Jay Leno Where: The Mirage When: 9 p.m., July 11-12 Cost: $100 and up Info: (866) 80-SHOWS

For more than 3,500 episodes, Jay Leno has been the face of late night as the host of The Tonight Show on NBC. But the not-so-big secret is that Leno's show actually tapes earlier in the day, about 4:30 p.m., making it easy for him to perform in Vegas at The Mirage and around the country, where he averages up to 150 dates a year.

His bread and butter is the monologue, a segment of the show he retained from Johnny Carson's run as Tonight Show host and one that doubled in length since he took over hosting duties in 1992. He regularly mines the monologue for his stand-up dates, skewering everyone from Barack Obama and John McCain to Michael Jackson, while incorporating the trenchant observational humor for which he was first known.

Leno has made it clear that he plans to step down from The Tonight Show in 2009 to pave the way for his successor, Conan O'Brien, but life after his run concludes could be anything but bleak. A noted auto enthusiast, Leno owns 180 cars and would be an indispensable help to the three full-time mechanics who work on his priceless collection. He also donates to charity, having performed two dates at The Mirage in June to benefit the victims of the Iowa floods.