Old soul in a young body

My mom’s parents, Grandpa Tom and Grandma Gloria, lived in our backyard in Saugerties [New York] in a little cottage. My grandfather and I used to go to the VFW a lot, so I hung out with a bunch of 70-year-old guys when I was growing up. I’m kind of an old soul from that.

Laugh it up

My dad’s dad, Jim, was very funny. He and my parents loved to throw parties. Everyone would get up and do a bit, sing a song or tell a joke. My parents would pay me 50 cents to do Rodney Dangerfield. I was probably 8 or 9. I would put on a tie: “My wife’s cooking is so bad. I mean, since when does toast have bones?” Or I’d do a Saturday Night Live sketch with my sister, dressed up in my parents’ disco-y clothes from the ’70s. “We are two wild and crazy …”

Nature can be dangerous

My parents were overprotective, maybe because Grandpa Tom was a cop. I got a tent once from a garage sale, and I put it up in my backyard, and my mom came out in the middle of the night and said, “Get back inside. There’s a raccoon maybe out here.”

Keep your hair combed

Grandpa Tom didn’t like my messy, spiky hair. He asked, “Will you comb it? Like, a nice part to the side.” But he loved my stand-up. He liked that I didn’t curse. He was there for a bunch of gigs where I bombed, and he’d say, “Stick with it.”

Golf is for life

In our garden, one of our tomato plants had a big thing at the end of it holding it up. “What is that?” I asked Grandpa Tom. “That’s a golf club. You should learn this. This is a good investment because you can play this for the rest of your life.” Which I still do.

Meet the in-laws

The night before my parents are meeting my wife’s parents, my mom calls: “Daddy’s front tooth fell out. The dentist is on vacation. We have a plan. He’s not gonna smile. One more thing. I rubbed my eye in my sleep, and I got a bloodshot eye.” This is gonna be your new in-laws: a jack-o’-lantern and a pirate. It still worked out. I got married.

I got the music in me

My dad was in Vietnam, in the Navy, and he used to play reel-to-reel tapes of him singing doo-wop. So I always assumed that doo-wop music was around in 1969. But then I’m watching movies like Platoon, and I’m, like, Where’s the doo-wop? It turns out it was already retro by the time Vietnam came. My dad was just a little late to the game.

Keep trying new things

I kind of started my picture book series [DADA, MAMA, BABY, NANA] as a joke. For my latest, I thought, What would be funny about Grandpa? Well, PAPA Doesn’t Do Anything is pretty funny because I think 10 out of 10 moms would say that Grandpa doesn’t do anything. But as you read it, you realize all the stuff grandpas actually do do. —As told to Gayle Jo Carter

Comedian Jimmy Fallon, 50, is the creator, executive producer and host of NBC’s upcoming unscripted reality competition show, On Brand. The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon airs weeknights at 11:35 ET on NBC.