Jay Leno is returning to his stand-up comedy roots.

The former Tonight Show host returns to NBC this week as a comic mentor on Last Coming Standing.

Leno will surprise five comics when they fly into Las Vegas to meet a “surprise guest.” Needless to say, their reaction to finding out the surprise guest is the king of late night comedy is priceless.

Jay offers the budding comics some advice on their routines and shares his own personal stories from his career as a comedian.

Leno, who retired last year, said he has made the most of his retirement with traveling and creating some new stand-up routines.

“Write joke. Tell joke. Get check. It’s pretty simple. It’s not a hard plan,” he joked in an interview with The Associated Press.

This week our comics are whisked away to Las Vegas for a chat with none other than @jayleno! #LastComic pic.twitter.com/yJue2Jt92x

— Last Comic Standing (@nbclastcomic) July 28, 2014

Recently, it was announced the 20-year host of the Tonight Show will receive the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, the highest honor a comedian can receive.

Jay Leno has been selected to receive the prestigious Mark Twain Prize for American Humor: http://t.co/5KsV40l2J3 pic.twitter.com/S0BwaDKBhH

— Philly.com Ent (@PhillydotcomENT) June 18, 2014

Cappy McGarr, The Mark Twain Prize executive producer, had some wonderful accolades to share about Leno when he compared the comedian to one of the greatest American humorists.

“Leno and Twain both have turned humor into a national conversation and a national conversation into humor, and I’m also quite confident they drove the same car. You know, we receive bad news every day, and it’s important for us to keep our humor intact, as difficult as that might be. And thank goodness Jay has contributed to our American humor for a generation and made us keep things in perspective,” he said.

Image via Wikimedia Commons