Larry David reveals the secrets of his comedy career: “I’m just an idiot”
Few people have had the same impact on the face of modern American comedy than Larry David. From his work co-creating and writing the revolutionary sitcom Seinfeld in the 1990s to the long-running HBO series Curb Your Enthusiasm, the comedian has been eliciting belly laughs from audiences for decades. Despite his infallible impact on comedy, though, David seems rather unbothered by it all.
Of course, this nonchalant attitude is in keeping with his public persona, often shown off within the plotlines of Curb Your Enthusiasm – which may as well be a documentary, as far as David is concerned. Recently, as the grand finale of the long-running series loomed, David appeared for an audience in New York, looking back on his legacy and the previous three decades of television that are loved by so many.
In an event organised by the Tribeca Festival, David fielded questions from audience members as well as host Ari Melber. Soon, it became apparent that the comedian does not attach nearly as much importance to his work as other people do.
As audience members quizzed David on the intricacies of his craft and the theories behind comedy, he succinctly retorted, “I don’t put any thought into that whatsoever. Zero. I just try to write funny shows. That’s all it is. I’ve never analysed it,” per Variety.
Valiantly, fans continued in their quest to peek behind the curtain of how David’s brain operates. The host of the evening, for instance, began to draw parallels between Curb Your Enthusiasm and some more established, respected works in the history of comedy. Unphased, David dismissed these theories, insisting, “I’m not an intellectual, I’m just an idiot from Brooklyn.”
Much like his character in the sitcom, David proved to be contrarian to an almost needless extent. While working on Seinfeld, he was noted for ignoring the network’s suggestions about the writing of the show, which audience members praised him for during this event. However, the comedian was quick to counter, saying, “It wasn’t heroic; I just didn’t care.”
The series finale of Curb Your Enthusiasm is set to premiere today, Sunday, April 7th, on HBO and will be available to stream on HBO Max.
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