You can watch the original episode we'll be discussing in every other episode of HBO's Curby Your Enthusiasm, including the new and final season, on Max. You can also watch the video version of the History of Curby Your Enthusiasm podcast on Max and YouTube, as well. Links available in the episode description. All Right, so Jeff, here we are. I'm Susis men, who are you.
I'm Jeff Garland, one of America's top teens.
And we are on the History of Curbry Enthusiasm on iHeartRadio. This is season four, episode ten, opening night. Yeah, and this is a big episode, so yes, and a delightful episode. I have to say things that I didn't remember rewatching it that I thoroughly enjoyed.
There's one term in this that fucking knocked me off my feet and I never heard it, and it's real, So we'll get to it.
Umi, Okay, is this something that Richard Pine said? Of course, you.
Know, I didn't know, and I reacted so strung I had to hold back my laughter. But after the seat, you know, after a take was shot, I said, that is such gold. I've never heard anything.
For me.
It's a real term.
I never heard.
It made me but also coming out of his mouth, Yes, made it so funny. We'll get there, we'll get there.
So we start the scene Larry's at home and Cheryl is running lines with Larry. Larry's having trouble, and Larry's off to the airport to go to New York for the opening night. And Cheryl said, you know, if you want me to go with you, I could run lines with you in the plane and blah. And he's like, no, no, no, you go to your NRDC benefit. You don't need to come. And she's getting a little suspicious, and she's like, well, who's on the plane with you? And he says, you know,
Jeff David Schwimmer, Katie Huffman. And Cheryl's like, oh Katie.
Well, by the way, he did separate her, yes, well, he was searching for her name.
He said it very suspensiously. I would have picked up on that in a heartbeat.
Well, he realizes that this might be his last chance.
Correct, and it's he only has three more days, you know. Cheryl tells him, you've only got three more days for your anniversary gift, and if you don't do it in the next three days, it deals off and Cheryl tells him that she's going to be there opening night, she'll see him after on opening night, and then we see Larry's at.
The the idea that he tells her it's more important that she goes to events.
She's on to him. You know, men are so transparent, and we see right through all this bullshit, at least I do, and so.
Does she know I'm going to be That's a very astute thing. Men are very transparent because they.
Don't know how to Oh, they done the idiots.
But women the complete opposite. I think that anything a woman does in secret, if it's ever found out, it'll surprise anyone who's around that part cag you are KG you ladies.
Next we see Larry at the airport and he runs into Jeff and Jeff's like, no, Ryl, and he's got three days. You are on him with this. You got three days? You're going to do this? Baby? You are so into it vicariously, but not really vicariously because you cheat on me left and right, so it doesn't really matter. And this is an interesting thing. I totally forgot this you.
Jeff Green tells Katie Huffman that Larry has OCD because Katie told Jeff that she has OCD, and Jeff's trying to grease the wheels to get her interested in Larry. So you tell Katie Larry also has OCD, and you tell Larry that, and Larry's like, what did you do that for? And You're like, she was excited, she was excited about it.
Well, by the way, he's actually for once outraged.
A little bit, a little bit out.
He was not happy. And by the way, that is such a funny thing to tell someone that you know nowadays, I would never do something like that. But young Jeff Garland, I'd say.
Well it was Jeff Green Jeff.
No, no, no, I know, but young My point was, young Jeff Garland would have done that, and worse, like, I loved insane, practical jokes that no one would think. I know, you know, the what if jokes? Well, yeah, you know, you knew me back then, and there I don't even know even getting married, if I changed, even having children, if I changed. But at some point I was like, no, that's totally inappropriate. I also didn't know I was bipolar, but that's not an excuse.
Well you learned your lesson at this point. Yeah, So so Katie comes over and she gives Larry a big, big hug, which is uncharacteristic because he thinks she hates him after the whole scene at Ben's birthday party where he made a fool of himself and you very astutely leave and leave them alone. And she asks him about his OCD and they seem to have a bond about it, and it's a lovely little moment for them, and he's, you know, she's into him. You could tell she's into him.
She's beaming at him. And then and they're not yes yet terrible and then David Schwimmer shows up and he's you know, he's very illusive.
Really, that was a terrible joke. I just want to make that. I will cut it out when I know keep it. I just know, you know, I like admitting to the audience who are groaning or rolling their eyes that I'm very aware. I'm very aware, when.
Well, why don't you tell our audience not our entire audience knows what abima is. Abima is the last day I did, they might not know a bema is like this.
Is like I'll even say it like this, it's the stage where a service in a Jewish temple takes place. I call it the stage and the is up there, the tour is up there, which is always from It seems every temple that I go to it's from the Holocaust, like it was saved from the Holocaust.
Yeah, I don't. I don't know that, but you know, once I had to. Over the years, I've done many gigs for Jewish war organizations and temples, and once I was hired to do one, and usually it's in a party room or something. They all have a party room, right, And this was outside of Philadelphia, and they had me doing stand up on the bema. And it was like, really,
this is where you're having me do stand up? So I knew I immediately had to address it, you know, and I said something like you have me on the fucking bema and I called it. I was like, Rabbi, where's the rabbi and the rabbits? And then I looked at him, I said, did I fuck you? I had to like break the ice immediately that I was on
the bema. But you know, and in front of the Torah, even though they covered it with a curtain, everybody knew the Tora was behind me and I'm doing my stand up totally inappropriate, which, by the way.
I've been put in those situations too, and I may have done a BEMA job or two. But I also want to say the Adam Sandler bar Mitzvah Bought Mitzvah movie that's on Netflix. It's on right now.
Two week I don't know it.
It premiered now. Oh it's fantastic. You know. I watched it because I loved Adam and I had very low expectations and I was I couldn't believe how great it was. It was wonderful. And his daughter is spectacular.
The actress who places going well, both.
His daughters are in it, one as a smaller part as the older sister, but the young lady who's the actual star of it is fantastic.
She's an actress, not his actress.
It's very special. Oh no, she's his actual daughter.
She is his actual daughter.
Yeah, yeah, okay, so it was really nice to see.
Okay, So then we're on the plane and this is one of my favorite scenes. On the plane and Larry has a magazine and Jeff's just sitting there. Jeff's just sitting there.
Do you have anything? Do you have anything to me? Just sit there. You don't have a magazine or a book nothing. No, I just said, how came you ever bring a book? R magazine? I don't need one. I like just sitting.
We could sit on a plane for five hours like that.
It's crazy, I can you.
Don't need to read sit there for five hours, just sitting, which is so indicative of your character's emptiness.
Let me also add that was a first take, and Larry asked me not to do that again, so we did other versions of it's just more talkative. I may have had a magazine something and I was so look, I knew we had it. And you know, I always I'm not say argue, but I feel free to disagree with Larry all the time. Or when I'm a producer watching and I go up to talk to him on a scene, I'll tell him the straight dope. I don't
hold anything back. But I was disappointed because not that I could have done more with straight sitting straight ahead. But I was like, don't you see how funny that is?
It's very funny.
No, no, but he goes into editing and he calls me I was wrong. It's hilarious. I was wrong. And yeah, by the way, Larry is a guy doesn't hesitate to say.
No, no, I've done I've had the same experience. While yeah, he'll tell me to do something, I say, can I do another one my way? And then I'll do it your way, and he's always like yeah, yeah, yeah, and then you know.
But but by the time us he has no ego. What's the funniest And so he went in editing and saw that that is hilarious, and I just was, you know, it's so funny. Before we shot the first take, I was just sitting there and we started, and I had nothing planned. I never well, I generally don't, but I wasn't thinking anything, and so I just sat there and then the second he asked me what I was doing, I was off to the races.
Well, because it's so it's such a character thing, you know, it's such a I mean that you just you could sit there for five hours with nothing. And this was before. By the way, now there's always a DVD you know, a television screen in front of your seat. Okay, okay, I just stated myself, Yes, there's a TV screen always in the seat in front of you, in the back of the seat in front of you. So you know, that's what you do on a plane, you watch movies
and TV or news whatever. But in those days, no, this was two thousand and four, that wasn't the case. And then we see a shwimmer whisper something to the flight attempt.
By the way, I want to just jump back for a second. That scene was very reflective, and I don't think I did it since of the in the Hour special where I don't like gum, very first scene of the show where we're sitting in the waiting area and he offers me a piece of gum and they say, I don't eat gum, you know, And I forgot what my reason was, but it was very non existent. It was just insane. Go ahead.
So then Swimmer goes up to and I'm blocking. Her name Yvette. She starred in Community who played the flight attend That was the thing. I love her. She's a great girl. I've worked with her on other things.
Oh, she's fantastic.
Yeah, ya Vette. What's her name?
You Vet?
No, it's not you Vet. This isn't the Time Machine. What a great movie that was, by the way.
Oh my god, with Rod Taylor and what were the name what were the name of the characters that were below ground.
I don't remember, oh.
That movie like the.
It wasn't that, it was the.
It was you're right, but that movie is a kid time Machine.
And I'm talking about I rewatched it from the.
Fifties, did you really? And I assume it holds up.
It's fantastic because it's so and I remember it's Yvette Nicole Brown.
Nicole Brown, right, yeah, she's wonderful. But I remember watching the Time Machine and as a kid, it was so beyond my comprehension. The spinning wheel going back in time and the way that people were blonde, and how beautifully Yvette mim was and all that. But the characters underground scared the ship out me. I found that whole and they were The makeup on those characters was great, and
it really it was profound that movie. You know where I first saw Family Classics on W G. N okay, But it was an HG.
Well story.
I mean, it's like, well, it's a great book, but still so.
Back to so David Sack the.
Current day, where no one is underground except for people who work the sewers go ahead.
David Swimmer whispers something to the flight attendant, which Larry used to call the stewardess through the whole show.
Did you, as a kid believe the thing that if you dug deep enough you get to China?
No, it wasn't an idiot.
I believed it as a kid. I believed that I even started digging to China. Way, okay, keep going.
Yeah, he whispers to the flight attendant, and then the flight attendant comes over to Larry, which is uvet Nicole Brown, and tells him he's got to put a seat upright.
Sorry, could you please put your seat in the fully upright position?
Please?
Let me ask a question. Yes, did he tell you to say that?
Did who tell me?
What? Good guy?
Right there? Did he tell you the seat wasn't.
Up I don't know what you're talking about, but we're trying to take off, so I'm gonna.
Need I saw him talking to you up there? Did he tell you myself?
Let me tell you what I need.
I need you to be quiet and in this seat with the seat fully of Okay, that's what I require.
Okay, okay, But I saw him talking.
Did you hear what I require? Which, by the way, is a thing that never makes sense to me. Why our seats have to be upright, I understand the trade table, but the seat upright, I don't fully understand.
No, I don't understand. And to be honest with you, I've always followed it.
Well you have to because they won't take off if you don't follow it.
And Larry, I see others who I don't tell on.
Yeah, but Larry believes that Schwimmer told on him.
By the way, whenever Larry gets yelled at, he loses it. And so that was that moment for him to get through, wasn't. She's screaming at him to you know, follow the rules and all that. You know, it gets interrupted a million times because he can't go on. He's laughing so hard.
Been there. Yeah, Then Larry goes to the bathroom and what do I have with foot? What is this? I can't understand my notes. Sometimes he lives up. He lifts up the seat with the foot foot, which is another thing that I find completely gross. That I understand why he doesn't want to use his hand, But your hand you could clean the foot. You can't the shoe, and then that shoe comes into you.
I've got in an argument with him and Bob Whitey about that, especially Whitey Bob White is the director of the episode, and I said, I always use my hand, then wash my hands.
Yeah, you know whatever, and then this turbulence, crazy turbulence, and it's a whole scene with him trying to pee in the turbulence at a typical Larry's scene.
Which, by the way, I never found that scene funny.
It's the physical comedy. It's one of.
Those No, Larry's great in this, in the in the scene, but I never because that's one of those where you uncontrollably laugh at Yeah, and it didn't hit me.
No, all right, didn't work for you?
Yeah, okay, you're too afraid to say it didn't work for you.
Now, I didn't feel that way.
I'm not afraid afraid. So my question is what was your feeling about that scene?
You know, I liked it, It was okay. I mean, when I'm watching these, by.
The way, let me ask you a question, curb your enthusiasm? Is okay? Acceptable? I think not. I that wasn't necessary for the whole show. That could have easily been cut.
But when I'm watching these episodes and taking notes, I'm not watching it like I'm just sitting back enjoying it and you know I do both.
Yeah, I do both.
I don't to me.
The last episode that we did, The Survivor, The Survivor, I found myself laughing so hard I was grabbing my stomach really, because, yeah, I really enjoy the show. I generally don't laugh at myself, but oh boy, there were moments in that show where I'm laughing so hard I can't get well.
I feel like what I should do is watch the whole episode and then rewatch it and take notes. But that's a lot of one.
No. Yeah, but I have the skill to do both. Look at you, look at me. We'll be right back.
Stay tuned, and we're back.
So they get to the Regency Hotel and Swimmer Gooat walks right in, doesn't tip anybody, and Larry complains to the doorman that he has no small bills, and the doorman he doesn't really buy it, and same to the billboy. He says, I'm going to come back and I'm going to take care of you, but neither of them really buy it. And then he gives one of the other doormen a twenty and says, why don't you split this with Tim who was the original doorman? And what he
said he had no small bills. I thought he only had hundreds. I didn't realize he had twenties. And then what happens is one of my peeps. When you're checking into a hotel, when they start to give you the rundown and the instructions, it drives me fucking crazy. I know they're doing their job, but when they bring you up to the room and they start to tell you, oh, the showers over here, and the phone is over here, and the blah blah's over here, and the blah blah blah,
and Larry starts to make fun of it. That's a window, I know. That's for looking out. And that's this you know, because they goes a.
Floor, it's for standing. I want to talk about that actor.
Okay, I don't know who he is.
I do know who he is, and our listeners know who he is. He a lovely gentleman who, by the way, you can see in the episode him breaking when Larry does the floor in the windows. I bet you we didn't have a take without him breaking. That's Zachary Levi. Zachary Levi. I don't know if it's that point. He had a TV series as like a Secret Agent comedy an NBC or it was after this point, bing is he's a big movie star. He's Shazam in the Shazam movie.
Really okay?
Oh yeah, And by the way, when you met that dude back then, you went, oh, this guy's a star. This guy's definitely going to be a star.
And he was, and.
He became a big movie star.
I enjoyed that. When you see some well like we just talked about you vet Nicole Brown, yes, you know, and it's very excited. And then she became a big star. Yes, it's fun. And he says to this guy, Zachary Levi, I don't have any small bills. I'll get you tomorrow. You seem dubious. He goes through the whole song and gifts, and he's like, it's NOTTSY to give you a twenty, isn't it. It's not sy to give you a twenty. So you call you say, let's go for a drink.
Larry wants to study lines, and you're like, adam it, you've only got three days. You got to come down to the bar and meet some chicks.
You know.
So he finally says, I'll meet you in a half hour. No, here's what you say, Jeff, which maybe laugh meet some gals. He said, you need to meet some gals.
Do you know where that came from, Carol Garland?
Your mother sat some gals.
Yeah. And by the way, you know what you know. I love saying fellas fellas, Hey fellas two men or more, Hey, fellas fellas, and it always gets a very unique response.
Of fellas, laughter and fellas and gals.
And by when I write it in my emails, hey fellas, and then I always put a comma, yes fellas.
I say, fellas yells great.
Wasn't there a show called Fellas Good Fellas? That's a movie. Yeah, but I think there was a show called was something Fellas in it?
And he goes, you would no, I don't remember. He goes down to the bar and you are sitting there with a giggling blonde Christina.
Who plays her because she was so good.
She was very good. I didn't look that up. And Larry and Christina start talking. He says that he is a pet groomer, that he has a truck and goes around peck grooming.
He said, we groom dogs and pets, and I said, we don't do it. We have a team, and Larry and I sit in front. Think of it, Larry and I sitting in the front of a truck. Well behind us, there's they're grooming. What are we doing there?
I have that for my dog. A truck comes.
Oh, by the way, we do we have that here with our dogs. And they do the best job. I can't watch. They give you that little window to watch. I just I'm not a fan of.
What it's like here. Take them, bring them back.
I don't.
And then we find out that Christina is a fillatio teacher. Now I assume that was in the outline.
Oh no, no, that wasn't the outline.
For sure, that wasn't the outline. She didn't make that up.
Yeah, no, no, no, no, Well, I say to her, here's how much of a setup it is. Tell him what you do, knowing full well.
What she does.
And Larry knows that.
And Larry is disgusted by that. He's like, how can anybody do that without a blindfold? And the penises group.
No, he's not. He's not disgusted that she teaches that. He's always surprised that how would you do it without a blind without.
Then he uses the word grotesque for the penis and she's it's it's beautiful and it's sad if anyone doesn't get to experience it and whatever. Next thing we know, Larry and Christina are at a Mexican restaurant. I will tell you this. This scene didn't work for me, so I'm not afraid to say that.
Jeff Garland, Okay, it worked for me because the only premise was that she'd leaved once she said.
Let's go through the scene. Okay, it's spicy food, and she tells him that spicy food makes a man's calm taste spicy.
No no, no, no, no, no no, it gives it a delicious taste.
She thinks it a delicious taste.
Okay, I love spicy, shod I love it.
I love spicy. Did you know that spicy food makes a man's taste delicious?
I did not know that. I did not know that.
True Jenny did not know that.
Delicious.
And she wrote a book. And Larry starts choking, and he starts sweating, and he starts blowing his nose, and he's got a napkin on his head and he's drooling.
Before this, she asks him, what's your favorite blow job? What do you like best to buy a blowjob? And I thought, if that isn't the best question that a man could hear what he answered, He didn't.
He didn't.
He started losing his shit. Yeah, And the purpose of the scene was he loses his shit and she walks away.
She's grossed out by him and she is turned off and she leaves. So there's another possibility of an anniversary gift down the drain again. But I just didn't buy the It was too much for me, the sweating, and I just did.
By the way, that was filmed at Ernie's Mexican Restaurant on Lancashim in.
North Hollywood, not in New York, you see.
No, No, Bob Hope, that was his favorite Mexican too, he lived down the street. Yeah, because I believe it's on More Park in Lancasham. Maybe it's not. But anyhow, the interiors of the hotel, except for the lower level stuff you know by the front desk, that's all filmed in New York. But the scenes with the hotel rooms, that's the Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles.
Yeah, famous, very famous hotel.
Yeah, old time.
So Christina, the flatio teacher leaves and then Larry's in bed doing lines and his loud music, really loud music coming next door with thumping, a lot of thumping, And he goes and knocks on the door and it's Swimmer's room and Swimmer is having a party and he doesn't invite Larry in, and he tells Larry that he lost his watch. It's a black tag and it's got some whatever. Sapphires, I forgot what it is. And Larry's like, it's Jeff
Jennifer Edison. He's looking in the room. It's Jennifer Anderson in there.
Well, by the way, he doesn't do it that excitingly. He does it where he's excited and curious, Hey, is that Jennifer Aniston in there? By the way. He is so funny in this scene looking around him, and Shwimmer is such a perfect foil. Both Bench Stiller and David Schwimmer ran with these parts. All right. I cannot believe how great Ben was, and I cannot believe how great Swimmer was. I mean really great, extraordinarily great.
And I do believe that another couple comes in to go to the party. I believe that's John Corn, who was one of our editors, with I didn't see.
Who he was with Megan Megan Murphy.
Oh was that Megan? I didn't realize was with.
John Corn who she's the post productions supervisor was Yeah, she didn't get fired.
Yeah.
Yeah. And John Corn, who was one of our editors and a guy who's edited a couple of my movies and also other things.
Also a director.
Yeah, he directed actually The Goldbergs a few times. Oh really, you know editors. Here's a little fun fact for our listeners. The best job that's not a director to become a director is not a director of photography. Although he could make it look good. I should say they could make it look good because that's the process.
It's not an assistant director, which is a completely different job.
No, but the ads become directors sometimes. But the reason that editors, yeah, become the best directors is because they know when they're editing, they know the tone, they know everything. The one thing they don't know how to do is talk to actors. They have no because they're in that dark room. They know everything about what.
Needs to putting it together.
Yeah, but they have no idea how to tell an actor. But that can be learned.
But also I think it's important for people to understand, especially on this show, how important the editing is when you're improvising and we don't know. Usually you know, when you get a script, it's generally a page a minute. So if you're doing a thirty minute show, it's a thirty minute script. We don't have a script, and we could go on outline.
That's seven pages.
Right, and we'll go on and on. So so so much is done in the editing to create the timing of the show that's not done in the shooting. It's not it's not.
By the way, speaking of editors, my favorite editor to become a director was Hal Ashby, and hal Ashby directed some amazing movies. My favorite movie he directed was Being There with Peter Seller. Great movie, A Complete Mask.
We watched that recently, like a year ago, so.
That one I know holds up. It was the name of the guy Rafael. Do you know Rafael? That he keeps asking people because Rafael was some sort of criminal and no matter.
What, oh yeah I know Rafael.
Yeah, yeah, I'm pretty sure. But his performance. But also hal Ashby, what a ragical director. Yeah.
And then we are in Larry's room and the handyman is fixing the ac, and the handyman is seek obviously has a turban, and Larry's just marveling at it. He's like, I could never do that. What you do is fix an ac. You know, many years ago the first house that we got, my husband, Jimmy was finishing the basement by himself because he used to build houses. I told Larry that Jimmy was finishing the basement. He was just like, what do you mean. He's got guys coming right. He's like, no,
he's doing himself. He's got a crew. He could not fathom that somebody I was married to was actually hands on with hammer and nail finishing.
Why and this is one of the stereotypes because he's a Jew.
Yes, well he says that.
Right. My wife know early on I will not be repairing anything I can do. By the way, what I've always been skilled at is electronics and computers.
Yes, you're very good at that.
I used to go bring my computer into the Genius bar to have something fixed or turn it in to go off from your pair and I the people that were there, including I bumped into friends. I would fix their computer before the Genius got to them. No, I know that.
Yeah, I personally feel that to have a husband who is not handy, what's the point you need to have a handy husband.
Yeah, you can say that because.
Because I have a handsome husband.
No, no, no, you have the ultimate. By the way, can I also say I have a Sari my girlfriend, my partner. I love saying that my partner, she is our handymaner.
She's good at that stuff.
Oh my god, she because she doesn't finish until she's done it.
Yeah, I'm not betting. You know what I'm very good at, surprisingly not computer stuff, but any TV stuff. The cable goes out, I could figure it out. I don't know how I do it, but somehow I figure it out. And Jimmy's bad at it.
Do you know what you're really great at? Making a delicious apple brown betty?
Who doesn't love an apple brown betty?
Do you know what an apple brown betty is?
Yeah, it's crumbles, and it's the apples and it's a crumble.
I think you just said it's apples and a crumble.
I think that's what it is.
No, but that line, No, you said it's crumbles before, and then you went right to an apple and a crumble was just very funny. But yeah, it's kind of like that.
So Larry is carrying on that he could never do that, he could never fix air condition. He's very impressed with this guy. And this is when the room service comes, and anybody who has ever stayed in a halfway decent hotel and ordered room service has had the sticker shock of breakfast. Fifty three dollars, it's breakfast. Then he's like, is the tip included eighteen percent? Do people give you more? And then cousin Andy shows up in the middle of all this.
Richard, by the way, I'm looking it up on my computer.
Brown bad.
Oh, it's quicker No who played the Sikh. Because he's a friend of mine and he's a very successful stand up comedian.
That's terrific.
Yeah, Maz Gibbroni, Maz Gibroni, who is immensely successful and I can say, easily top five of the nicest people I've ever met in comedy. I just want to throw that out there.
Great, I've never met him, so I'm going to trust him.
So he's an excellent dude, excellent comedian. Yeah, but that might have been his first job.
But then cousin Andy shows up and I have met him, which is Richard Kunt And first thing he says to Larry is mister f.
And then of course he says.
How is play practice?
Well, that's later on he goes, well, first off, he's Larry goes, I called you yes.
I called yes, which is because earlier episode.
But then when he said how's play practic the way he says it, how's play practice going? Well, I didn't know that was a real term, and I had to control myself when he said the term play.
Practice meaning rehearsal.
Yes, But I found out that's actually something that people have said. I don't know. I think adults in the theater who say it are hearkening back to when they were very young.
Cousin Andy makes the reference that's what we did in high school when we were doing Pippin. We had play practice after school when we were doing Pippin, and you just I just sensed that that was true for Richard. But he really did have play practice.
By the way, my style of improvisation, which works well for me with Larry, is in that moment and I'm not Larry did great stuff, but I'm saying if he tells me that I would say to him, who did you play in Pippin? Yes, I love I'm a big investigator, which which is basically throwing softballs. The other improvise exactly.
You don't know what somebody said, can come up with golds, but that's.
My way of being a supportive actor is to give them throw them a softball, and it's up to you to either hit a grounder or out of the park. But it's an easy way to hit.
Yeah, yeah, it's great. It's a good technique.
Yeah, we'll be right back. Stay tuned, and we're back.
And then Andy says, I don't see you doing it at all, but you'll be great. He's singing and dancing, and then he says to him, which also cracked me up, tomorrow you want to go to Westchester and go to open houses.
And you know he improvised that, which is.
Brilliant, and play practice he improvised, yeah, totally. And then the ac guy Sanjay is his name is Finish and he's and he's waiting for his tip and Larry never tips him, and then he finally leaves and Larry's am I supposed to tip that guy? And then uh, the maid comes.
No, no, hold on, did we go over what he says about the check for the breakfast? Yeah, he did. We went over there three percent?
Yeah, I mentioned that. Yeah.
And then Larry says, I'll give you to.
I'll give you two percent more. Yeah.
By the way, does my brain float to another plan?
Adhd?
Jeff, we all severy adhd. I've been told by doctors. But nonetheless, I.
Didn't mention the two percent. I will say this. I mentioned the eighteen percent, like it's so cheap, you know.
Yeah.
So okay. So the maid then comes in and Larry sees on her cart David Swimmer's watch is sitting on her cart, the tag watch, and he calls and leaves a message for Swimmer, and he tells him he found the watch, and he's got the watch, and then he leaves. He sees Tim the doorman. He's like, is everything straightened out? Tim the dormant has no idea what he's talking about.
Everything.
Okay, it's all straightened out.
Straightened out.
What I gave the other doorman? They hevyes that guy with the glasses, Yeah, I get him twenty dollars. I told him to give you ten. You didn't get the ten dollars. No, what he didn't give you any money?
No, not a dime.
You sure he didn't give you anything?
Yeah, I'm sure.
In other words, he's got the ten dollars now and he chose not to give it to you.
Is that what you're saying. No, that's what you're saying.
I'm saying I didn't get ten dollars from him.
The other dormant did not split the tip with Larry, but Larry doesn't know if that's true. Did he really not split the tip? And he does a stare down with him and then it's okay, okay, And then Tim points to and he says, he was upset that you didn't take care of him, and do I have to tip everybody? He confronts Sanjay and he's like, that's your job. But he decides he's going to give him a ticket to go see the producers. Is it that night or
the night after? It's the night after, it's the next night. It's not that night.
But I also want to say little side story. Okay, so we're filming in the lobby and this is when we are actually checking into the hotel. Okay, at the beginning, this is not in the episode, we're checking into the hotel and I'm standing next to David and the owner
of the hotel is enamored with David Shwimmer. I'm invisible, and he says right in front of me, the swimmer, anything you need, you want to stay here, come stay here, will give you a great rate or nothing, please come, And then he looks at me and I'm not making this up. There was awkward silence like I'm writing a comedy scene where he says nothing, and I, of course, because of who I am, I said, you realize what
you just did. I want to point out the exact thing you were enamored with, and this is for a swimmer, you were enamored like. I didn't not address it, and he said, oh, take care of you too, yeah, which would mean I'll upgrade your room or.
Something you'll get like, you know, a mint.
Yeah. By the way, you gotta get used to this because when you're with someone who's i'm gonna say, more a bigger star than you are, or more successful, like when I'm with Larry. Sometimes people have asked me to hold the camera to take pictures of them with Larry, like you are as invisible a person as can be. And that's why I always I wanted I was thinking about whenever I write my autobiography, calling it the guy, the guy with the camera, because it refers to that.
And also I'm a photographer, so the guy with the camera, because I can't tell you how many times I've been handed a camera.
I don't mind. I don't mind being in visible.
No, I don't either. I'm not upset, but I notice, and I think it's interesting. But you know, there you go. So little side story.
And so Larry is at the theater and there are a couple of tourists waiting online and they asked Larry to take a picture, and it's Stephen Colbert and Maddy Gormanno, another New York actress, and Colbert starts to go ask ask Larry to take a picture of them. It becomes a whole big thing of is it horizontal? Is it vertical? He starts screaming at his wife, and it was just
a very brilliant little moment, little little gem. And then he gets really angry at at Larry because Larry does want to put him and he does like a curse. He does. You will fail with his.
The way he does weird awesome, it's fantasy, but I also want to hear's a little story and a lesson for anyone out there who is an actor. Robert Smigel, we filmed section with him. I forgot what happened and it was great, and it.
Got cut in this episode and.
The producers yes, at the same time as Stephen Colbert, there was another part to it, and it was Smigel who got cast.
Well, you know what, I'm glad that it got cut because then he got to be in seasonal.
It's the point. But here's the thing. Not only when you got cut, especially if you did a good job, you've made an impression. I know not, but but not only that. The biggest lesson here is Smigel was smart. He didn't tell anybody he was going to be on the show. There are so many people who've gotten cut where everybody in the world expected that they were going to be on the show and it was terribly embarrassing
for them. And by the way, with very few exceptions, most of the people got cut just because the story and they were fantastic. But Smigel knew that you don't tell people when you're in something. And the other thing is Larry David called him. I also called him too, because he's one of my best pals. That he wasn't going to be in the show, but he did.
End up coming in season eight in a hilarious recurring part. Hilarious.
You know.
One time I was in a big movie. I had a small part, but it was a funny, very funny scene that I did in a big movie. And the director called me the night of the premiere to tell me that I was cut, but he also told me he was leaving my name in the credits so I would still get all the residuals.
And I do who was this director?
I don't want to say.
That's a kind thing.
I just don't feel like going now. I just don't feel like going.
Well. I actually it actually ruined a relationship. Somebody I was not close friends but I was friends with produced a very famous TV show Okay, and I guest starred on the TV show. And I didn't even know when the episode was airing, and someone told me, this is the episode that's on tonight. Oh shit, I'm in that episode. I watch it. I'm not in it. I got cut, but he never called and he was a friend of
mine and I was pretty angry. Now I would have ignored it and knew what he was about, you know what, but I actually share with him. I told him, I go, that was not kind. I go, I'm a producer. I know I call people when they're cut and have to tell them. I've had to do that numerous times. And I go, it's not a fun phone call. I said, I have your job. I know what it's like. You could have easily called me and said, oh, you're cut. And he said he forgot whatever. It was inexcusable.
I agree. So so we go from from Colbert's you will fail.
But I want to say that it's inexcusable, but I'm grateful for the life I have. I'm gonna say that from that one. Whenever I complained about your business stuff, I'm just greatful.
Moving on, I know, sweet, And we are now we're now in the rehearsal studio and we're at a table reading Susan Strowman, the wonderful director is there, and Larry has his She was great too, She was terrific. And Larry has his glasses, which are very similar to his father's glasses. I noticed in NAT's glasses and Schwimmer asks him for his watch, and Larry goes through his pockets and doesn't have the watch, can't find the watch, and Shwimmer tells them, well, you owe me a watch and
a whole uh you know. Larry's like, I don't know what to say, and you could say, I'm sorry, I'll buy you a new watch, and everybody weighs in. It becomes a cause celeb and you know, Mels, the big mcgilla.
But I've thought it's somebody to do with being a famous person.
Well it does, but it's also just used in that fashion. And then bit Mel chaos, chaos, and and Mel points out the whole point at the show is that Max and Leo love each other, and you know, and then Larry starts acting like he has OCD and arranging the bottles of water and arranging everything on the.
Table, putting on a show for Katie.
Katie is right next to him, and then he rearranges again, and then you see Katie's totally turned on, totally turned and then Mel moves some things and Larry rearranges and Katie's just turned on. And then he's out on the street with Katie talking about the watch. And Katie agrees with him, and some guy comes, you know, a mugger, and grabs her bag and starts running. She looks at Larry, you know, like expectantly, like, and he runs after the guy.
And he's running after the guy and that Larry run, you know, the long legged, lanky Larry run he has. And then the guy, the mugger, turns around and looks at him, and Larry runs the other way.
You know.
So funny. That's silent movie stuff. Yeah, very funny, so funny.
And then we're back at the hotel and it's an opening night montage of him giving out tickets to Tim, to Sanjay, to all the people that work there. He gets a paper, he sees the ad for it. It's a big excitement, has a meltdown in the dressing room with Nathan Lane, which I found very funny.
You know.
He's like, I can't do it. I can't do it, and Nathan's like, fuck up, buddy, go out there and kill him. And then he knocks on Shwimmer's door. They're at the hotel and he says, you want to go over, and Swimmer's like, I got an hour and a half. I'm going to sit here and stretch and he says to what's your warm up? You have a warm up and nothing, and Larry's like, he says, again, you're going to reimburse me for the watch, And Larry says, did you tell the stewardess that my seat was not upright?
He brings that back. Then he goes to the theater. He sees the marquee. It's very exciting actually for me watching it. I found that.
And by the way, it was so exciting hanging out the theater, hanging out back stage of the theater, being on stage of that theater, it was so exciting. And your sister was around a couple times. Oh yeah, okay, yeah, no, you had her come visit, and it was it was so much fun being on Broadway in New York.
Oh, of course it's Broadway. And by the way, if.
I'm not mistaken, we all went to see the show when we first got there. And if I'm not mistaken, Richard kind was Max Biallistock. Oh in that verseion of the producers.
Oh, we have to find out about that. Okay. So then he's backstage and Katie opens her dressing room door and she calls him in and he's a wreck, and she has rituals, the whole thing, you know. He wants to bang his head against the wall, and she thanks him for running after the mugger, and he tells her if he didn't go into show busy, he was going to become a fireman. And Katie says to him, I've
been thinking about that tenth anniversary present of yours. You want to come in, Come in, close the door, and then we see them making out, and then all of a sudden, he sees an eight x ten framed photo of George W. Bush. Was that.
Is that Bush?
Yeah?
Yeah, you got a fiction of Bush in your dressing room.
Yeah, you're a Republican.
Yes, Larry, I'm a Republican. He's he can't fuck her. He can't fuck a Republican. And then you're backstage and you say to him, i'd fuck her with a Bush mask on.
I did say that, that's right.
And then Larry's in his Max Biali Stot costume and he's like, he says, I look eighty five years old, and Andy calls him backstage, cousin Andy, and he's at the will call window. They don't have his ticket, and he's just being a nudge and annoying, and so Larry tells him he'll meet him, He'll meet him at the window and he goes on the hands. He's like, they don't have them, and then Larry cuts in the line, and then Lee Wilcox, who's a terrific actor. R. Lovely,
is on the line telling him you can't cut. And then he sees Sanja and Sanjay has the tag watch on. He found it at the hotel, so clearly let drop down of Larry's pocket and he tells him that's David Swimmer's watch and Sanja as finders Keepers and that whole thing ensues and he fights with Sanjay, and then Cheryl's there watching it. Push Cheryl has seen all this way too many times and she says happy anniversary to him. How did the gift go? The gift was not happening.
And then we see Colbert in the audience and Colbert makes the evil sign at him. Then they're backstage ready to go on, and he gives Swim of the watch and his apologies and they hug and let's all water under the bridge, let's start over, let's have a great time. And of course Larry can't help himself and says, did you tell the stewardess that my seat was not upright?
There was a big producer's trailer that we would meet him, you know, And one day in that trailer, Larry, Charles and I are just watching this. We're watching Jerry Seinfeld, mel Brooks, and Larry David talk. And as I sat there, I went, wow, I'm watching legends. I'm in here, and I'm privy to watching Legends. Yes, Larry and Charles and I participated some, but we mostly watched because we both knew what we were watching and it was so remarkable. It was so much fun to watch, and they were
funny and they were interesting. But that's like a moment I have from the show that I'll never forget, never forget. And also I remember walking around with Jerry and I go, I get recognized. How the hell do you walk around New York? And he told me what he does is he wears a baseball cap low with sunglasses, and I thought, who the fuck's not going to recognize you with it? He was completely cond This might be the only time Jerry has ever been wrong, because he's taught me so
many things. And he said that I tried it, and I'm one one zillient, this famous as Jerry Seinfeld. And ain't nobody not recognizing me?
I know who I am, but you are a large Yeah, you're more noticeable. You're larger, you got a big head, you have a booming voice. I could very easily not get recognized. I put on a baseball cap and sunglasses walking around Manhattan. Nobody especially, So it's based on the timber of your voice, whatever body size. I'm surprised. Sometimes there has been instances during COVID when I had a mask on and sunglasses and somebody recognized me just when I start to speak. That's when they can. Yeah.
Well, by the way, that's the thing for me. I go to the grocery store, up and down the aisles, up and down the ouss. Ain't nobody bothering me. Ain't nobody saying anything to me. When I get to the thing and I'm exchange, I'm talking to the person behind the register.
What is that, cashier?
Cashier? People hear my voice. Yes, and I'm not very famous, and they two or three people because also I did a lot of Pixar movies, so all the voice is my giveaway. Yes, my large head. But the real giveaway for me always is when I open my mouth.
Okay, we'll be right back, stay tuned.
Okay, we're back.
Then we see that Sanjay is sitting in front of Richard Kine with his turban and Richard kink cousin Andy can't see. You see that he's nonplused. He can't see. Then we're backstage. Mail comes backstage for some reason. He's spelling everything, and then the curtain comes up. It's opening night. I found this so thrilling to watch this. You know, there's something about the live theater experience. They're doing opening night.
They're doing the worst show in town. The audience is laughing, everything is going well, fantastic, and that we see Jeff in the audience and Cheryl and the audience just beaming and felling. And then Schwimmer enters the office and that you know, he starts telling him the more money, it's very interesting, the more money you could You could make more money with a flop than a hit. And Larry goes up on his lines. He doesn't know what to say, and it gets really awkward and uncomfortable.
You were saying.
That under the right circumstances, what was I saying that under the right circumstances.
And then this wasn't totally realistic. People just get up and leave in drugs. People don't leave that quick from an expensive Broadway.
Well, by the way, it is what it is. I agreed, and I believe I said something, but sometimes.
Whatever, Yeah, And then we see Jerry in the audience cringing, and we see Colbert in the audience smug and then Jerry gets up and leaves, which again that was not really that's his friend, He's going to get up and leave whatever. One of the things I do know is that when anybody knows who you are, it's very difficult to leave a show, even at intermission, especially if friends of yours are in the show. That's a very difficult thing.
And Larry starts. The audience is leaving, and Larry starts improvising, and mel leaves, also very important, mel leaves. We see Melo is behind, you know, walking back and forth behind the seats, and mel leaves, and Andy starts fighting with Sanjo. Not yet, not yet. The next next scene, again Andy starts fighting with Sanjay, saying, you don't wear a hat to the theater. Wear a hat and Larry comes out. He introduces my cousin Andy. He's a product of incest.
Primary reason for anti semitis he starts doing bits and then he starts going into the stand up and talks about the turbine everything, and the audience starts laughing, and he's killing. He's killing, and he saves the scene, which is so funny because if you've ever seen the original movie of the Producers, it's exactly what Dick Sean does where he starts improvising when he's playing you know, the character, the German character. Whatever. No, he's not playing the German character.
What is he playing? Is he playing.
Shall? Not? Dick Shall one of my favorite actors, played that. But nonetheless he's playing Hitler.
He's playing Hitler. That's right, He's playing Yeah.
And by the way, one of my favorite all time performances is Dick Sean and it's a mad, mad memory's brilliant.
I rewatched that recently.
Yeah, you know, that's wonderful. Anyone who hasn't seen it, it's really it's the grand Opus of comedy, you.
Know, you know, and you know what I want to play in the remake. I want to play the ethel Mermon character. Oh who else could That's exactly exactly it.
And I look at that and I just say, they'll never cast me. Why not?
There's a million parts in that you could play, I know.
But they'll pick up.
And Larry should play the Milton Borough character.
There's somebody who will be casting.
But anyway, but nobody's picked up the phone and called me for that.
But well, okay, you know who I'd like to play the Jonathan Winters lay great role. Never be as good as Jonathan Winters, you know. Oh, yeah, Dick.
We're talking about Dick.
Shawn's performance in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad Mad World. I've never seen anything like that.
Well, he was truly original, and you certainly can't imagine anybody else in the movie of the producers playing that part.
By the way, he passed away on stage. There was a thaves and he died. He literally died on stage. Albert Brooks and Bob Einstein's father, Parker carcass Or the gentleman. I forgot that there was actually he also he killed. Yeah, but right after he killed, yeah, I walked off, sat down, fell over.
I know.
But this is the only other.
Thing and what happened with Dick shawn Is he was laying quite a while. They didn't know because he was such a wacky kind of performer.
Well, the audience was laughing. They thought it was a bit. I can't imagine being in that audience.
Horrible, And we lost a great one on that one. That he was an original anyway. So so Larry is doing what Dick Sewan did in the movie, basically improvising and doing stand up, and we cut to Melan Anne at the bar, laughing and bankrupt, who was in real life Mel's wife terrific actress.
Beyond the terriffic actress, an iconic, legendary actress.
Yeah, I mean Anne was amazing.
Well, by the way, was only a few years older than Dustin Hoffman.
When when they did the graduate, I know, and they're laughing and enjoying us. Did you see the look on their faces?
And he has freed us from the anchor, from the albatross and the producers which has invaded our lives every single minute.
Every hour.
No more openings in Cleveland, no more sleeping in dirty beds in Pittsburgh.
With free free it last. Isn't it wonderful?
How did you know that he could ruin the show. The minute I laid.
Him, I sent him.
I said, this guy's a disaster. He's a living he's a storm. He's like a storm will destroy everything in its path. I mean, he's got this gift. Everything he touches, he dooms. He's a little cycling, a little tornado destroying the Saint James Theater.
Any minute now, the show will be dead. Here a toast to the death of the producers. They had rest in peace.
Everything he touches, he dooms. And they're toasting to the death of the producers.
By the way, this explains the whole season, that's right, because his partners were furious at him.
Norm, Yeah, Paul Mazerski and Rudy de Luca.
Yeah, actually Paul Mazirski played Norm, but they were furious furious at him because they saw the real thing. But Mel's like something about this guy, yeah, and he even want to tell him he wanted the show to close.
Mels like something about this ballheaded jew, you know. And they're toasting and they're singing by the light of the silvery moon, and then it's intermission. In intermission in New York, it doesn't really happen much anymore. But people used to just go into the bar across the street and have a drink during intermission.
And what would it be called when you snuck.
In second acting?
Yeah, you know, it's not second you second acted.
The show, which is when you would sneak in at and stand in the back or find an empty seat or whatever, And so the audience is raving, raving about the show.
I actually said one time I second acted. I was with Marla in Coconut Grove and Pia Zadora was doing her one woman show and Marlon and I are standing there and we see it's intermission. I said, do you want to? And she had second acted a million shows.
Well, that's what you do when you're poor in New York, you second act.
And it wasn't sold out, so we found a couple of seats and it was an awesome show. She would talk to on a screen, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Junior. She would have like to have fake conversations with them. It was something to behold. But I had done it once and no one in the ice slow.
Well. I used to do it all the time when I was poor in New York, and I wanted to see a show I couldn't have it. So you see the second act.
Yeah, legendary thing that people love theater do.
So the audience is raving about it, and he's like, well, maybe they're talking about a different show. And then somebody says, who would have thought that Larry David would be so great? And then there's like there's no Ann and Mel like there's no way out. You see, they're dejected, there's no way out. Let's go it. And they decide let's go back.
Maybe this wasn't the majority of the audience. And they go into the theater and the whole show is killing and I have to say, I so enjoyed watching Larry play this part on a stage, even though it was shot. You know, we're not live, but he's he he was, and he was completely committed to it and he worked so hard at it. I know how hard he worked at it because he had to learn all those lines. He couldn't improvise it. He had to learn all those lines and do the dance movements and sing the songs.
And he was great. And they go back to the theater and they're singing the Leo and Max song and then they get a standing ovation and we see Cheryl, you know, felling, and Larry points to his watch. He's got one more hour to get his anniversary gift. But it's never gonna happen. And that's it.
But no, hold on, though, you left out the part of Mel crying crying and crying, yeah, man, crying because they realized. And also, here's a piece of interesting trivia. Larry was offered to really do it on Broadway.
Yes, I know, as Max Bielis.
That's how good he was. And Mel saw that, and he got offered to do that role, and he considered it and then wisely said that, you know, because I was actually there was interest in me to do hairspray as the mother I didn't want. I thought about it. First off, every night to have to put on that body suit, which they would have put a lighter one on me because they don't have to make me that. But the thought of shaving my eyebrows, no fucking way.
I don't care what's going on, Nless, I'm playing the evil character in a James Bond movie who was bald.
But that's the least of it, Jeff. It is eight shows a week.
Well, no, the exhaustion and knowing me I would get bored. But also Larry David in his own play on a.
Limited Shadow Shadow was at.
A certain point was like, I can't do this.
I know, I know, yeah, but it's I mean, I have such admiration for these Broadway actors who are also musical actors, especially who were singing and dancing eight shows week. Now. I know Nathan when Nathan Lane was playing Max Biolli stuff which he played for a long time, he was exhausted. Exhausted.
By the way, do you know who's also exhausted? Anyone who does a straight drama.
It's exhausting too. On Wednesday you're doing two shows. On Saturday you're doing two shows. Usually Sunday you do one, and then you have one day off.
Yeah, one day one day off. Oh, it's a grinds. It's brutal, No, it really is. It's so Look, I can tell you when I was about to say, you know, it's not exhausting, Certainly, it's tiring. Is a straight comedy.
Different, very different when you have to sing and dance.
Like a Neil Simon play. Yeah, is not going to knock me off my feet. Although that schedule was.
Well, you know what. Yeah, it does. I did one, but only for a couple of weeks.
You know, I was telling somebody this last night, an actor. We were having this very conversation and I explain that when I do a show, i'm really I'm beholden to the audience. Not that any comedian isn't, but because I'm mostly an improviser, I'm only as good as the audience lets me be. Like, if an audience is loving me, I'll reach heights that I every time surprised myself and I come off and I'm pumped up. Now if they don't give me much, I'm not that great, but they
don't know. Because I'm professional, I can fake it. But when I come off stage for one of those shows, I don't even I can't stand covered in sweat. No, it's exhausting, It's well, it's not exhausted.
Well, no, to me, it was. I mean, when you get home and destroyed, so you have to do numerous shows, it's you know, it's not the two shows.
And by the way, what's the enemy of every comedian Friday.
Late Friday light show.
Because they're tired and they're drunk. That is, I actually can go over my forty one year career and maybe count on one hand at the most part of a second hand the number of great second show Fridays I did in forty one fucking years, like maybe five. Maybe it just was impossible.
There are things that the general public doesn't realize how important they are. The time, the venue. The venue is essential. I mean, you have a bad venue where they can't see you or here.
It doesn't matter what time, No, it doesn't.
You know. That's why if you're in a comedy club that's set up for comedy and it's a low ceiling and you know it's a thing of beauty, that's our.
Fat people don't understand that low ceilings are very important a comedy, not that when someone plays a theater.
Because laughter is contagious and when you have a low ceiling, it hovers and it rolls, but a high ceiling it goes.
Do you know what's interesting? I twice have done outdoor shows. One was the worst show I've ever had in my life. That was a private gig for the w Hotels. And there's a whole story beyond beyond that that's hilarious, but at the time it was overwhelming for me. But I recently hosted a show at the Greek Theater out here and I killed and I was shocked.
I wonder if that's set up differently Jeff, in terms of well.
It's a very intimate, you know, unlike the Hollywood Bowl, the Greek is very intimate. The Greek's one of my favorite places periods.
So it depends on how I'm there.
I was shocked because it's a lot more in a lot of people. Probably ten thousand people, seven thousand, I'm not sure, maybe three thousds. I don't know. But the point thing is I realized, Oh, if it's intimate and it's set up this way, you're completely right. Wow, I can do an outdoor show. I was shocked at how well I did.
I did not expect that. Yeah, so important. But coming up next we are going to start season five, which might be my favorite season.
By the way, can I be honest with you say this, because I have not rewatched it. I couldn't tell you what season it was, what we did that I could.
Not tell you.
Yeah, is this the Kidney season? Oh it's a great one's great and it has easily our in the history of the show. And it's so sentimental to us. Oh my god, no it is.
We'll get to that one of my favorite that's.
Our You and I agree, it's our favorite scene that we've ever done.
But there's a lot of good ones in this season, a lot of great episodes season. So we will see you next time and we will start season five. Yes, The History of Carbon Your Enthusiasm is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.