I watched him on a show called “Fridays” that Larry was also on, and that show was hilarious. But I was also a huge fan of Michael Richards, and this is post-Laugh Factory incident. My favorite season of “Curb” is the “Seinfeld” season because I didn’t know any of the people from “Seinfeld.” So how I played it was that Leon had never even heard of “Seinfeld.” I wasn’t a huge fan of “Seinfeld,” but I watched it and I enjoyed Jerry’s stand-up. When you get recognized in public, do people yell certain lines at you?Ī lot of them will say “lampin’ baby,” but the crowd favorite is “get in that ass!” I’ll give you three different ones: We are back. If I laugh too much, I lose my rhythm and focus, so I try to stay composed to give Larry exactly what he needs for the scene. I treat it like stand-up - I’m performing for Larry, so I gotta deliver the line, deliver the joke, execute it the right way. I love “The Therapists.” That was Leon in his most honest place. These are now three things that I can draw from - I planted those seeds, and now I can go back to that any time. There was one scene where a girl had constipation, and I gave Larry information about some things that I’ve done: Leon shot a porno constipated, he ran a 5K constipated and he was even in a hot dog eating contest constipated and still won. I always try to give Larry something new - something he didn’t know about. I’m almost performing for myself, in some sense.ĭo you have a favorite improvised moment in “Curb”?
I feel the audience on me, on my skin, and the more I get back from them, the more my gears start to turn and it becomes a challenge. I like taking people somewhere they didn’t expect to go.
Is it uncomfortable or is there a sort of freedom in improvising stand-up sets? You’ve mentioned getting on stage at comedy clubs with nothing prepared and just playing off the audience. On the show, I like to “drive the car” as far as possible, and the cast will have to reel me back in. Being a fan of the show, when I heard it was all improvised, I went into the audition with guns blazing.
Even when I started doing stand-up, the first thing I did was take an improv class because I wanted to figure out who I was on stage and to add that tool to my toolbox. The process and how the show is built fits me perfectly. I definitely didn’t know the possibility of it, but when it finally happened, it felt like I was supposed to be there already. I used to say, “I would love to be on that show one day,” and my wife said, “You’re going to be on that show one day.” I would put myself in those scenes with the cast and Larry. What about the show made you think that you would be a perfect addition to the cast? You said on the Whiskey Ginger podcast recently that you used to watch “Curb Your Enthusiasm” with your wife and talk about how you should be on it. About halfway through the show, my writing partner came up to me and said, “Do you have a speech, in case you win?” I said, “No” I didn’t expect to win, and it was just an honor to be there and to be nominated. That was my responsibility, so I wasn’t thinking about the award I was up for. I presented the first award of the night with a short monologue. Oh man, I appreciate that, and no, I did not. Here, Smoove talks to Variety about the upcoming Season 11, how stand-up shaped him and his favorite moments throughout “Curb Your Enthusiasm” so far.Ĭongrats on your Emmy win! Coming up as a stand-up comedian, did you ever think you would win such a prestigious award for acting?