The freewheeling madness of Curb Your Enthusiasm
When I worked in Times Square, I met a ton of celebrities. I'm not saying that to brag, but to frame my ambivalence towards the concept of fame. Running into Kylie Jenner outside of a bar didn't rouse an iota of interest in my gray matter or spirit. Fame, on its own, doesn't really move me. Meeting someone famous that I admire, on the other hand, causes me to fangirl worse than a prepubescent member of the BTS army. When I met WWE superstar Kevin Owens- who is essentially just a pudgy guy with a beard – my skeletal structure became comparable to freshly melted plastic. I was too star-struck to speak.
I gave that lengthy preamble to explain why my interaction with Larry David is my favorite celebrity story of all time. I spotted Larry in the wild, escorting his daughter to a Broadway show mere feet away from where I was standing. After momentarily blacking out from being star-struck, I mustered the courage to approach him. Treading carefully, as not to alert the general public that a celebrity was in their midsts, I quietly cajoled my knees into reverting to back their solid-state as I shambled towards one of my comedic heroes. "Mr. David," I said, "I just have to let you know that I'm a massive fan of your work."
Larry smiled and said, "Thank you, that means a lot." With my compliment garnering a favorable reception, I decided to go for broke. "No one will believe I saw you," I said, "can I get a picture?"
Larry paused for a minute as he assessed my question. He cast a gaze up and down my frame as if he was judging an apple for bruises. "Eh- -nah," he said, "I think I'm good." The fact that his reaction was 100 percent congruent with his character on Curb Your Enthusiasm made my day more than any picture ever could.
How does Curb Your Enthusiasm work without a script? It's because the Larry you see on the screen is the same guy in real life. The genius of Curb comes from David hiring gifted comedic talents and allowing their natural reactions to power the show's brilliant situational setups. In the video linked above, the YouTube channel Nerdstalgic explains Curb's unique approach to improv.
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Devin Nealy, Khareem Sudlow
