Speaker 1: You can watch the original episode we'll be discussing in
Speaker 1: every other episode of HBO's Curby Your Enthusiasm, including the
Speaker 1: new and final season, on Max. You can also watch
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Speaker 1: the episode description. All Right, so we are at season five,
Speaker 1: episode five. Lewis needs a kidney And.
Speaker 2: Who are you?
Speaker 3: I'm Jeff Gartler.
Speaker 1: And I'm Susi Esma.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I love this episode. You know, this episode is so simple.
Speaker 3: It's so so simple, and it's very special to me.
Speaker 1: And so eloquent.
Speaker 3: One of my favorite episodes to act.
Speaker 1: Then yes, and I can understand why. Yeah, and we'll
Speaker 1: get to that.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: So we start out and Larry is calling Omar Jones,
Speaker 1: his private investigator, and his assistant or secretary says, all right,
Speaker 1: mister David, what's his call regarding.
Speaker 3: He'll know what it's about.
Speaker 1: I'm a client, got that, But what is the call regarding?
Speaker 2: You know, to be honest, it's kind of personal.
Speaker 1: I'm sure it is, but you can't speak with him
Speaker 1: until you tell me what his call is regarding.
Speaker 3: But it has nothing to do with you. It has
Speaker 3: to do with him.
Speaker 2: I don't really want to tell you what it's about.
Speaker 1: Okay, So you're gonna need to control your levels and
Speaker 1: telling me what his call is regarding.
Speaker 2: Do me favorite tell me the details of your last conversation.
Speaker 1: That's none of your business exactly, and that pisses Larry
Speaker 1: off to no end. And I don't blame him for that,
Speaker 1: you know, let me talk to the guy. It's not
Speaker 1: like it sees the president of the United States. What's
Speaker 1: this call regarding? And then he ends up hanging up
Speaker 1: and having a fight with her. Next we see he's
Speaker 1: locked his keys in his car and he takes out
Speaker 1: a little flip phone. I love the dating of everything
Speaker 1: that we do here. This is two thousand and five.
Speaker 1: And he calls you and tells you that he locked
Speaker 1: his phone his keys in the car. Will you come
Speaker 1: and rescue him, which you, of course say yes, of
Speaker 1: course I will, and you do. And he is going
Speaker 1: to get something to eat, a jack in the box, right,
Speaker 1: not something I ever pictured Larry eating, by the way, Well, no.
Speaker 3: It's for comedic purposes. And I remember we filmed this
Speaker 3: at I believe I'm Lobrea. There might be a jack
Speaker 3: in the box I've filmed it. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Have you ever been to a Jack in the Box?
Speaker 3: Jeff, Oh, I'm most certainly. But can I just ask
Speaker 3: you something? Why do you ask a question that's so dumb? Now?
Speaker 3: Did I go to Jack the Box and a lot? No?
Speaker 3: There was one period where I had an office at
Speaker 3: Lebrea and Walsher, and right next to my office building
Speaker 3: was a Jack in the Box, and so during that
Speaker 3: period I frequented it quite often. Outside of there, I've
Speaker 3: maybe had Jack in the Box half a dozen times.
Speaker 4: So many times do you think I've had Jack in
Speaker 4: the Box?
Speaker 3: Well, I would put zero in the cab.
Speaker 1: You're right, You're absolutely right. Not that I'm a snob.
Speaker 3: A great Jack in the Box story. I'm not going
Speaker 3: to tell you the actor, but there was an actor
Speaker 3: I know who went into a voiceover audition for the
Speaker 3: commercial to be the voice of Jack in the Box.
Speaker 3: And so he does it. There's a lot of people there,
Speaker 3: and he goes in and he's he's doing it, he's
Speaker 3: doing it, and the guy from Jack in the Box
Speaker 3: keeps saying, that's not the voice I hear, that's not
Speaker 3: the voice I hear. So the voice of Jack in
Speaker 3: the Box now the big ping pong ball, whatever you
Speaker 3: have it. That's the guy who said it's not the
Speaker 3: voice I hear, So the guy from Jack in the Box.
Speaker 3: The voice he heard was his own voice in his
Speaker 3: own head, and he hired himself.
Speaker 1: There really you're giving me?
Speaker 3: Yeah, yep.
Speaker 1: I picture when you say Jack in the Box voice?
Speaker 1: I picture what was his name, Benji from Rudolph the
Speaker 1: Red Nose reins heer, Uh huh?
Speaker 3: You know the little guy?
Speaker 1: Yeah, the little guy in the jacket.
Speaker 3: What's eating your boy? Not not happy in my work?
Speaker 3: I guess no, Well, what do you want to do?
Speaker 3: I want to be a dentist. You know Moelers and
Speaker 3: by cuspids. I have that whole thing memorized. I loved
Speaker 3: all the rank and Bad Christmas specials.
Speaker 1: They were great, great. Yeah, yeah, all right, so he could.
Speaker 1: So he's at Jacket Box and they're closed, and the
Speaker 1: only thing is the drive through is open. So he
Speaker 1: stands behind the cars and he walks up to the
Speaker 1: drive through and they won't serve him.
Speaker 2: Like two jumbo Jacks, French fries and a.
Speaker 3: Diet Coke.
Speaker 2: Car.
Speaker 3: No, what's the difference?
Speaker 2: What one second? Come on, I'm starving there's everything's closed.
Speaker 3: That is a real thing.
Speaker 1: Really? Oh that most certainly it's bizarre.
Speaker 3: Gimme. By the way, I've heard stories drunk people not
Speaker 3: larrying this always do that late at night. They walk
Speaker 3: and they walk in the space, or they've seen a
Speaker 3: line of cars and they cut in. No, it is
Speaker 3: and the there's a big sign at every I've been
Speaker 3: too many a drive through. I see that there's a
Speaker 3: big sign that says you must be in a car
Speaker 3: or something like that.
Speaker 4: But that's one of those rules that's stupid to me.
Speaker 1: No, it's not. Why why must you be Why can't
Speaker 1: you walk up?
Speaker 3: Because if they allow you to do that and something
Speaker 3: happens to you with another car, they all right.
Speaker 1: If it's a liability thing, I understand it is. So
Speaker 1: Larry goes to a couple of cars and ask if
Speaker 1: he can get it.
Speaker 3: Can you imagine why you'd think that's not a real rule.
Speaker 3: What's wrong with you?
Speaker 1: Well, because I think if you it's like if I
Speaker 1: walk up to the ATM in the drive through, I'm allowed.
Speaker 3: To use it in the drive through.
Speaker 1: Now, if you know the drive through ATM, you know.
Speaker 3: What, do me a favor? You break your laws, not me. God.
Speaker 1: Okay. So he finally comes up to a guy, and
Speaker 1: this guy Pete. He says, yeah, yeah, sure, get in
Speaker 1: the car and did they're eating?
Speaker 3: Who plays Pete?
Speaker 1: Frank Whaley, who's a terrific actor, wonderful and.
Speaker 3: He's a wonderful guy and I so enjoyed working with him.
Speaker 1: And you know, I mean, he's one of these guys
Speaker 1: that you see his face and you're just like, I've
Speaker 1: seen him in everything, you know, great roles, yeah.
Speaker 3: Great limited series on TV and also with so many
Speaker 3: great movies, like you know, he was a young guy actor.
Speaker 4: Yeah, so he's just a very familiar By the.
Speaker 3: Way, I'm going to trademark that term young.
Speaker 1: Guy actor, young guy actor.
Speaker 3: And now of all the actors walking around, I'm a
Speaker 3: young guy actor. It'll be a club.
Speaker 1: So he and Peter eating their fries and delicious, delicious,
Speaker 1: and then he says to Petz, so, so Pete, what
Speaker 1: kind of work do you do? And Pete, you know,
Speaker 1: is fumfering a little bit. He's I was in the
Speaker 1: dental field, uh, work closely with a dental hygienis for
Speaker 1: eight months. And what he's drawn to landscaping, you know,
Speaker 1: I assume that was all improvised.
Speaker 3: Yeah, of course it was.
Speaker 1: And Larry sees some porn in his back seat and
Speaker 1: he says, it's not his, it's not his.
Speaker 4: And then all of a sudden, knock knockac you're at
Speaker 4: the window.
Speaker 3: You show up and I scare them.
Speaker 1: You scared them? Yes, And next we know you're in
Speaker 1: the back eating fries as well. Of course you are.
Speaker 3: Yeah, of course, no, I'm meaning, I'm meaning actual sandwich.
Speaker 3: I don't know how that happened, or maybe they had
Speaker 3: an extra one.
Speaker 1: Can I ask a totally ignorant question, Yeah, what kind
Speaker 1: of food does Jack in the Is it a burger joint?
Speaker 3: It's yeah, it's like burger king, but they probably have
Speaker 3: more of a selection than other places. I'll tell you why.
Speaker 3: Every time I see a Jack in the Box commercial,
Speaker 3: they're introducing a new product. Oh probably twelve new products
Speaker 3: a year. And I don't know if they eliminate other
Speaker 3: products or they're experimenting, but it's always a new try
Speaker 3: or new you know.
Speaker 1: I never see Jack in the Box commercials, which makes
Speaker 1: me think that it's a West Coast thing. I wonder
Speaker 1: if they're on the East coast. I don't think so.
Speaker 3: You know, when I spent time in Chicago or Florida
Speaker 3: when I was growing up, I think there was jack
Speaker 3: in them.
Speaker 1: Yes, well, we're gonna have to research that, and.
Speaker 3: You want to google it because I ain't googling it.
Speaker 1: Maybe later and then it is not going to happen.
Speaker 3: You don't really care.
Speaker 1: I don't care that much unless they want to be
Speaker 1: a sponsor. And then you tell Larry that you have
Speaker 1: some bad news for him, and that Richard Lewis is
Speaker 1: very sick and he needs a new kidney. Yes, and
Speaker 1: Larry says, is they're a donor and you say no,
Speaker 1: he needs to find a match. And you see Larry's
Speaker 1: face as just horrified. And is he horrified because he's
Speaker 1: worried about his friend? I don't think so.
Speaker 3: The look on his face tells you, am I going
Speaker 3: to have to give the kidney?
Speaker 1: Exactly exactly? And then we see him he's at Leo's
Speaker 1: Deli with Lewis, and Lewis is looking horrible. He's looking
Speaker 1: very sickly, which was all make up at that point.
Speaker 3: You know, after this season there and people ask me
Speaker 3: if Richard Lewis is really sick?
Speaker 1: I know me too, because whoever did his makeup? I
Speaker 1: assume it was Thomas job and yet gone, and his
Speaker 1: eyes looked all bloodshot and he doesn't have a donor
Speaker 1: and he's all upset about it.
Speaker 4: And then Larry asks him about his cousin, Lewis Lewis.
Speaker 1: Well, you ast us, Lewis Lewis, what do they say?
Speaker 5: He says he wants to donate all of his organs
Speaker 5: after he dies, but not a minute before.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Lewis Lewis.
Speaker 3: Doesn't help me any schmuck.
Speaker 5: Well, I'm going to have to get on that kidney
Speaker 5: list like everybody else. I mean, the only other option
Speaker 5: is if you know, you know, if a good friend
Speaker 5: or a buddy comes to then I'm then I'm golden.
Speaker 1: And Lewis Lewis that they established he's a nutcase and
Speaker 1: he works at a jack in the box go figure,
Speaker 1: and he does want to donate all of his organs,
Speaker 1: but not until after he's dead, not a minute before.
Speaker 1: I understand that, right, How do you feel about giving
Speaker 1: your kidney to somebody?
Speaker 3: If it's somebody I if you needed a kidney, no hesitation,
Speaker 3: how's that.
Speaker 1: One of your kids? Obviously you know?
Speaker 3: Yeah, but I'm saying, even you, anyone who's close to
Speaker 3: me who would need a kidney and I'm a perfect.
Speaker 1: Match, you would do it.
Speaker 3: I would do it in the heartbeat. Yep, no way would.
Speaker 1: I Not so so Lewis just says he needs to
Speaker 1: get on the kidney list or if a buddy comes through.
Speaker 4: I know, dot dot dot.
Speaker 1: You know. Next we have we see Larry and Cheryl
Speaker 1: in bed. There's a lot of Larry and Cheryl in
Speaker 1: bed scenes. I've noticed, if.
Speaker 3: You a lot, yeah, this season, this season in particular.
Speaker 1: I think all the seasons, and Larry starts going through
Speaker 1: one of his Larry things.
Speaker 2: Next time there's any sign of anything wrong with any
Speaker 2: of my friends, if I think they're going to be
Speaker 2: going into the hospital or any sign of anything, I'm
Speaker 2: just I'm.
Speaker 3: Just gonna drop him like a hot potato.
Speaker 2: And you too, I mean, as soon as you get sick,
Speaker 2: I'm out.
Speaker 3: You know that.
Speaker 1: Well, No, I'm glad you're bringing it up. Well, I mean,
Speaker 1: come on, no, it's nice to know. Yeah, And I'm
Speaker 1: giving all I thought that that's what the whole deal was.
Speaker 1: It's one of the reasons you get.
Speaker 2: Married normally, that that is the deal. But we're losing
Speaker 2: the sickness and health clothes. I'm out if anything's wrong
Speaker 2: with you, and then I look same for you. You
Speaker 2: go to okay, okay, I can't be.
Speaker 3: Around illness, but for now it frets me out.
Speaker 1: Okay, and Cheryl kind of talks him into taking the test,
Speaker 1: that it's a nice gesture and that he should at
Speaker 1: least take the test.
Speaker 3: Now at this point in my life, fuck gestures. Either
Speaker 3: you're doing something or you're not doing something. Gestures can
Speaker 3: suck my dick. There you go, keep going.
Speaker 1: So then they start to snuggle. Now this sounds very
Speaker 1: familiar to me. Larry assumes the snuggle leads to sex,
Speaker 1: and he doesn't understand what's the advantage of a snuggle
Speaker 1: if it's not leading to sex. And then he grabs
Speaker 1: her ass, right, and you know, the ass is part
Speaker 1: of my snuggle.
Speaker 4: The ass is a lever and Cheryl's not happy about this.
Speaker 1: Now, you know, I happen to be female or male,
Speaker 1: so we can have this discussion. I have had this
Speaker 1: incident with my husband and with previous boyfriends where they
Speaker 1: only want to be affectionate when they want to have sex.
Speaker 3: In general, you are completely one hundred percent right. Yes, me,
Speaker 3: I'm you know, I'm a I'm a thoughtful gentleman.
Speaker 1: Not that my husband does not affectionate to me, he is,
Speaker 1: but certain kinds of affection.
Speaker 4: I always know that.
Speaker 1: That's what.
Speaker 3: By the way, yes, and it was obvious in this
Speaker 3: episode where he was going. And to me, one of
Speaker 3: the big giveaways is the grabbing of the ass exactly. No,
Speaker 3: that's like a classic if you will, in that area.
Speaker 1: The grabbing of the ass, you know, grabbing of the
Speaker 1: ass always reminds me. My father used to always, you know,
Speaker 1: kiss my mother and hug her and grab her ass.
Speaker 1: I remember that. And I always had this assumption because
Speaker 1: they had a horrible marriage. I always had this assumption
Speaker 1: that they had hot sex, like that's what kept them together,
Speaker 1: you know something they Yeah, yeah, sometimes people have a
Speaker 1: horrible marriage, but they have a great sex. And yet
Speaker 1: later on in you know, like a couple of years
Speaker 1: before my mother died, she told me out of nowhere,
Speaker 1: I didn't even ask her. She said to me, if
Speaker 1: that was a very selfish lover so apparently.
Speaker 3: Oh my god, that is just I don't know what
Speaker 3: to say.
Speaker 1: So they didn't have great by the.
Speaker 3: Way, the only way that's funnier is if she told
Speaker 3: you he was a very gentle lover.
Speaker 1: Yes, exactly, a very selfish lover.
Speaker 3: Was a very good that's too good.
Speaker 6: We'll be right back. Stay tuned, and we're back.
Speaker 1: So Larry's in his office and he makes a phone
Speaker 1: call to Lewis, and Lewis's assistant picks up, played by
Speaker 1: Mindy Kayling. That's right.
Speaker 3: That's when I first met.
Speaker 1: Her, very young, Mindy Cale.
Speaker 3: It's one of her first jobs in Hollywood, Is it?
Speaker 1: Is that true?
Speaker 3: Yes? Yes, she She was primarily a right on the
Speaker 3: office at that point. If I'm not mistaken, I don't
Speaker 3: think it was before the office. I think they the
Speaker 3: office at first started.
Speaker 4: Well, this was two thousand and five.
Speaker 3: But she was great. Yeah, I mean in the episode.
Speaker 3: But also that's one of you know, there's certain actors
Speaker 3: who do the show who know the show, but they're
Speaker 3: a bit uncomfortable. I'm the one that helps them through that.
Speaker 3: That's like one of my jobs as a producer, the
Speaker 3: way I look at I'm not the only job I've
Speaker 3: ever been assigned is in large scenes to please keep
Speaker 3: an eye on the actors and the monitor to make
Speaker 3: sure no one's You know, I do.
Speaker 1: Find, though, Jeff, generally that comedic comedians have an easier
Speaker 1: time than.
Speaker 3: I'm just saying she was having a rough time, But
Speaker 3: I remember very distinctly helping her through it, you know,
Speaker 3: That's all.
Speaker 4: And what happens is is that chancewers.
Speaker 2: Share with this regarding it's regarding his kidney transplant. What
Speaker 2: it's regarding his kidney transplant.
Speaker 1: Mister Lewis is getting a kidney transplant. He didn't say
Speaker 1: anything to me.
Speaker 3: About it, didn't You didn't know about this.
Speaker 1: He didn't tell you this.
Speaker 2: He didn't tell you he was there was a problem
Speaker 2: with this kidney.
Speaker 6: I didn't tell you anything.
Speaker 3: Could he not have told you about this?
Speaker 6: About this?
Speaker 3: Oh jeez? Will you asked me what it was regarding
Speaker 3: I didn't know it.
Speaker 1: Like this, And Larry says, regarding his kidney transplant. And
Speaker 1: then she didn't know he was having a kidney transplant,
Speaker 1: and she starts crying and she becomes hysterical.
Speaker 3: And this was very much a thin line for us,
Speaker 3: because in general, in general, I can think of the
Speaker 3: heartbreak kid there are exceptions, and this clearly was one
Speaker 3: where crying is not funny. I'm just saying crying is
Speaker 3: not funny unless somebody like in the Heartbreak Kid like here,
Speaker 3: where it serves the story. But in general, crying is
Speaker 3: not funny, and dramatically crying is not interesting. Being on
Speaker 3: the line of just about to break down is always
Speaker 3: interesting to watch, and as an actor, the bawling and
Speaker 3: all that stuff. So on this show we were like
Speaker 3: doing different types of crying, not knowing, you know, until
Speaker 3: post what we had.
Speaker 1: And I'm trying to think if we've ever had any other.
Speaker 3: Crying I don't believe so. And by the way, at
Speaker 3: his Motelo side story, the number of times see I
Speaker 3: always sound thing I'm giving a lesson And you know this,
Speaker 3: there is no difference between acting dramatically and comedically, Zira,
Speaker 3: because it's up to the writer and if you know
Speaker 3: the character, you just say the lines. You just say
Speaker 3: it or you improvise it. And so we had people
Speaker 3: come in nervous, they'd put a spin on things. But
Speaker 3: one of the things that you were automatically not getting
Speaker 3: hired is if you started crying. And it happened at
Speaker 3: least half a dozen times while we were casting the
Speaker 3: show that an actress came in and she went all
Speaker 3: out crying and Larry had a stopper and talk to me.
Speaker 1: No. I just remembered one time when I was crying
Speaker 1: when Oscar.
Speaker 3: Died, right, and he probably told you not to.
Speaker 4: No, no, no, it was it was appropriate in the scene.
Speaker 1: I was crying in the scene. And that was because
Speaker 1: you guys, you know, never gave him his pink berry.
Speaker 3: Ah, the pinkberry episode, which we haven't done yet.
Speaker 1: No, that's much later.
Speaker 3: Yeah, but but yeah, okay, the reason that worked was
Speaker 3: the contrast. I should be upset, you're upset. We fucked
Speaker 3: it up. Yes, it completely serves the scene. So if
Speaker 3: anyone's crying, it has to serve the scene. Serve the
Speaker 3: scene because on its own, crying is not funny.
Speaker 1: And apropos of what you said before, and we've probably
Speaker 1: said this before, but I'll just reiterate. When you're doing comedy,
Speaker 1: you know, unless it's a very broad kind of physical
Speaker 1: comedy or something like that, you don't you should not
Speaker 1: be thinking about being funny. You should be thinking about
Speaker 1: being in to me, and it should be written funny.
Speaker 3: The only times that I have failed comedically, the only
Speaker 3: times are when I've tried to be funny.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it doesn't.
Speaker 3: Probably I have probably a ten percent success rate on
Speaker 3: trying to be funny. The other ninety percent bomb bomb
Speaker 3: bomb bomb bomb, including on stage. If it doesn't, I don't.
Speaker 1: I don't think about being funny on Curb, especially because
Speaker 1: I so trust the setup. I so trust Larry's comedic
Speaker 1: brain that I know that if he set it up,
Speaker 1: it's going to be fun.
Speaker 3: But you trust me acting opposite you. And then also
Speaker 3: there's a comfortability or comfort do ability. Yeah some words
Speaker 3: come hard to me now. I don't know why, by
Speaker 3: the way, but anyhow, Yeah, being so comfortable on set
Speaker 3: also adds to that's right, you know, so.
Speaker 4: Mindy kayling, She's hysterical, cry she didn't know?
Speaker 1: And the next thing we know. And these scenes are
Speaker 1: always when Lewis shows up angry, they just make me
Speaker 1: laugh because he's so what did you do? You know,
Speaker 1: like I so don't believe he's really angry in a
Speaker 1: certain way even you know what I mean.
Speaker 3: It's like, no, I love it.
Speaker 1: Funny angry, It's funny. Lewis shows up at Larry's office
Speaker 1: what did you do to my assistant? And Larry kind
Speaker 1: of calms him down by telling him he'll take the test,
Speaker 1: to which Lewis is quite nonplussed at that response, and
Speaker 1: he says saying he would have left it the chance,
Speaker 1: and he should have said in a restaurant the other
Speaker 1: day that he would have taken the test. And then
Speaker 1: the phone rings and it's somebody inquiring if Larry was
Speaker 1: at the Jack in the box with Pete. We don't
Speaker 1: know what's coming up, but next we see him and
Speaker 1: with you at the police station and you're about to
Speaker 1: will line up.
Speaker 3: And by the way, this is downtown La wherever this
Speaker 3: lineup thing was. And there's sets built to look like
Speaker 3: not only was it not just that area the bullpen
Speaker 3: in the bench, that whole floor was designed like a
Speaker 3: police station, like they could have filmed Hill Street Blues
Speaker 3: there or NYPD Blue, which they may have I don't know.
Speaker 1: But well, there are permanent sets like that, like for example,
Speaker 1: you know Law and Order, there's a permanent courtroom set
Speaker 1: down at Chelsea Piers with but it's a.
Speaker 3: Set this set, but this is also a set, but
Speaker 3: it's entire floor of what may have been.
Speaker 1: On a stage.
Speaker 3: No, it was on a floor was actually a police station.
Speaker 3: I'm on the whole floor of a big office building.
Speaker 1: Was not a literal police station, no, but they may have.
Speaker 1: And while you're sitting there waiting to do the lineup,
Speaker 1: Larry tells you that he's going to take the kidney test.
Speaker 1: And he says, why aren't you taking the test? You're
Speaker 1: his manager, you're his friend, and and then it goes
Speaker 1: back and forth. You said him, you're his oldest friend,
Speaker 1: and you are an employee of mine, he says to you.
Speaker 1: And then Omar Jones shows up the Private Eye and
Speaker 1: he's got a bone to pick with Larry about his receptionist.
Speaker 1: He upset his receptionist and he had to talker into
Speaker 1: staying and Larry apologizes and he's like, has the adoption going?
Speaker 4: And Omar says, I'm going to have something for you soon.
Speaker 1: And they go in. You guys go in and you
Speaker 1: do a lineup, and then at some point you just
Speaker 1: say you changed your mind, you're going to take the test,
Speaker 1: and then you both point out number two.
Speaker 3: No. Wait, the guy, I don't know if he did
Speaker 3: Seinfeld before the Cop was very good. Not only was
Speaker 3: very good, he was killing Larry and I during that
Speaker 3: whole scene, and what he was just so fucking funny.
Speaker 3: And he played things straight like a cop. But it
Speaker 3: was hilarious the way he did it. Yeah, me, dude.
Speaker 1: You know. It was a small role, but the importance
Speaker 1: of these small roles cannot be overemphasized. I mean, it's
Speaker 1: it's the kind of thing that creates the whole.
Speaker 3: By the way, we have had people, which we've discussed before,
Speaker 3: in small roles who are invited back in a much
Speaker 3: bigger role. Yes, I don't know if I've ever told
Speaker 3: you so this about Me and Mad About You. So
Speaker 3: I auditioned for Mad About You and it was a
Speaker 3: pretty good scene in one scene or a couple scenes.
Speaker 3: And they call my agent and they say we're gonna
Speaker 3: because they hired me. Okay, Then they call my agent
Speaker 3: and they say it's down to two lines. If Jeff
Speaker 3: wants to do it or not, we're still gonna pay
Speaker 3: him top of show, which means the most money for that,
Speaker 3: so either way it can stay home coming. To do
Speaker 3: the two lines, We're very embarrassed, and I said to myself,
Speaker 3: fuck it, I'm gonna go do the two lines. Well,
Speaker 3: I do the two lines, which grows into a half
Speaker 3: a dozen lines for that episode, and the producers are saying,
Speaker 3: including Larry Charles, mind you that, Oh we got something here.
Speaker 3: Next thing, you know, I'm on the next three seasons,
Speaker 3: the recurring role of Marvin. I was even in the finale.
Speaker 3: But I'm saying from that little role where I said
Speaker 3: two lines and I put my ego aside, you know,
Speaker 3: because I was working at that point.
Speaker 1: You know, I got advice from Tom Hanks once told
Speaker 1: me take whatever part you're ever given, because you're going
Speaker 1: to be good in it, and people are going to
Speaker 1: see you in it. It's just going to lead to
Speaker 1: other things. And I think that was very good advice.
Speaker 3: He was in Bachelor Party, Yes, so he followed that,
Speaker 3: which I paid the see and kind of liked.
Speaker 1: You guys point out Pete number two and you say
Speaker 1: it was ten fifteen. It was a late dinner. Was
Speaker 1: it a late night snack or was it a late dinner?
Speaker 1: Back and forth with that a little bit, and.
Speaker 3: That was a lot of the laughing.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it was funny. And then the cop says, dude,
Speaker 1: do you know who Pete is? And Larry says, well,
Speaker 1: I know he worked with a dental hygenist and did
Speaker 1: some landscaping, and apparently he's Peter the Torque or a
Speaker 1: couple of other names he has.
Speaker 3: That guy improvised, and of course every name that came
Speaker 3: out of his mouth we laughed, because you think about
Speaker 3: Peter the Tork. It's Peter Tork from the monkeys, but
Speaker 3: Peter the Tork that's topping.
Speaker 1: And next thing we know, you guys are at the
Speaker 1: medical office waiting to take the test, and turns out
Speaker 1: you're both compatible.
Speaker 4: And the nurse comes over and you say.
Speaker 3: Good night, nurse, good night. It's just a saying.
Speaker 1: I never heard of it. That's nice.
Speaker 3: It is, I know it is. Do you do you?
Speaker 3: I do?
Speaker 1: Good for you?
Speaker 3: Good for me?
Speaker 1: Oh you think so?
Speaker 3: I know.
Speaker 1: So I'm glad that makes two of us.
Speaker 3: So you say so I did.
Speaker 4: Why don't you go through this? Tell me about that scene.
Speaker 3: Okay, it's actually something very interesting. I say to her,
Speaker 3: a good night, nurse, and then she says good night.
Speaker 3: We go back and forth at a.
Speaker 4: Fa in a very kind of surreal way.
Speaker 3: Yeah, but I want to say something. This is behind
Speaker 3: the scenes stuff. This is stuff you'd never know, so
Speaker 3: we improvise it. It's really good, don't get me wrong,
Speaker 3: But Larry and I know there's something wrong with it.
Speaker 3: It's not kicking ash the way it should. Larry wrote
Speaker 3: that scene and he would feed me a line and
Speaker 3: I just said it. He would feed her a ligne.
Speaker 3: She just said it. Back and forth, back and forth,
Speaker 3: and that was put together through editings, so you felt
Speaker 3: like we were going bything.
Speaker 1: That's very unusual.
Speaker 3: We'd never done that before. Yes, And the only time
Speaker 3: I've ever felt that is I'll be driving home and
Speaker 3: Larry will say, eh, it would have been better written,
Speaker 3: And he was right. Certain scenes would have been better written.
Speaker 3: But that's rare that happened. Like he does.
Speaker 1: He has said, and I don't know the exact percentage,
Speaker 1: but something like ninety five percent of the time, or
Speaker 1: maybe even ninety eight the actor that is in the
Speaker 1: scene writes it better than he ever could, and maybe,
Speaker 1: you know, five percent of the time he wishes that
Speaker 1: he had written.
Speaker 3: Without a doubt. But also so this scene and I
Speaker 3: took no affront to it that my improvising, and obviously
Speaker 3: the guest actress who was great, But we went back
Speaker 3: and forth, back and forth. He would literally feed me
Speaker 3: the line and I'd say it, very staccato, a very
Speaker 3: yes to come Deadpana pan boom, boom boom boom, and
Speaker 3: then in post it was put together like it was
Speaker 3: just being made up. I imagine somebody watching would go, wow,
Speaker 3: look at the way they're improvising, but no, suri bop.
Speaker 1: Okay. So then you're on the park bench with Larry
Speaker 1: and you got to decide who's good. You're both mad
Speaker 1: by the.
Speaker 3: Way, not only one of my favorite scenes, but someone
Speaker 3: took a photo of that. Cephatiger took a photo of
Speaker 3: that scene and sent it to me for approval. I
Speaker 3: guess I got my approvals and I said, I want
Speaker 3: to copy that. So that's probably the most often thing
Speaker 3: that I autograph is the picture of that. Oh really, yeah,
Speaker 3: because I.
Speaker 4: Had to see that. I haven't seen that.
Speaker 3: Well, just picture the scene and it's a really cool shot.
Speaker 1: Yeah, he and I.
Speaker 3: You know what it is. It's just he and I
Speaker 3: staring in the space, you know, And I saw it
Speaker 3: in the scene.
Speaker 1: So I actually have some pictures I've taken on set
Speaker 1: of you two doing that.
Speaker 3: Oh really, yeah, you and your lozenges.
Speaker 6: All right, we'll be right back, Stay tuned.
Speaker 1: Okay, we're back, And then how are you going to
Speaker 1: decide who's gonna give the kidney, Larry suggests bingo when
Speaker 1: you're like, no way, it's like playing golf with Tiger Woods.
Speaker 1: You're not gonna by.
Speaker 3: The way, the fact that I'm intimidated by him playing
Speaker 3: back to obviously an earlier episode, but wow, that's funny.
Speaker 1: Because he's such a goddamn good bingo player.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, yeah yeah.
Speaker 1: And then you say, doesn't he have a cousin, you know,
Speaker 1: Louis Lewis, And then you decide, let Louis, let Richard
Speaker 1: Lewis decide the best way, and no campaigning, You're not
Speaker 1: going to campaign, and no calling saying he's a lot
Speaker 1: thinner than I am. You know, none of that stuff,
Speaker 1: which we know is neither of you are going to
Speaker 1: stick to that yet. And then Larry shows up at
Speaker 1: Lewis's office and he apologizes to his assistant, Mindy Kayling,
Speaker 1: and she says, oh, he's on the phone with Jeff Garland,
Speaker 1: and Larry says, what is it regarding it? She says,
Speaker 1: she doesn't know, but we know. You know I'm doing
Speaker 1: my massage, we know we know you're campaigning. And then
Speaker 1: she starts crying again and he comforts her and he
Speaker 1: starts stroking her hair.
Speaker 3: It's all right, it's okay. Don't worry. I'm sure.
Speaker 2: I was going to tell you, yeah, don't worry.
Speaker 1: It's okay. What are you doing?
Speaker 6: What? What was that?
Speaker 1: What are you talking about? What the hell? Man? What
Speaker 1: did you touch my hair?
Speaker 3: Well? I was consoling. I was consoling you. I was
Speaker 3: touching hair.
Speaker 2: Is part of my consolation routine.
Speaker 1: No, it's really weird. You're being really are crazy?
Speaker 3: What is crazy?
Speaker 2: I was?
Speaker 3: I was consoling.
Speaker 4: Are they I was coming?
Speaker 2: I was consoling, he was coming.
Speaker 3: I was consoling.
Speaker 2: I touched her hair.
Speaker 3: She's nuts.
Speaker 1: If Larry David, who is my very close friend, was
Speaker 1: doing that to me, I would feel like it was weird.
Speaker 3: What are you doing? Yeah?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 4: And she was like, you're being weird.
Speaker 1: And then Lewis comes out and then she says that
Speaker 1: Larry was coming on to her, and then she leaves,
Speaker 1: and then Louis is confused is she leaving or is
Speaker 1: she quitting? And you know, goes on to did you
Speaker 1: get the news? You get the choice? And Larry starts going,
Speaker 1: you know, I'm considerably older than him, he's bigger, so
Speaker 1: it's like a big hefty kidney. You can start drinking
Speaker 1: again he tells him, is a lot about me. You
Speaker 1: don't know about things I did right after college, and
Speaker 1: Louis is just like, you know what, you decide, flip
Speaker 1: a coin or play Enie meanie my nemo. You decide.
Speaker 1: And then Larry goes over in his head Aenie meanie
Speaker 1: miney moke, you know, figuring out which one. How if
Speaker 1: he starts, you know how he's gonna.
Speaker 3: He's yeah, he's gonna cheat. He's gonna prep for any
Speaker 3: meaning mind and mode exactly.
Speaker 1: And next we're at our house and it's you and
Speaker 1: Larry and Marty Funkouser, which.
Speaker 3: By the way, before we begin, he doesn't do this often,
Speaker 3: but he was the funniest straight man, and he's the one,
Speaker 3: he's the one who held the scene together.
Speaker 1: It's interesting because having watched it, you know, both you
Speaker 1: and Larry are hilarious in this and the jump bigger.
Speaker 4: But it is Einstein's scene.
Speaker 1: It's his.
Speaker 3: Oh hold on, it's Einstein and your scene, not me
Speaker 3: as much as no. By the way, let me just
Speaker 3: say this is one of our favorite things scenes to
Speaker 3: have filmed. Ever. We laughed the whole time, and by
Speaker 3: the way, I know it was difficult in post to
Speaker 3: pick what to use, you know, and Larry and I
Speaker 3: are any funny in this scene, yes, but we're eclipsed
Speaker 3: by Bob and your entrance. What you'll go over now
Speaker 3: is well.
Speaker 1: First they think first it's it's flip a coin, and
Speaker 1: then they decide, now Larry wants to do enye meanie.
Speaker 1: Now we know he wants to do enye meaning because
Speaker 1: he's already worked out the eenie meaniness of it. Right
Speaker 1: first of all, just the whole idea that you're doing
Speaker 1: eenie meanie miney mo to decide who was going to
Speaker 1: have serious surgery of giving up a kidney. I mean,
Speaker 1: this is an organ and it's eenie meanie mighty mo.
Speaker 1: It's just it's too bizarre. So Marty says, you know,
Speaker 1: I really admire you guys. That the unbelievable act of friendship.
Speaker 1: I just was. I wish I could. And Larry says, well,
Speaker 1: you haven't taken the test, and so I don't think
Speaker 1: of a match. I love how he does that. I
Speaker 1: don't think of a match.
Speaker 3: But by the way Bob getting out of it is
Speaker 3: so matter of fact, just.
Speaker 4: Like I'm not a match.
Speaker 3: But by the way he doesn't even give us a
Speaker 3: chance to argue with him.
Speaker 4: Now, no discussion, and who wants to be Enie?
Speaker 1: And Larry says, I'll be Enie and you agree, and
Speaker 1: then then he starts to get suspicious. Why do you
Speaker 1: agree to be Enie? To start with Enie and whatever?
Speaker 1: You work that through?
Speaker 3: No, I say, fine, I'll be Enie. And then he's
Speaker 3: suspicious of that. That's right, So he takes Enie back.
Speaker 4: He takes Enie back, and it's meanie miney moment.
Speaker 1: My mother says, right, he thinks it's all. He thinks
Speaker 1: everybody's you know, planning, like like diabolical like he yeah,
Speaker 1: my mother says, to pick this one, and out goes Yo.
Speaker 1: You and at Landsa Larry and you both jump.
Speaker 6: You both jump up.
Speaker 1: It's like so happy you give the kiddy, You give
Speaker 1: the kiddy, and it's it is what to me, It's
Speaker 1: one of the funniest scenes that you guys have ever done.
Speaker 1: I really, by the way.
Speaker 3: We begin screaming at each other. You you, And by
Speaker 3: the way in filming this, Larry lost his ship more
Speaker 3: times than I.
Speaker 1: Can I remember.
Speaker 3: Every time I said you to him, he's on the floor.
Speaker 3: And so this one took a minute for him to
Speaker 3: recover too, but once he started the festival.
Speaker 1: And let me ask you a question, Jeff, because I'm
Speaker 1: trying to remember, was it was it in the outline?
Speaker 1: I don't think it was in the outline that you
Speaker 1: both jump up at the same time like that.
Speaker 3: It had to have been. Yes, you think it was,
Speaker 3: without a doubt, because that's a story point. So yes,
Speaker 3: we've improvised some story points, but that one in particular,
Speaker 3: that would be too weird if we both jumped up,
Speaker 3: because in this outline, there would be a conclusion on
Speaker 3: that moment and he would say, Jeff wins, Larry wins,
Speaker 3: they both win, you know what I mean. Maybe it
Speaker 3: was discussed on that, But.
Speaker 1: What I recall was, I think the outline did say
Speaker 1: that you both think that you won, but it didn't.
Speaker 1: But I don't think it said in the outline.
Speaker 4: That you both jump up simultaneously.
Speaker 3: But I think that, No, he doesn't write things like they, Yes,
Speaker 3: that was it.
Speaker 4: So that's my point, that that was just that that
Speaker 4: beautif we.
Speaker 3: Did, as you know on our show, it's not what
Speaker 3: we're doing because that's already set, it's how we're doing it.
Speaker 1: It really is yeah. And then I come in and
Speaker 1: he says to me. I was like, what are you doing?
Speaker 3: Hold on, take a step back. You know, Bob is
Speaker 3: also agreeing with me. By my you know, Martin Larry is,
Speaker 3: so when you come in, there's no where you go,
Speaker 3: No one's expecting. It's not it's not surprising, but we're
Speaker 3: not expecting. So you're like, you want an explanation, and
Speaker 3: what do you do?
Speaker 1: You say, oh, well, Larry says to be an immediate
Speaker 1: and I was like, that's that means you're it? And
Speaker 1: and then I say, you're.
Speaker 6: Not giving your kidney? What if one of your kids
Speaker 6: needs a kidney one day?
Speaker 1: You're gonna give a kidney to Richard Lewis? No, no, no, no,
Speaker 1: I might not be the match Larry, he needs his kidney.
Speaker 6: M but one number two he's a fat fuck. He
Speaker 6: can't even survive the surgery. You're healthy and thin, you're
Speaker 6: giving the kidney. End of discussion, foot point.
Speaker 1: There's no way jefs give it. What if what do
Speaker 1: your kids needs your kiddy and you're not giving a
Speaker 1: kidney to Richard Lewis?
Speaker 4: He needs his kidney Number one and two he's a
Speaker 4: fat fuck. He can't survive the surgery.
Speaker 1: So that's that, and you're like, yeah with that face.
Speaker 3: I was really not till later, very upset that Larry
Speaker 3: pointed out to me that was the favorite thing that
Speaker 3: I do because I was never aware of it. For
Speaker 3: six seasons, I was never aware that I was doing that.
Speaker 3: And then Larry said to me one day, my favorite
Speaker 3: thing that you do in scenes is when and he
Speaker 3: imitated it. Yeah, and then every time after I did it,
Speaker 3: I was conscious.
Speaker 1: Oh, really interesting, And so think.
Speaker 3: About this six seven years. Had no idea I was
Speaker 3: doing it because I don't like being aware of what
Speaker 3: I'm doing unless.
Speaker 4: There's us on an unconscious level.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and then I say, you're healthy and thin, you're
Speaker 1: giving the kidd the end of discussion. Done discussion.
Speaker 3: But also the way Larry leaves that scene is really funny, Yeah,
Speaker 3: because he's like he's trying to get a change of
Speaker 3: mind from you in the most half assed way. And
Speaker 3: then he comes back and takes the quarterback from Bob. Yeah.
Speaker 1: So then he's home with Cheryl explaining to out goes
Speaker 1: why oh you, and Cheryl agrees, also, you're it, you're out.
Speaker 1: You have to give the kidney and He's like, if
Speaker 1: you're playing with two people, yes you're the winner. I'm out.
Speaker 1: He's in, and he's like, disparaging of Cheryl. I grew
Speaker 1: up with ene Meenie. You don't know Eenie meeni as
Speaker 1: well as I know Enie Meanie. And then he goes
Speaker 1: into a whole thing how it's unfair that he took
Speaker 1: care of himself all these years. He should have been
Speaker 1: smoking cigarettes and eating crap, et cetera, et cetera, preparing
Speaker 1: for this moment, for this moment. And Cheryl says, maybe
Speaker 1: this is why you were saved when you were drowning.
Speaker 1: And Larry's point is, if he wants to get so involved,
Speaker 1: meaning God, why does it just fix his kidney while
Speaker 1: he's sleeping, and why go through the whole drowning and
Speaker 1: the saving and you know, And Cheryl starts massaging his
Speaker 1: shoulders and he grabs her ass and wants to turn
Speaker 1: it into consolation sex. Yes, she's nuts and and and
Speaker 1: and Larry's like, sex is the ultimate form of consolation
Speaker 1: and she's not having it.
Speaker 3: The magic of being married, yes, as opposed to you
Speaker 3: both can't wait to touch each other. Yeah, well thanks,
Speaker 3: I think that calms down for a man, but it's
Speaker 3: pretty much eliminated for a woman. And I actually believe none.
Speaker 3: That's not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is it's
Speaker 3: eliminated unless there's a whimsy on the woman's part, like
Speaker 3: okay today, I want it. I'm gonna go get it.
Speaker 4: So you're saying women control the whole thing.
Speaker 3: All they most certainly do when you are in a relationship.
Speaker 3: I don't care who you are. I mean, there might
Speaker 3: obviously there's exceptions, but yeah, women control the whole sex festival. Sorry,
Speaker 3: they do it. I agree, Yeah, yeah, yeah, I agree,
Speaker 3: that's my point. Keep going.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And then the news comes on and the news says,
Speaker 1: Peter Hagen rob Jack in the Box and the victim
Speaker 1: of robbing the jack with is Louis Lewis and he's
Speaker 1: in a coma he's not expected to survive, and Larry
Speaker 1: jumps up for joy and that's the end. I love
Speaker 1: this episode again. It's it's a very simple but beautiful.
Speaker 3: But it's self contained. Has everything to do with the season, Yeah,
Speaker 3: a lot, because I told you Wandering Bear had nothing
Speaker 3: to do with anything else. One of my favorite episodes
Speaker 3: that's like in the middle of a season sort of
Speaker 3: like do it, you know, sticking out and you go, wow,
Speaker 3: that's a great episode. This one's equally, if not better.
Speaker 3: But yet, this one's.
Speaker 1: About a lot to do with the storyline that's coming up,
Speaker 1: because from here on in we're dealing a lot with
Speaker 1: Lewis's kidney.
Speaker 3: And by the way, I think this is the only
Speaker 3: freeze frame that ever ended the show. You know, like
Speaker 3: Hawaii the Naked Gun did jokes on the free freeze
Speaker 3: frame and everybody froze and the coffee poured over the cup,
Speaker 3: you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, but.
Speaker 3: That came from originally, if I'm not mistaken, because I
Speaker 3: have watched the first season Hawaii five zero, like they
Speaker 3: laugh freeze and it's always funny. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes,
Speaker 3: So a freeze frame ending is kind of like Colombo
Speaker 3: always did it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it was a very
Speaker 3: much seventies, sixties and seventies thing to do, so for
Speaker 3: us to do it, it's kind of funny.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 3: And also him in the air of freezing him in
Speaker 3: the air.
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, and that is Lewis needs a kidney.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Whether Lewis actually gets the kidney will be seen in
Speaker 1: future episodes.
Speaker 3: That's right, but you're leaning it towards the direction, but
Speaker 3: you're creating mystery.
Speaker 1: We'll be back.
Speaker 3: Whoever's listening to the show knows what he knows. We're
Speaker 3: not dealing with people who are listening to this.
Speaker 1: Anybody's listening to the show and just deciding for the
Speaker 1: first time to start to watch curb and go from
Speaker 1: the beginning. I have had many people tell me, by
Speaker 1: the way, and this is like in the Pandemic especially,
Speaker 1: many people tell me that that's what they did in
Speaker 1: the Pandemic. They went back to the first season and
Speaker 1: they watched straight through.
Speaker 3: This is why my argument is. And I love HBO
Speaker 3: and I wish we had more people had eyes on HBO.
Speaker 3: But this is why I'm saying, if we could be
Speaker 3: on Netflix, how it would change everything. Now I don't
Speaker 3: I told you I don't want to be more famous,
Speaker 3: but I love when the show's more successful. Yeah, that
Speaker 3: really throws me. And that's how people would discover it.
Speaker 1: The more people laughing, the better off it is. So
Speaker 1: we will see you next time, everybody.
Speaker 3: Yes, bye bye, thank you for listening.
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