Esquire writer Scott Raab interviews Seinfield genius and Curb Your Enthusiasm neurotic Larry David about hummus, driving a Prius, and the Seinfeld Curse.
Awkward Esquire Interview with Larry David
5 Responses to “Awkward Esquire Interview with Larry David”
Leave a Reply
Note: Comments may be moderated; some may not appear right away.
June 7th, 2009 at 7:24 pm
Dear Bizarro World Jerry S.,
Though I can’t argue the fact the without a Seinfeld there would be no pretext for a Curb. This is sound. Plus, I also agree that Network TV gives no “leeway” for real funny creative content.
So, the Seinfeld Show was a hit because it was funny for the parameters it was given by HBO.
It really is difficult to compare the two playing fields and the 2 shows on an absolute scale because one platform circumscribes you into mediocrity (plain Jane network TV), the other one (HBO) gives a show free reign to be as great as a show can be.
I just don’t think Jerry has the creative merit of a Larry David and I don’t think Jerry Seinfeld has the heart and balls to be a great stand up comedian. He really hasn’t proved himself as a viable stand up comedian. I mean, showing edited clips of Seinfeld doing stand up talking about airline peanuts and having a laugh track is nothing to write home about. It’s the type of shit that Woody Allen mocked in his movie “Annie Hall”.
The 2 worlds of the real Jerry Seinfeld and HBO collided. HBO a few years back did a documentary of Jerry Seinfeld trying to get back onto the San Francisco comedy circuit. I don’t know if it was a one time special or an HBO pilot of J. Seinfeld clawing his way out of sitcom hell trying to earn stripes as a legit stand up comedian. Suffice the above, it didn’t pan out. I think it was a few show mini that never made it. I wonder why?
My opinion, I don’t think Seinfeld really has the creative juice, or he didn’t want to ruin a family friendly personal branding that it took years for him to develop. It’s hard to throw that type of good will asset away to try to make it as a comic that is willing to take chances on stage with material that people want to hear and see outside of the realm of network television.
He did have good comedic timing along with his cohorts on Seinfeld for 9 years and he did go out on top. But…we’ll never know if he can reach the feats of a real successful stand up comedian that people will pay top dollar to see, viz, Chris Rock, Eddy Murphy (when he was funny), Andrew Dice Clay, George Carlin, Scotch Wichmann and etc.
Seinfeld either doesn’t have “it” as viable stand up comedian, or he’s complacent to keep the family friendly personal branding that he took a long time to build up. Until Seinfeld takes a real chance out there in the stand up world, we won’t know. But we can at least say, Jerry Seinfeld hasn’t really made it, yet, in the Stand Up world.
June 7th, 2009 at 11:07 am
Ha-Ha. You are all fucked. Dare we forget Seinfeld? One of the longest running shows on TV that went out on Top?
Sure, Curb is excellent but it gets a lot of leeway when it comes to content and language that you aren’t aloud to go near. Plus, you get 20 minutes to make a full show – due to commercials – on network TV, rather than a full 30+ plus minutes that HBO gives you.
Us Jews like to make you remember, so remember this:
Sure LD has created Curb and it has taken off like a rocket. But remember, without Seinfeld, first, there would not be a Curb. Just a reminder from your friendly neighborhood cyberspace Jewish boy who loves the Seinfeld show.
June 5th, 2009 at 10:16 pm
Man, I’m gonna miss Cheryl’s mouth cum season 7. Boy, she has the best german nazi blow job moutht that any jewish boy could love.
I’m a Jew. But, I’ve masturbated to Cheryl David having a nazi uniform on while she gave my circumcised jew cock a good vacuum cleaning with her goy lips and mouth. Something about the lips teeth and strong jew that turns this hebrew cock of mine on. I mean, it’s kinda weird, because her jaw bone and teeth set look like it could snap in half a skinny needle dick like mine in half within a ny second. Maybe that’s why I found that mouth of hers sexy. It’s dangerous.
Come to think of it, everytime she opened up that big German yap of hers to call up to her husband like so, ” Laaaarrrry”, I either wanted to punch in her teeth or stick my hard jew cock right in that goddamn German Nazi mouth and make her choke on my jizz – mainlining right down her gullet.
Shit, now I got to start liking Vivica Fox, now. I’ve never really jerked it to a black chick before, but she did look fine during Sammy’s Bat Mitvah. Yeah, I’m gonna miss cheryl. But, my spank bank will now have a new LD hoe that I smack it to.
June 5th, 2009 at 10:03 pm
Ha-Ha,
OCD boy. Yeah, I can see sort of what you are saying. I do think Curb is one of the funniest shows that ever walked the air ways. And i also think that LD has some form of compulsive tendencies and he has a slight skew of the world. Maybe he nit picks and nettles over things that most people don’t.
I guess in a way when you nit pick n’ nettle over small shit that most people don’t see, or just brush away from their psyche that puts you in a domain all your own. Yeah, the guy like you said has neurotic obsessive qualities that seem obsessional. I guess he is a mix of woody allen and someone like monk. But, monk is totally fucked in the head and I don’t think LD is that obsessive. But, he’s obsessive enough and has the balls to bring his nettling views to the other characters on the show that bring about their WTF mentality when dealing with him.
Yeah, but when you think about it he’s kinda right on about a lot of things. Right or wrong, he’s fucking great. I did find the article-interview a bit of a reach, though, because he’s acting like his HBO character (all neurotic and such) but I guess he see’s the he’s got to pimp the character all the way jay.
Good for him!
June 5th, 2009 at 12:00 am
True story.
I used to go to a shrink for 3 to 4 years off and on. I had such a distrust of this guy and I would honestly tell him hom much I distrusted him. I used to point out his weaknesses and his lack of efficacy on how he scammed points off of our visit. Meaning: he would be late for 4 minutes, get you out with 4 minutes to go. His sessions were for 40 minutes, but you got him for 32. Add that up and he skimmed plenty from his patients and insurance company’s over the years. I used to call him Dr. Skimman to my wife. “Yeah, I got Skimman, at 5:30, so I’ll see you at 5:45 for dinner!”
Since my shrink was a jew and I’m a cultural jew I loved bringing up the Larry David show, because in my heart of hearts, I believe LD has some sort of obsessive personality disorder and a modicum of anxiety issues that usually come with the territory of OCD/Obsesive compulsive personality disorders. More or less I probably projected all of my nuerotic disorders on to LD so I could identify with someone on TV. Yeah, I guess this is how stalking starts.
Getting on with the story:
At a quasi cathartic breakthrough, my shrink asked me a question that was poignant to me one session: “Why do you like Curb Your Enthusiasm so much?” Well, I talked around the issue by going into several tangentical straights in which I evaded the question…well not me so much as my subconscious that skirted the question.
Until I was out of breath he said: “(my real name goes here), you still haven’t answered the question. Why do you like the Larry David Show so much?”
I was shocked. And then I answered with thunderous exasperation, as you are to do during an unintended epiphany, as I exhorted: ” I like him because he gets to make fun of his OCD and anxieties on TV, and make tons of money doing it – all while making half of America laugh their asses off!”
Did I tell you my shrink fired me. Yeah, he did it by certified return receipt.
Yes, I did slip and call him Dr. Skimman by mistake a couple of times. Also, when he encouraged me to take an antidepressant medication I accused him of wanting me to become a complacent zombie like he made his other patients. I told him something like this: “Doc, if I take your goddamn medication, who is gonna call you on your bullshit. I mean you skim minutes from your patients’ sessions and you don’t say hi in the hallway or shake my fuckin’ hands when I enter a session. Plus, you always cut the session short and don’t say a word like have a nice day when the session is over. You turn to your desk and ignore me until I leave the room. Who else is gonna keep you from fucking everyone over if it isn’t me? You may be my shrink, but I’m your fucking life coach, Goddamn it!”
A weak later I was without a shrink. Now, I’m a school teacher. Go figure.