There's nothing funny about Jay Leno's praise for billionaire Elon Musk.
The comedian interviewed the business magnate at the SpaceX Starbase in Texas for the Sept. 21 episode of Jay Leno's Garage, and, in an exclusive interview with E! News, he teased what it was really like seeing the Tesla CEO hard at work.
"In two and a half years, he built essentially his own Cape Canaveral down there," Jay told E! News. "I think it's fair to say he's a genius. Being in Hollywood, I meet geniuses every day, so I'm somewhat suspect. But, if you're talking to Elon, [and say] 'Elon, would you check this trajectory?' He'll do an equation while he's talking, and I just found that fascinating."
But, according to Jay, it's more than just Elon's vision that is taking SpaceX to new heights. "When I went down to SpaceX, he was living in a little Airstream trailer on the property," he shared. "He's involved in every facet of that thing."
As for what Elon plans to do next? Jay revealed that the billionaire is talking about "colonizing other planets," and has the means to do it. "We go to the facility, and he's got 100s of jet engines ready to go to put into rockets," Jay recalled. "And they're not ordinary jet engines, they're the biggest, most powerful jet engines that you can get."
So, it's no wonder Jay praised Elon as a "dreamer."
Of course, this isn't the first time Jay's gotten up close and personal with Elon and his vision for the future. "Back in 2007, Elon came over to my garage with the prototype to his Tesla electric car, the two seater sports car," he said. "He said to me, 'I want to build charging stations all up and down the coast of California.' And I'm sitting there going, 'Yeah, OK, that'll happen.'"
But, Jay said he was happily proven wrong: "He's the only electric car manufacturer to build the infrastructure while he's building the car. "
For a closer look at Jay's visit to Space X, catch the new episode of Jay Leno's Garage Sept. 21 at 10 p.m. ET on CNBC.
(E! and CNBC are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)