Friday, September 14, 2007
Jeff Garlin, "Curb Your Enthusiasm" actor: Mr. Media Interview, Pt. 1
Today is a great day to be Jeff Garlin. And for him, tomorrow will probably be an even better day.
The sixth season of the hugely popular and hysterically funny HBO series “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” starring Larry David and co-starring Garlin, is now underway.
But even better, I suspect, for Garlin is that his first movie as writer, director, and star, I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With, opened on September 5.
The New York Times greeted Garlin’s Cheese this way: laid back and affectionate, Cheese is the movie version of a dear friend you could spend all day with.
Not bad for a guy from Chicago.
BOB ANDELMAN/Mr. MEDIA: Jeff, there’s a moment in one of the season’s new episodes where you confess to a -- I gotta get right to this -- to a moment of intimacy with a blanket in Larry’s house during Passover.
GARLIN: Oh, you saw that one?
ANDELMAN: Yes, I did. And I want to ask you the new rules of Judaism that you set forth there and will probably go over big with America’s rabbis, don’t you think?
GARLIN: Oh, I think they’re all gonna participate.
ANDELMAN: But it did kind of bring to mind, are there or have there been any lines that can’t be crossed on a show like this?
GARLIN: There’s a line. If it’s not funny, that’s the line that can’t be crossed.
ANDELMAN: Fair enough.
GARLIN: If it’s funny then it’s fine.
GARLIN: One of them. We certainly did get a lot of feedback from the Orthodox episode. Yeah, so, the big vagina episode as they say.
ANDELMAN: You and Larry go back many years as stand-up comics. I wondered, though, of all the guys who could’ve been Larry’s foil on the show, how did your involvement in Curb come about?
GARLIN: Well, I approached him about it. We were having lunch, and I told him an idea that I had for an HBO special which ended up being “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” So I approached him. I wasn’t gonna be in it. He insisted I play his manager, and he insisted that I be an executive producer with him. I hadn’t planned on that.
ANDELMAN: Wow. Executive producer seems to be the least of what you should get out of that idea.
GARLIN: Yeah, yeah. Well, it’s pretty exciting.
ANDELMAN: Worked out pretty well. How are you able to mix friendship and business so well?
GARLIN: When you’re working with comedians, when we work together, that line is always crossed. With comedians, there is no sort of business/friendship thing. If you’re friendly, you got a chance. But it’s much better to work with friends to be honest with you. I enjoy it.
ANDELMAN: Now when you had the idea for the show, was the idea of the agent part of the original idea?
GARLIN: No, no. I assumed there probably would’ve been an agent or something like that. It was all part of the gist. The idea was to see the behind-the-scenes life of a comedian during the making of an HBO special.
ANDELMAN: And that was the special that essentially wound up as the pilot for the series.
GARLIN: Yes.
GARLIN: From the get-go. From the get-go. When we were developing it, it was clear that this was going to be something integral to the show. But we had no idea it was gonna become a TV series.
ANDELMAN: Right.
GARLIN: So that caught me by surprise, too.
ANDELMAN: Were either of you hesitant to commit to a series like that when that came up?
GARLIN: Not hesitant at all. As a matter of fact, when we were filming the first hour pilot thing, we were saying how much fun it would be if we could ever do this as a series, not thinking that that was even a possibility or gonna happen. I know HBO was after Larry to do a series, and it worked out well.
ANDELMAN: Last year, a lot of people seemed to think, and I don’t know that there was any great announcement, but a lot of people seemed to think that that was the last season of the show. Here you are back this year.
GARLIN: That was supposed to be the last season of the show, yes. I knew there was a very small chance we’d do another one, and Larry called me up and asked me, and I said, “Yeah, I’ll do another one.”
ANDELMAN: What was the reason for ending it at the time?
GARLIN: We’ve been doing it a long time. You kind of don’t want to repeat yourself. I would say the single biggest reason for “Curb” ’s success is it’s not beholden to money. We’re all professionals who want to get paid, but Larry David is so rich that he doesn’t have to keep doing the show to earn a living or pay off his lifestyle. So the only reason we continue it is out of pride in terms of, if he has a great idea, then we keep going.
ANDELMAN: You’re an executive producer. Can you say whether this show will continue past this season?
GARLIN: I don’t think it will, but there’s a chance. Who knows. When we talked about it before, he wasn’t getting divorced. So I don’t know how that’ll change things.
ANDELMAN: So maybe he’ll have more free time.
GARLIN: That’s exactly what I was thinking, but I still think it’s probably gonna be our last.
ANDELMAN: Okay. You do think it will be the last.
GARLIN: I do think it’ll be the last, yes.
ANDELMAN: Could you and Larry ever take this dynamic that we see on TV, could you ever take that on the road for a stand-up tour?
GARLIN: Well, I am doing a tour with Susie Essman who plays my wife.
ANDELMAN: Really?
GARLIN: Yeah. I’m going on the road with her and Richard Lewis. So yes is the answer, but it will not be with Larry.
ANDELMAN: When does that tour start?
GARLIN: Our first gig, I think, is September 25. We’re playing Foxwoods Resort and Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut.
Click Here to Keep Reading!
©2007 by Bob Andelman. All rights reserved.
Today is a great day to be Jeff Garlin. And for him, tomorrow will probably be an even better day.
The sixth season of the hugely popular and hysterically funny HBO series “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” starring Larry David and co-starring Garlin, is now underway.
But even better, I suspect, for Garlin is that his first movie as writer, director, and star, I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With, opened on September 5.
The New York Times greeted Garlin’s Cheese this way: laid back and affectionate, Cheese is the movie version of a dear friend you could spend all day with.
Not bad for a guy from Chicago.
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BOB ANDELMAN/Mr. MEDIA: Jeff, there’s a moment in one of the season’s new episodes where you confess to a -- I gotta get right to this -- to a moment of intimacy with a blanket in Larry’s house during Passover.
GARLIN: Oh, you saw that one?
ANDELMAN: Yes, I did. And I want to ask you the new rules of Judaism that you set forth there and will probably go over big with America’s rabbis, don’t you think?
GARLIN: Oh, I think they’re all gonna participate.
ANDELMAN: But it did kind of bring to mind, are there or have there been any lines that can’t be crossed on a show like this?
GARLIN: There’s a line. If it’s not funny, that’s the line that can’t be crossed.
ANDELMAN: Fair enough.
GARLIN: If it’s funny then it’s fine.
GARLIN: One of them. We certainly did get a lot of feedback from the Orthodox episode. Yeah, so, the big vagina episode as they say.
ANDELMAN: You and Larry go back many years as stand-up comics. I wondered, though, of all the guys who could’ve been Larry’s foil on the show, how did your involvement in Curb come about?
GARLIN: Well, I approached him about it. We were having lunch, and I told him an idea that I had for an HBO special which ended up being “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” So I approached him. I wasn’t gonna be in it. He insisted I play his manager, and he insisted that I be an executive producer with him. I hadn’t planned on that.
ANDELMAN: Wow. Executive producer seems to be the least of what you should get out of that idea.
GARLIN: Yeah, yeah. Well, it’s pretty exciting.
ANDELMAN: Worked out pretty well. How are you able to mix friendship and business so well?
GARLIN: When you’re working with comedians, when we work together, that line is always crossed. With comedians, there is no sort of business/friendship thing. If you’re friendly, you got a chance. But it’s much better to work with friends to be honest with you. I enjoy it.
ANDELMAN: Now when you had the idea for the show, was the idea of the agent part of the original idea?
GARLIN: No, no. I assumed there probably would’ve been an agent or something like that. It was all part of the gist. The idea was to see the behind-the-scenes life of a comedian during the making of an HBO special.
ANDELMAN: And that was the special that essentially wound up as the pilot for the series.
GARLIN: Yes.
GARLIN: From the get-go. From the get-go. When we were developing it, it was clear that this was going to be something integral to the show. But we had no idea it was gonna become a TV series.
ANDELMAN: Right.
GARLIN: So that caught me by surprise, too.
ANDELMAN: Were either of you hesitant to commit to a series like that when that came up?
GARLIN: Not hesitant at all. As a matter of fact, when we were filming the first hour pilot thing, we were saying how much fun it would be if we could ever do this as a series, not thinking that that was even a possibility or gonna happen. I know HBO was after Larry to do a series, and it worked out well.
ANDELMAN: Last year, a lot of people seemed to think, and I don’t know that there was any great announcement, but a lot of people seemed to think that that was the last season of the show. Here you are back this year.
GARLIN: That was supposed to be the last season of the show, yes. I knew there was a very small chance we’d do another one, and Larry called me up and asked me, and I said, “Yeah, I’ll do another one.”
ANDELMAN: What was the reason for ending it at the time?
GARLIN: We’ve been doing it a long time. You kind of don’t want to repeat yourself. I would say the single biggest reason for “Curb” ’s success is it’s not beholden to money. We’re all professionals who want to get paid, but Larry David is so rich that he doesn’t have to keep doing the show to earn a living or pay off his lifestyle. So the only reason we continue it is out of pride in terms of, if he has a great idea, then we keep going.
ANDELMAN: You’re an executive producer. Can you say whether this show will continue past this season?
GARLIN: I don’t think it will, but there’s a chance. Who knows. When we talked about it before, he wasn’t getting divorced. So I don’t know how that’ll change things.
ANDELMAN: So maybe he’ll have more free time.
GARLIN: That’s exactly what I was thinking, but I still think it’s probably gonna be our last.
ANDELMAN: Okay. You do think it will be the last.
GARLIN: I do think it’ll be the last, yes.
ANDELMAN: Could you and Larry ever take this dynamic that we see on TV, could you ever take that on the road for a stand-up tour?
GARLIN: Well, I am doing a tour with Susie Essman who plays my wife.
ANDELMAN: Really?
GARLIN: Yeah. I’m going on the road with her and Richard Lewis. So yes is the answer, but it will not be with Larry.
ANDELMAN: When does that tour start?
GARLIN: Our first gig, I think, is September 25. We’re playing Foxwoods Resort and Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut.
Click Here to Keep Reading!
©2007 by Bob Andelman. All rights reserved.
Labels: Curb Your Enthusiasm, Foxwoods Casino, Gina Gershon, I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With, Jeff Garlin, Judaism, Larry David, masturbation, rabbi, Richard Lewis, Sarah Silverman, Susie Essman
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