Tonight, we bring you an hour of those conversations. Look at this. Larry david above the title. What would your mother think now . Larry she would be doing cartwheels. She would not be able to contain herself. Charlie her son on broadway. It would be a little too much. Charlie could not have imagined this. Larry no, never. Charlie and you . What does it mean for you . Larry you know, i dont look at this and do cartwheels. It could be somebody elses name almost. Charlie it is part of the process. Larry yes, part of it. Charlie the opening scene is a man dying. Yet, you larry david the writer, chose that as the opening set piece. For comedy. Explain what is funny . Larry it is dark. It is things you would normally not be able to joke about. So, on some level, that works. Charlie because that is what you have done finding that some level dark, some level unattractive, some level revealing and make it funny. Why is it funny for the audience because they see it in themselves or what . Larry that is part of it. And because it is something that they are not used to seeing jokes about. It is surprising. To be irreverent in a situation like that surprises them and i think they like that because they have the same thoughts, but they werent expressed. Charlie that idea has been very good to you, hasnt it . The idea that people see it and they see thoughts they are not able to express. They recognize it and the recognition is part of the comedy. Larry yes, yes, that is exactly right. It is good to me and a lot of other comedians. And writers or whatever. That is what comedy is. Charlie do you know why you wanted to be a comedian . Larry yeah, because i had there was nothing else in the world i could possibly do. There was nothing else i could do. Yeah, i had nothing and it seemed like i was funny, so why not try and use this particular skill that i had to make a living . Because there was nothing else i could do. Charlie larry david grew up in brooklyn, new york. He lived in an apartment complex surrounded by his extended family. Larry this was my apartment. This is where i grew up. This is where my aunt and uncle and cousins grew up. My friends on the second floor. Charlie you grew up among larry i was up and down the stairs all the time. Charlie galinsky. [doorbell rings] hello. Look there. Larry hello. Hello. Larry surprise, surprise. We had a piano over here. It looks even smaller than i remembered it. Charlie you must be mrs. Galinsky. Hello. Im charlie rose. You must know this man. Hello. Charlie you know, he lived here. Larry look at our kitchen. Look at the size of our kitchen. Charlie you had your own room. Larry yes, this was my room right here. I shared it with my brother. Yeah, there were beds here and here. This is my room. And charlie older or younger . Larry older. Charlie you shared a bedroom. Larry this is the master bedroom. My parents room. Charlie this is the bathroom. Larry this was, by the way, this was a three bedroom. So this was luxurious. This was a den. This is where the tv was. My father used to sit here on the chair and watch the untouchables. This is the couch. Yeah. Charlie great. But you knew most of the people in this building . Larry you knew everybody in the building. Charlie they all knew you and everybody knew what everybodys business was . Larry absolutely. You could recite every apartment. You knew who lived in every single apartment. We were the first ones in the building, so for 10 years, there was not much turnover. You knew who lived in every apartment. Charlie your grandmother would come down larry yeah, my grandmother upstairs. Charlie would you eat together . Larry yeah, we would except for my father who came home to late from work to eat with him. Charlie he was a clothing manufacturer . Larry a salesman. Charlie it seems like this is a good thing. Family, you know, everybody took care of each other. Larry it was good. I remember trying to touch the ceiling to jump and touch it. I was this high. Eventually, i got to be able to touch it. Charlie to dunk it. Larry yeah, dunk it. We used to they had a basket that went over the door of the room. And, we play with a big sock. You were never bored as a kid. There was no such thing. We played so many games that we invented. I can take you around the neighborhood. Charlie oh, really . Larry we played with our arms and a ball. Charlie let me ask you this family is everything. You are walking back here for the first time ever. Larry yeah. Charlie emotions . Larry not much. Nothing. [laughter] no, nothing whatsoever. Charlie thats what i thought. You dont care. Larry no, not doing anything for me. Charlie a loving mother grew up with you and raise you along with your father. Give you the confidence to go out and be what you are. Larry oh, sure. Charlie it does not touch you . What kind of part do you have . Larry i am completely devoid of any emotions whatsoever. Charlie this is that side of u. S. This moment. That side of you at this moment. This is not the side of loving times. Larry that my friends describe. Charlie they said i was going to be surprised and meet a guy that is lovely. He comes to where he grew up, became a young adult and nothing. Larry absolutely nothing. [laughter] charlie i mean memories are everything. Larry you would think i would be flooded by this wave of emotions coming back to my old apartment. Charlie this is where it began larry surprisingly unmoved. Charlie a place full of warmth to a cold mansion in l. A. Larry thats true. When can i go home . When can i go back to that cold mansion that you described . Charlie how did this growing up here, your parents were here, brothers in the same room. Your uncle and aunt next door, grandmother above. How much of that did you, and have you dig into that as standup, seinfeld, curb your enthusiasm . Larry i wish i could answer that question. I know you are serious. Charlie you cannot make that connection . Larry things stay they have an impression on you and it stays with you and you are just able to tap into it. Charlie it is almost a Creative Process you cannot larry exactly. It was all shaped here, whatever it is. Charlie that is as much as you know about how it works. S. Larry yeah. But, at the same time charlie the child is the father of the man, they said. Larry im sure is the same for everyone. You are born the way you are, but if i had grown up with mr. And mrs. Anderson in iowa, what i be the same . Charlie it is a combination. Genetics and the other part is nurture. Larry im not really smart enough to talk about that. Charlie it is a connection, the Creative Process. You know it is there. Larry this place where i am standing now, yes, it shaped everything. Yeah. Charlie in part, it gives you confidence. Larry where does the word confidence why is that word being mentioned to me . Charlie it is not a word you are familiar with . Larry not in the slightest. I cannot even believe it came out of your mouth. Gave me confidence . Gave me confidence . When . Where was the confidence . Where is confidence . The confidence you found found . Charlie confidence you found and it came and said i want you larry i didnt have confidence. It does not mean i was confident that i was going to be any good. Charlie when did you know you are going to be good . Larry i dont. I dont. Whats wrong with you . Charlie his confidence and his sense of humor emerged after leaving brooklyn. Charlie you have said on stage happy childhood, happy childhood. Miserable adult, but happy childhood. Mainly because of home . Larry i dont remember being unhappy. I dont remember bounds of depression or anything. I think, yeah, everything up until like college was great. Everything up until maryland. Everything up until i graduated was great. Charlie how did you fit in at maryland . Larry it was a completely different experience than high school. Charlie in what way . Larry i fit in. I fit in. Charlie why . Larry i made friends, i was popular, i was funny. It just worked, it worked. Charlie but why . Larry i dont know. Something came out. My sense of humor came out. Once i got away from brooklyn, my sense of humor came out. I sort of discovered who i was. Charlie and you can make people laugh. Larry yes. Charlie after college, larry david tried his hand at stand up comedy but success to not come quickly. You have been described as a comics comic. Larry well, i think to a large part, they like to come in the back of the room because very often i would not do well. I would not do well, no. Charlie the man who created seinfeld. The man who created curb your enthusiasm didnt think he would do well. Larry i didnt do well very often. Charlie why . Larry because i did not relate well to the audience. I did not if they like to me, i love them. If they didnt, i had great contempt. When you do stand up, there are requirements. You have go on stage and say how are you doing . How are you . I couldnt do it. Charlie it is even said that sometimes he would take a look at the audience and not the one. Not go on. You made a judgment about them before you even gave them a chance to laugh. Larry i did that once. I was watching the previous comedian in the back of the room. There was something about him that i didnt like. When they introduced me, i got on stage and i looked them over and said i dont think so and i left. Charlie didnt you worry your reputation would be going down . Didnt you worry that the word would go out that larry would not show up . Larry no, no. The club owner seemed to like me. Charlie they thought you were a comics comic. Larry they put up with me. Charlie there is nothing, nothing that i can imagine more difficult than people saying to you to make me laugh. Larry it was tough. I think if i did it now, it would be a lot easier. Charlie they would know who you are and you have a persona right now. Then, you really larry then i was trying to act like they were my friends. I was trying to be who i was with my friends, so i would go up and that is what i was trying to do but they were not my friends. Charlie you also found out you were better at improvisation. Larry i did take an improv class and i remember in the class, that day i did very well. I felt great doing it. I could interject. I didnt have to wait for somebody to keep talking. I could make up the lines as i was going along. It was not a script. I remember every comment i have gotten since i was five. I remember one of the women came up to me that kind of stayed with me. Years later, when i got the idea for curb. Charlie did you have to muster the courage to go up or did you take the audience as you found them doing standup . Larry yeah, i once had this dream where there was a war going on in my house. I was upstairs sleeping and i heard the sound of cannons and gunfire downstairs in the living room, ok . In my dream, i wake up and say what the hell is going on . I go downstairs and there is like a war. People in army uniforms. There are different sides and i went behind the couch. All of a sudden, there is a little stage area with a microphone in the living room. This big house that i lived in it was not my real house, but this dream house. Through the fire and the gunfire going over my head, a guy comes up to me, one of the soldiers points a gun at my head and says get up and do a set. [laughter] i said what . Or ill blow your brains out. Do a set . There is a war going on . I cant. I go through the gunfire, get up and i take the microphone charlie this was your nightmare . Larry that was my nightmare. Charlie a hell of a way to earn a living. Meanwhile, your friends were doing ok. Larry my friends were doing well, yeah. Charlie why are they doing well and you are not . Larry they have got it figured out. They know how to do it. Charlie or you havent found your own . Larry i think a combination of both. Charlie seinfeld was killing them. Larry it was doing great. Charlie did you ever say to yourself that you were not going to make it . This is what i ought to be doing and im not making it . Larry all the time. I used to walk around looking for spots charlie no, you didnt. Larry i did. In the event that i became homeless, where would i stay . I found this great spot in the 40s. There was heat blowing out of it and i said yeah, thats for me. Charlie i will always have a home because i discovered this place. Larry exactly. Charlie you would not even go on latenight talk shows. Larry didnt get invited. One time when i was at the improv, coordinator of the tonight show came up to me. I didnt say i would like to go on the show. He came up to me unsolicited and said johnny would not like you. Thanks. [laughter] maybe i dont like johnny. Charlie your wife was once the coordinator for letterman . Larry yeah, my future wife at the time. Charlie and could not get you one. David said . No. Larry somebody said. [laughter] charlie she said you are not right for my show. So, there were a bunch of people sitting around talking about you and they said that if someone had told them that you would be as successful as you are, people would say you were crazy, you are crazy to think larry david is going to think this huge star. To be this huge star. With seinfeld and curb to his credit. Larry i could see that. I could see how they could think somebody would be crazy, but you know, charlie nobody believed you would be as good as you are then, did they . Larry well, i did have i dont want to say that i never did well. When i did do well, you know, it was enough to keep me going. Enough to make me think i had something to offer. Jerry and i always had a really good comedy repoire. Rapport. We used to write together sometimes. I would tell him my stories. Would share information and help each other. When he got the offer from nbc, he approached me. It was just that, really. Charlie you had written for him before. Larry i had not written for him. Charlie you talk about routines. Larry yeah. And, laurie, my exwife like to think the whole seinfeld thing she was responsible for because a comedian friend of ours, it was her birthday and for a present for her, i wrote standup material for her birthday present. She was having a party and at the party, she said she did not want to read the material so jerry read it. Jerry got a great laugh. Laurie insists oh, well, if not for that laurie is the one that made jerry read it. Charlie and got a great response. Larry it wasnt much of an idea if you examine it. It was about nothing, seriously. He came up to me and mentioned that nbc wanted to do a special with him. We were both living on the west side. We were going to share a cab back. We went into the Grocery Store before to get some stuff and we started just talking about the products, things in the grocery as we were prone to do. As we were talking, this is the show, this is what it should be. This is the kind of dialogue we should be hearing. Charlie why did you create a character, george, who was a reflection of you rather than you playing the role . Larry it never that was never even on the table. It was never, i never said i would like to be in it. I did not want to be in it. I was not interested in acting, really. I didnt want to do that. Charlie even though it had an improvisation to it . Larry not really, it was scripted. Charlie written by you. Larry there was no way i could have been executive producer of the show and also been in it at the same time. That would have been impossible. Way too much work to do that. Charlie the most successful show demands a good executive producer and a good star. Larry you dont have to put on your time and attention. Charlie did it change you . Larry i mean, it gave me money. Charlie lots of money. Confidence larry it gave me something that i did not have, but not in the way that people think that it is a total transformation. I still, you know, to this day i could not walk up to what woman in the bar and say hello. I dont have that. Charlie yes, you do. Larry oh, no. I dont. Charlie, dont argue with me on this one, baby. [laughter] charlie come on, all you have to do is go up to the bar and say hi, im larry david. Larry really . First of all, i know she would go who are you . So what . Charlie you know better. Larry i would never do that. Because you are afraid of being turned down . Of course. Are you kidding . Charlie are you serious . Today . With all the success . One of your friends said to me, just think about it. He created seinfeld, executive producer. Curb your enthusiasm. He is going to broadway. This is a man who has done something remarkable. Creating three big productions. Larry well, you are who you are from the time he was born and i dont think that changes. It never did for me. I know, externally charlie it give you the confidence to get engaged after larry yeah. Its not like i never had a date. [laughter] im not some hermit. I have dates. But, yeah, it gave me the confidence at least to ask. Charlie she said yes. Larry im making a living, it is something you can consider. Charlie how did larry david growing up in brooklyn become larry david executive producer . What was it that enabled you to take that huge leap forward and become what you are today . Larry well, certainly, you know, if jerry had not approached me that night, there is no way i am sitting here, thats for sure. That started the whole thing, that show. So, in terms of the writing aspect of it, i had no writing experience and i think that turned out to be a good thing. I didnt know how things were done in television. I was just kind of guessing. And, somehow, it came out and it was good and acceptable. But, i think the idea that we didnt do that show the way shows are done. There is a lot of writers in a room all throwing jokes in and working on a script at one time that is not how it was done at all. It was done basically after a writer would hand in a script the first couple of years, there were a few writers. Mostly, all the rewriting was done by me and jerry. Charlie do you have a unique perspective on life that somehow is funny . Larry well, i hope. I better. Charlie that is what happened. You have the capacity that somehow and the world caught up with you to look at life with a certain edge. I must. I suppose i do. I couldnt articulate it. Charlie you dont know what it is . Has anybody ever tried to explain it . What do they say . Larry one article i read said i take i make i blow up the small things and reduce it to big things. There is some truth to that. I dont know. Charlie it is probably better you dont know. Larry probably. Charlie who made the decision to end it . Larry i left two years before it was over and jerry went on for the last two years. And he decided that he was working so hard. Larry it would have been nine years for him, seven years for charlie was it hard to leave . Larry i think i was ready. After you do those shows for a while, the bar is so high that it is almost intimidating to think how am i going to do another 22 shows . It seems impossible. I would go through that same thing every year and then finally i thought charlie that is what the guys from monty python told me. They didnt think they could be that good every year, be that funny. Running against yourself. Larry you are in competition against your previous season. Charlie what did you think you were going to do after you left seinfeld . Larry i thought i would do some stand up. Charlie what was the state of mind at that time . Larry leaving seinfeld . When the show premiered in september, i remember thinking you idiot. What have you done . Oh my god. All your friends are there, all the fun is there. What did you do . I was upset, yeah. I thought i really made terrible mistake. Charlie i have no pride in this question, but were you happy . [laughter] would you look at larry and say, im all right . Larry i dont think like that. But, i do have a much better disposition than people expect. Charlie meaning what . Larry generally, my mood is pretty good. Before i did seinfeld, i was very bleak. I would wake up in the morning and my first thought was oh, no. Charlie another day. Larry but, once seinfeld started, all those thoughts were done. Charlie seinfeld did what for you . It gave you larry it gave me a reason to i dont know. If focused me on something. Charlie success can give you confidence. Larry i guess. Yeah. I dont know. When you are working hard, focused, you just do it. You dont really think about it. Im a much happier person than people expect. That is what you think . Larry im in a good mood generally. [laughter] im much happier postseinfeld. There is no comparison. Charlie is it in part because of success . People said they did it well, this is the greatest sitcom in the history of television. You created, along with jerry, the greatest sitcom in the history of television, that is what they said. That gives you confidence. [laughter] that gives you something to call home about. Larry not the way you would think it does. Charlie what way . Larry well, you dont have to worry about money anymore. So, that terrible problem is gone. That is a huge deal. That is huge. Once that is gone, you dont really have any right given what your lifestyle is, you have no right to complain. You cannot complain. You have too much, there are too many people who have nothing. I used to have nothing. I was able to complain, ok . I was able to be dark and bleak and complain, but once i started making money on that show, all reasons to complain were out the window. I had my health. I had money. Could not complain, could not justify it, no way. I could complain to myself, but never to another person. Charlie tell me about the creation of curb your enthusiasm. Larry so now i finished seinfeld. Charlie you had a lot of money but not as much as they say. [laughter] larry right. I was thinking about going back to do stand up. I had not done it in 10 years. Jeff garland who plays jeff green on the show, the funniest guy, he had an Office Next Door to me and said what am i going to do . I set was thinking about going back to stand up. He said you should film it, film the process of going back after a tenyear absence of doing standup. He said he would direct it. I didnt want to do that. I dont want the camera following me around. I spoke to my exwife about it. Then, i started to think about it and i thought if they filmed the stuff on stage, that would be fine. It is the stuff that would be off the stage that i would have a problem with because it seemed really boring. What are they going to do i will go to the dry cleaner and they will film me . It seemed boring and i did not like the idea. Then i thought suppose i made up some stuff. Suppose i created a fictional kind of world where i was married and i had a manager and jeff could play the manager. I will create some funny situation that we could film as if it was real. I said to jeff, you dont direct it, you play my manager. I will write it. I wrote this outline. Charlie mainly improvisation. Larry if it is supposed to be a documentary, it cannot be scripted because it would not seem like it was spontaneous. Charlie this is the way larry david on curb your enthusiasm has been described as politically incorrect, unfiltered. Larry i love that. Charlie why do you love that . Larry that is what a comedian is supposed to be. Charlie the main thing a comedian should be is authentic. Larry and funny. Charlie i ask you about seinfeld, but why is this connected . Because people somehow deep inside of them, including you, would like to be that character. Would like to be unfiltered, would like to see what is on their minds with no consequences. Would like to have no social restraints. Larry that is exactly right because we have to behave a certain way in society and if you dont, we cannot get along. Social intercourse is filled with so many lies and deceit. It is also deceitful that everybody has all these thoughts. Charlie would we be a better world if everybody expressed these thoughts . Larry i dont think so. [laughter] it is a good thing. Charlie it is a good chance for us to see it. And sort of fantasize we could be like that. Larry every social encounter has anxiety and all kinds of things that are lurking behind it. It is all subjects. Everybody has thoughts they are not expressing about the other person or other things in general. With this show, i was able to express every thought i had. Charlie about everything. Larry yeah. Charlie about making love with a palestinian woman. Larry yeah. [laughter] charlie where did that come from . Larry i just thought i was the kind of guy who didnt care what the womans beliefs were. I could have sex with an antisemite. What do i care . So what . If an attractive antisemite won its websites with me, i would do wanted to have sex with me. I dont care. Charlie what would she say while making love . She could occupy me. Larry she made all that stuff up. That is the thing about this improvisation. I cannot write better than but the actors can come up with. She came up with all that stuff. All the actors did. Charlie who came up with the idea of taking a holocaust survivor and a survivor from the Television Show . The mind of larry david. Larry all of a sudden, there was a promo for survivor on television. It struck me. I cannot believe nobody put this together that there are Holocaust Survivors who call themselves survivors. Then, i thought yeah, i have to get those two in the same room. Who had the worst experience . Charlie and make it funny. Larry i also thought that this seems like an idea that is right there for the plucking. We better get this out fast. Charlie does anybody say to you, larry, you have gone too far . Larry yeah, yeah. Charlie and you ignore it. Larry yeah. Charlie because you are your own man. Larray everybody likes something as long as it does not affect their group. What they are part of. Do not dare talk about me. Larry my good friend of mine who loves the show, she loves the show. She would call me up after shows. The most offensive stuff was going on and she could not get enough but as soon as there were something about a dog, nope. You could say that a lot about different people. Charlie was there a point in which you said i have gone too far . There will be too much of a reaction against this . Out of the mind of larry david, it is ok . Larry because i am doing what makes me laugh. If i feel like something is too far, it is probably not making me laugh. Charlie good comedians what makes them laugh and that is what they can create. Larry yeah. Charlie is it genius . Dont you do that. What you have. Larry ridiculous. Charlie is it fun . Larry it is so much fun. Charlie, i just have the greatest time on curb. I was laughing. I dont know if you could tell. Every take, i would have to stop and do like this to the crew. Let me just get my composure back. When jb smoove is talking to you, it is impossible to have a straight face. All the actors are amazing. Charlie larry david has lived an extraordinary life, one that even he can appreciate. Hasnt larry david looked out for himself . Larry charlie, i mean, charlie. Charlie what would you change about your life . Yes, your life. Larry that is a tough question. I dont know. I cannot think of anything. It would sound too petty for television. Charlie you are editing yourself now. Larry yeah. Charlie i want you to tell me. Larry somebody has to edit me, you are not going to. Everything i dont want to say i know is going to be aired. I said that . Charlie just tell me. What dont you like about your life . Larry im very happy with my life. Charlie are you afraid of people thinking that . Larry no. Charlie or are you afraid of them knowing what you dont like about your life . Larary that, yeah. Larry that, yeah. Charlie is it women . [laughter] larry yeah. Charlie women is one thing. What else . Larry it is women, yes. Charlie are you telling me the truth . Larry yeah, yeah. Charlie larry david has a woman problem . Larry i wouldnt put it like that. I would say that im relationship challenged. Charlie why . Larry this is why i did not want to say anything i dont want to talk about this. I do though. Larry im sure you do. I cant talk about it. It is too hard to talk about it. I cant talk about it. Im uncomfortable talking about it. It makes me uncomfortable. Charlie it is personal and none of my business. Larry i will tell you when the camera is off. Charlie what im try to do is to say this is what everybody watching this wants to know. Who is larry david . Larry you are too much, mr. Rose. You are probing. Where is the probe . Who the hell knows . Larry you do know. Whatever you are seeing is who i am. Charlie you said you created a character. It is not you. It might be who you want to be but it is not. Who are you . [laughter] larry i dont know, charlie. Leave me alone. Leave me alone. Charlie you just want to go back into your routine, dont you . Larry its ok. I want to talk about that right now. I want to get you out of my life right now. Who am i . Im a jerk, thats who i am. Charlie thats an act. How were you a jerk . Larry lets stop talking about me. This is why i didnt want to do this interview in the first place. Do you think i wanted to do this . I didnt want to do this because i knew you would be asking questions like this. I didnt want to do 60 minutes. Charlie why did you do this . Larry they talk to me into this like they did for the play. Charlie so you are a guy that can be talked into things. You have no backbone. But the guy you create would be able to say no. You have a character that could say no. You are not a jerk when you could create a character that could be a jerk because you cant be one. Larry that is good. I like that. How much do you charge . That is better than any therapy i have gotten. Charlie your director just said to me charming, dashing, handsome. Larry yeah, yeah. Dashing . Charlie do you feel that . Larry i dont feel dashing. I dont feel dashing. You think i feel dashing . Are you insane . Do you think i have ever had one moment of feeling dashing maybe if i was drunk, but no. I dont feel dashing. Charlie you know what women say back to women nothing is more attractive to a woman than somebody that makes them laugh. [laughter] larry thats just utter nonsense. That is such nonsense. Gilbert gottfried did the funniest joke about that. I wish i could remember. No, they might say that, ok, but no. Charlie what do they mean . Larry i was funny when i had nothing and it did not work, ok . Charlie i promise you this is my last question. What do you think women want . Larry what do they want . They want love, security. Charlie you must be attractive to them. Larry i could give them one of those. Charlie is there any part of you that says i have conquered television. I have plenty of money. I could go back to Television Anytime i want. They are begging me to do more. I want to do something new. I want to challenge. Larry well, certainly a want to do something by writing the play. All of a sudden, it was presented to me to be in it. Yes, i did have that moment of this is going to be really challenging. And, yeah, i made the decision to do it. Charlie and you are glad you did. You are. Larry yeah, but charlie you are glad you were talking to doing it. Larry ok, ok. Im glad somewhat. Im glad with reservation. The reservations are the schedule. Charlie the schedule . Larry there is a sameness to every day that i find very disturbing. Charlie and boring or just disturbing . You like variety every day. Larry yes. Charlie you dont like a script in your life. Larry exactly. That is perfect. Yes. My life is scripted and it is odd. Its odd. Look, i dont want to complain. Angie the rally rules on. He was stocks enjoyed their biggest twoday gain since 2008. In sixped the most years. Even so, wait until december. It is said the fed will put the longawaited rate rise on hold. And sources say beijing has stepped back into the market and is dumping treasuries to support. Welcome to firstup. Coming to you