Curb Your Enthusiasm

Have you ever sprayed beer onto the screen in the back of the seat in front on a long distance flight?

I have once.

It was last year on my way back to England from Johannesburg. The meal had arrived - if you can call it a meal – I would prefer to call it a steaming pile of crap that is so hot it can burn through the roof of your mouth into your brain. I’ve had a lot of these meals – that explains a lot I guess.

Anyway I digress. I had put a forkful of the molten tripe in my mouth and was cooling it down with a swig of beer when I howled with laughter at what was on the screen. As well as beer, the screen was peppered with semi-chewed gunk.

The person next to me glared at me. I tried to control myself but I simply couldn’t stop laughing.

What was I watching? I’ll tell you – “Curb Your Enthusiasm” starring Larry David. It was the first time I had ever watched the show and I was struck by the laughter bug.

You know when something makes you laugh? I mean REALLY makes you laugh, so much so that anything and everything else suddenly becomes absolutely hilarious? That’s what Larry David did to me.

If the pilot had interrupted the programme telling us all that the wings had fallen off and we were all about to die, I would have crashed into the African subcontinent in a ball of flames, guffawing at Larry David’s exploits.

The episode in question, if you are a fan of the show, was the one involving Larry David having to buy a bra for his housekeeper. The plot lines in the episode are so brilliantly woven together that I simply howled with laughter.

Here is a clip from that very episode – be aware that it contains a couple of swear words:



As soon as I got home, I looked up the show and told Mrs PM about how I totally embarrassed myself on the plane. I was even more shocked to discover that the show is completely ad-libbed – there is not script, just a vague plot. The actors simply take the story along and make up the dialogue. And it is so funny. How brilliant is that?

So why am I writing about it now? Well, I’ve discovered that it is being repeated from the beginning here in the UK every Sunday night/Monday morning. There are around six series so I can watch it all. I don’t stay up to watch it, but I do record it and watch it the next day. For those of you who haven’t seen it yet I urge you to give it a go. It is on “More4”.

For those of you, from England, who haven’t seen the show Larry David plays a caricature of himself who is a sort of cross between Victor Meldrew and David Brent. If he doesn’t like something, rather than keeping quiet he will say or do something outrageous, speaking his mind without fearing the consequences or just making completely the wrong decision; and like David Brent, you want him just to shut his mouth – of course he doesn’t and he ends up in a complete pickle.

I love the show and now I have a new comedy hero. I am looking forward to the next few months.

Here’s a little more:



I want to be more like him.