) However, I’ve seen YouTube excerpts on occasion. I think Jimmy Fallon has a very nice smile — deep down, he seems to have a good heart. Granted, I have no factual basis for saying this, but when I saw him smile, that was my impression — take it or leave it!

How ironic, and how telling, that even a comedian realizes there ought to be reverence at Mass!

INTERVIEWER: So you went to Catholic school when you were young.

MR. FALLON: Oh yeah.

INTERVIEWER: Did you have…

MR. FALLON: I wanted to be a priest.

INTERVIEWER: Did you really?

MR. FALLON: Yeah. I loved it.

INTERVIEWER: Why?

MR. FALLON: I just, I loved the church. I loved the idea of it. I loved the smell of the incense. I loved the feeling you get when you left church. I loved like how this priest can make people feel this good. I just thought it was, I loved the whole idea of it. My grandfather was very religious, so I used to go to Mass with him at like 6:45 in the morning serve Mass and then you made money too if you did weddings and funerals. They’d give you, you’d get like five bucks. And so I go okay, I can make money too. I go this could be a good deal for me. I thought I had the calling.

[ … ]

INTERVIEWER: Do you still go to church?

MR. FALLON: I don’t go to – I tried to go back. When I was out in L.A. and I was like kind of struggling for a bit I went to church for a while, but it’s kind of, it’s gotten gigantic now for me. It’s like too … there’s a band. There’s a band there now and you got to … you have to hold hands with people through the whole Mass now, and I don’t like doing that. You know, I mean it used to be the shaking hands Peace was the only time you touched each other.

INTERVIEWER: Mm-hmm.

MR. FALLON: Now I’m holding now I’m lifting people. Like Simba.

(Soundbite of laughter)

MR. FALLON: I’m holding them (Singing) ha nah hey nah ho.

(Speaking) I’m … I’m doing too much. I don’t want — there’s Frisbees being thrown, there’s beach balls going around, people waving lighters, and I go this is too much for me. I want the old way. I want to hang out with the, you know, with the nuns, you know, that was my favorite type of Mass … and the Grotto and just like straight up, just Mass-Mass.