Jay Leno, seen in Beverly Hills in October, has added a second free comedy show for unemployed people living in and around the Detroit area. (Rene Macura/Associated Press)

The demand has been so great for Tonight Show host Jay Leno's free comedy show for Detroit's unemployed that organizers announced Monday the addition of a second date for Jay's Comedy Stimulus Plan.

People began queuing at early as 3 a.m. local time on Monday morning outside of the suburban Palace of Auburn Hills arena — home of the Detroit Pistons professional basketball team — to collect their free tickets to the show, slated for April 7.

The popular comedian and late-show host has now added a followup show on April 8, arena spokesman Jeff Corey said Monday.

Though the venue can hold up to 24,000 people, each Leno show will seat about 15,000, Corey said.

"We're in bad times right now — times we never thought we'd be in," Mark Phillips, who was among the hundreds of unemployed workers waiting in line, told CBC News. "It's time to laugh."

Martha Nowak, also in line waiting for tickets, said she is unemployed despite having degrees from Northwestern University and Carnegie Mellon University.

"A lot of people are excited [about Leno's visit] and it shows that Detroit … can pull together and come out of this tough economic time," she said. "Hopefully, the light is at the end of the tunnel."

People in line can collect up to four tickets each and only have to say they are unemployed to receive them. The tickets will be distributed until they run out, Corey said.

Leno announced the free gig on The Tonight Show last week, with the famed automobile aficionado saying it was specifically for "anybody out of work in Detroit.

"There are so many out-of-work autoworkers, people who work hard their whole lives," he said, adding that the city was "one of [his] favourite places."

Sponsors are also being lined up to provide free refreshments and to pay for parking.