Jerry Seinfeld's Backup Career If Comedy 'Didn't Work Out' Was Writing for Car Magazines

The comedian said writing articles for car magazines was "my original thing that I wanted to do"

Jerry Seinfeld had a plan B in case the whole comedy thing didn't work out.

The 66-year-old comedian appeared on The Tonight Show Wednesday night to promote his book Is This Anything? and reflect on his career thus far. During the virtual interview, Seinfeld explained some of the items displayed on the wall behind him — including "three of the most important things to me."

One was a blown-up replica of a U.S. postage stamp commemorating his popular sitcom Seinfeld, another was a photo of himself performing for former President Barack Obama and Paul McCartney at the White House.

The third item was a framed medal, an award he received for writing an article in a car magazine in the early 2000s.

Seinfeld explains that automotive journalism was "my original thing that I wanted to do if comedy didn't work out. I wanted to write funny articles for car magazines. I only wrote one, in 2003, and I won an award for it. Very proud of that."

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The Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee host found stardom with his NBC comedy Seinfeld, which was created by Seinfeld and comedian Larry David. The series, which aired for nine seasons from 1989 to 1998, followed Seinfeld's character and his friends in New York City.

Last May, Seinfeld explained on SiriusXM's The Howard Stern Show why he never made another sitcom after Seinfeld.

"I don't like seeing old people on TV. I don't want to inflict myself on people in a deteriorated state," he said with a laugh at the time, adding that he's a "perfectionist" and he wasn't "going to try and beat" the success of Seinfeld.