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Why I Love...Curb Your Enthusiasm

Larry David in Curb Your Enthusiasm
  • Posted at 4:35pm
  • 13 October 2009
  • by TomCole-RT
  • 4 comments

Picture this: you're at a Jewish dinner party toasting a couple renewing their wedding vows when suddenly an argument breaks out between two of the guests, one of whom is a decrepit octogenarian with a glass eye and the other a chiselled Californian-looking young man who's been droning on about himself for most of the meal.

The older gentleman, it turns out, is one of the lucky few to have escaped from Auschwitz with his life, while the younger fellow was a contestant on the reality TV series Survivor. For some inexplicable reason, the elder chap doesn't think much of the young 'un's credentials as a "survivor", at least compared to his own. Don't know why - I mean, crikey, the young guy couldn't even find a gym while he was on location. Talk about hardship.

Anyway, imagine that this exchange, which goes on for some considerable time and escalates into a full-on shouting match, becomes so animated that the old gent accidentally knocks over a gravy boat, showering the host in lumpy Bisto and bringing what had been an enjoyable dinner to a premature end.

Oh, and I forgot to mention: the young fellow is the guest of a visiting rabbi, while the old chap is a friend of the host's father. That's right. Gosh, wouldn't Ricky Gervais give his right arm to depict social awkwardness of this calibre?

This was the first scene of Curb Your Enthusiasm I ever saw and I still remember watching it with my hand over my mouth in shock as my body convulsed with laughter. I was amazed that a writer could be brave enough to make a joke about a Holocaust survivor and still craft that joke to be intelligent enough to err just on the right side of good taste.

In a recent interview creator and star Larry David had this to say about his thinking behind the comedy targets on Curb: "I don't think there are any sacred cows… Usually, the more sacred the cow the more funny it is, if you get the right angle for it. It's taking a high dive."

This, to my mind, is the real appeal of Curb. Sure, the documentary-style camerawork and semi-improvised performances are innovative methods of carving out an identity for the show, but it's Larry David's willingness to take risks in his writing that makes the series truly memorable. Nothing is off limits and nothing escapes his notice. For instance, in season seven we're promised Larry's take on how to go about breaking up with a terminally ill partner, of all things…

Rude, crass, un-PC and occasionally shocking as it is, the near-the-knuckle writing on Curb Your Enthusiasm is anarchic satire at its best, and if you've ever thought that the big things in life needn't be taken too seriously, or you've wanted to tear up the book of society's unwritten rules, you'll love the show as much as I do.

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Comments

  • Posted on 19 November 2009
  • at 4:25pm
  • by Jazzavic

Two women in wheelechairs are chasing Larry around this big house, he runs up the stairs, Rosie Barr comes running round the corner and up the stairs shouting "I'll take over from here girls." The look on Larry's face, I could not stop giggling for hours. Priceless.

  • Posted on 15 October 2009
  • at 6:28pm
  • by GN

I've been lucky enough to see the first four episodes of the 7th Series and the first two are some of the funniest ever with true laugh out loud moments. Strangely, the Sienfeld reunion episode (3rd) doesn't live up to the brilliance of the first two.

  • Posted on 15 October 2009
  • at 9:39am
  • by Jake Street

very funny show, very well written too.

  • Posted on 14 October 2009
  • at 5:44pm
  • by Phil

This show is brilliant and I'm so glad that it is back.

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