Epigram
07.11.2011
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America’s finest: Curb Your Enthusiasm Matthew Rose continues our analysis of the best American TV has to offer with a look at Larry David’s unique comedy
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Larry David and Jeff Garlin share a joke over ‘The Freak Book’
completely oblivious to his effect on others. He’s someone who we can all, to an extent, associate with. Yet, there is also a beautiful naïvety to the character which creates an idiot-savant persona; Larry might say and do the things that are tactless, but he doesn’t really notice that he’s doing it. More a victim of circumstance than anything else, it his stubborn belief in his own set of principles and his refusal to bend to society’s will that either causes or aggravates his problems. The series also stars Jeff Garlin
as Larry’s manager Jeff Green, Susie Essman as Jeff’s wife Susie and previously starred Cheryl Hines as Larry’s wife Cheryl. Curb is entirely improvised around a script outline written by David, and the cast are all expert improvisers, taking the wonderfully implausible situations and just running with them. In particular, Essman’s portrayal of the foul-mouthed and terrifying Susie is a joy to watch. A perfect example of this comes in one of the best episodes of the series, ‘The Doll’, in which Larry and Jeff have ripped the head off Jeff’s
Larry suspects that he’s using his Parkinson’s disease to get away with acting like a jerk, was a bold creative risk that paid off in a funny and self-deprecating performance. Most of the seasons have arcs that tie each individual episode together. These have included Larry being cast as a lead role in The Producers, opening a restaurant and looking after a black family (called The Blacks, leading to the wonderful line ‘That’s like if my last name was Jew. Like Larry Jew’). These arcs help to give each season a focus and allow for multiepisodic jokes. In this way, it
is a series that rewards the careful viewer as seemingly minor plot developments in one episode may end up having major repercussions later down the line. In many aspects, it is structured as a typical farce in which the first half of an episode, and more broadly of a season, is focused on setting up the narrative elements that will come together in the latter half in various convoluted, yet ultimately hilarious, ways. I cannot recommend Curb Your Enthusiasm highly enough. Anyone with a love of comedy should add the box set to this year’s Christmas list.
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It is a widely held belief on this side of the pond that us Brits do comedy better than our American counterparts. However, one show more than any other defies that generalisation – Curb Your Enthusiasm. Curb (as it’s known to its fans) follows the exploits of Seinfeld creator Larry David, playing himself, as he bumbles through life leaving havoc in his wake. Curb’s success hinges on the superb performance of David as such a grotesque version of himself. Larry is a self-centred, socially inept man who is
daughter’s doll. Susie screams at them ‘You four eyed fuck and you fat piece of shit! Where’s the head?’ and it is a performance that is wonderful to behold. This episode is in fact a great example of another facet of the series that makes Curb so unique in American comedy – its willingness to push boundaries. In ‘The Doll’, Larry keeps being refused entry into a cinema with his bottle of water. With the men’s toilet out of order, Larry goes into the women’s to hide the bottle of water in his pants. At that moment the girl who’s doll Larry fixed runs in and gives him a hug before running out looking confused. The episode ends with the girl shouting ‘Mommy, Mommy, that bald man’s in the bathroom, and there’s something hard in his pants!’ Larry’s resulting look of horror is priceless. The sheer quality and popularity of Curb can be seen in the calibre of guest stars queuing up to appear on the show. These have included Dustin Hoffman, Martin Scorcese, Mel Brooks and most recently Ricky Gervais and Michael J. Fox. Fox’s recent appearance as himself, in which
David on typically exasperated form
Bristol comic Merchant stands up tall
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Stephen Merchant, globally known for his collaborations with Ricky Gervais, as cowriter and co-director of The Office and Extras, has recently decided to go it alone. His new stand-up tour of the UK, Hello Ladies, charts the 36-year-old’s failings with the opposite sex, and has been lauded by critics and audiences alike. This is his first solo comedy tour since he began as a stand-up in 1997, at the Bristol Comedy Box, and it has been well worth waiting for. With an Emmy, several BAFTAs and a Golden Globe adorning his mantlepiece, multimillionaire status and an established status in comedy circles, Merchant is not an obvious candidate for lady troubles. Yet the lanky comic proclaims ‘Life can be lonely as a TV writer so this tour is a great opportunity for me to get out there and meet my fans. And make at least one of them my wife.’ By focusing the show around his luckless lovelife, Merchant draws audience attention to potentially his most amusing asset – his appearance. We’re treated to giant footage of his quite astonishing sex-face and are made aware throughout of the trials and tribulations that
are faced by a man who stands at an awkward 6”7. The good thing about going on tour, apart from meeting ladies, he says, is that he doesn’t have to share the profits with ‘you know who’. He might not mention his comedy partner by name, but Gervais’s comic influence is evident in parts. For example, when lacking a prop baby for a spoof about teenage pregnancy, he nonchalantly produces one of his several Bafta awards, and uses that and his pronunciation of ‘mental’ is very Brent-esque. The Bristolian alternates easily between self-mockery – ‘not a lot of repeat business back at Chez Steve’ – and mock egotism, unmistakeably reminiscent of his writing buddy – ‘anyone here ever been to the Golden Globes?’ But this supposed arrogance is more attractive coming from Merchant than Gervais. With his disarmingly gentle West Country accent and geeky appearance, the lankier half of the duo comes across as more self-effacing and approachable. He may be less in the media spotlight but he is perhaps more well-liked by Office fanatics. If the show is an attempt to step out of Ricky Gervais’s shadow then it is a resounding
success. Gervais’ performance as David Brent has indeed cemented his place in British comedy history, but his excessive stand-up performances have left many critics disappointed, not to mention his bizarre decision to perform in the distinctly mediocre films Ghost Town and The Invention of Lying. Perhaps it is telling that the one film that Gervais has had success with, Cemetery Junction, was cowritten by his old goggle-eyed pal. Clearly Merchant is more than just a simple sidekick. The material won’t all be new to stand-up fans; Merchant has been building up to this tour for years, and we’ve heard some gags before. The show also confirms that Gareth in The Office is essentially a stunted version of his co-creator. ‘I really am mediocre [at standup],’ Stephen Merchant told Radio 4 last year. In fact, he’s just mediocre at selfpromotion. It would appear that he couldn’t have been more wrong. Hello Ladies brings an end to Merchant’s perennial sidekick status and marks him out as a great comedian in his own right. At last it would appear that he is getting the personal praise and attention that he deserves. Hugh Davies