The notion of Larry pitching the "guy quits his job and shows up the next day like nothing happened" sketch TO SNL on the very day when the actual event itself unfolded is too phenomenal for my brain to even handle.
I love that Larry David is always true to himself and is always authentically Larry David, no matter who is perturbed. He screwed himself over with SNL, and then went on to be one of the most successful and richest comedy writers in American history. He was right, SNL was wrong.
SNL screwed themselves by trying to create a live version of Monty Python. I get it, got to be fresh and topical, but topical humor is only funny for so long.
The significance of this story is also the fact that Jason Alexander didn't think it was believable human behaviour, and when Larry told him that he had done it for real, that was the moment Jason fully understood that the character of George was in fact Larry's alter ego.
Those simple video interviews of Jason Alexander on here are some of the best behind the scenes Seinfeld material. I love the way he explains in one how it's totally misguided to look at him (& the others) as overly greedy when they were getting the huge money the last few years, he makes a fantastic point (come to think of it I think he also talked about that in his own Kevin Pollak episode)
I got fired by an insane boss who was having a bi-polar episode. I went home, and showed up the next morning like it didn't happen. I recall getting comfy at my desk and thinking "So I really am George Costansa now." True story.
The craziest friggin' story ever. So insane that Jason Alexander read the script and said, "I can't play this. This is insane! Who does this?" .. to which Larry replied, "it happened to me!" Jason went, "ohhhh...." and from that point onward, he knew EXACTLY how to play George Costanza.
Jason Alexander actually followed up the “it happened to me” line - paraphrasing Larry David, with, “and that’s _exactly_ how I reacted... and, from then, on, I just did the most shameless imitation of Larry, as George, that I could muster.” It’s on the extras, from the first volume/season of Curb, from “the HBO comedy special”/“pilot episode. Larry’s standup special actually happened, in front of an unpaid crowd - but not in the context in which the show (what too many people don’t realize is a mockumentary, as opposed to a documentary) showed it...
Hmmm...I remember well the SEINFELD sketch about George doing the same ting. I'd love to have known Dick Ebersole's reaction when he fist heard David's "take" on the quitting/returning on Monday happenstance.
Back in the early 80s I worked in Palm Beach and a friend of mine was hired at the Kennedy family’s house. Rose Kennedy, the matriarch, was elderly and losing her short-term memory but still full of energy. On his first day my friend was told that Rose fired somebody every single day. Getting fired was part of the job. If Rose fired him he was to not argue but leave the compound, walk across the two lane road, stand there for fifteen minutes, and then come back in like nothing happened. And every day somebody did.
I think he’s the GOAT, but at that point of his career he wasn’t great at writing sketches. He actually did get a sketch on, and it stunk…it was about an architect who wanted elevator operators to have a place to sit. Not a single laugh. A premise that worked better as a Seinfeld episode. Being a comedy genius doesn’t mean you could write in sketch format…like how Michael Jordan is an time great athlete, but struggled at baseball
This is one of the reasons he's so funny. He actually does things. Boring safe lives make for terrible stories. Stupid mistakes and clever ideas of how to weasel out of the consequences are genuinely entertaining.
I spit out my drink when he said “you should go back Monday morning and pretend the whole thing never happened” just because I could picture Kramer saying that to him so perfectly 😂
@@jsmall10671 So did you really not know til seeing this interview that that story in Seinfeld was directly based on Larry doing this? cause Kramer in the show basically says verbatim to George what Larry is relating here that that's what the real Kramer said to him. even though even I'd never heard Larry vocally tell this story before this podcast, I guess I figured most big Seinfeld fans had known long before now what had happened, either reading it in print and/or hearing others tell it, but maybe not.
I saw Jason Alexander in an interview say he once was reading the script, and he got indignant, saying “no one would ever react like this!” And Larry’s like, this is a true story, I reacted like that. He never questioned the script again.
i don't remember when i saw it (maybe comedians in cars getting coffee) but he said that the whole big salad incident was lifted straight out of his life
@@willlicks8584 I think they used that bit in Curb. It really happened and then Larry used that in a Curb episode. If I'm not mistaken, Larry took it as an an insult from Jason in the episode.
I think it used be kore toxic. But I’ve heard it’s gotten way better in the 20 years. But there’s not much you can do about the stress of a whole show you put on in a week (as long as they are treating people okay).
@@rubyrayne8 it's actually an experience that i wish to live, i love working on projects with limited time, i love achieving great things under pressure, i know it seems that i'm sugarcoting this, but really working with the legend lorne michaels is my ultimate dream! it's probably not gonna happen because i'm not even in the US and i have no talent for comedy except being a fan haha, but still i would make a good assistant or producer i think, of course if everyone is treated well and have their rights protected. i think it's a legendary work place because if all the talents that came out if there and their stories...
ya.....communist principles..lived off the public doll his whole life..he's a useless sack of shit..wow a communist that votes with the democrats social fascist !!..ps ..this is the guy that was kicked out of a commune for not doing his share of the work...
I'm a huge comedy nerd but I can't imagine the mindset it takes to actually write and flesh out ONE good, cohesive sketch let alone do several every single week. I mean, SNL has a whole team of writers these days and even they can't get it right
Bob Newhart said that the problem today is that there are so many shows that it dilludes the talent pool. There's the same number of talented comedy writers, but so many shows so a lot of them suffer as a result.
People with power aren't always people with intellect. I'm sure there are plenty of people who were passed over on plenty of shows and movies which could have contributed to a greater success or those shows and movies if given the opportunity. Think about the actresses and the casting couches. It's a cold business. Some people shouldn't have power. But I digress, I'm glad Larry made it anyway.
SNL and Larry David are both very specific comedic voices. They don’t need to fit each other to be successful. Plenty of successful people have flopped at SNL. Julia Louis-Dreyfus HATED her year on SNL, and she’s the most successful comedic actress her generation. Just because on
@@nintendo9231889Exactly. His one sketch that made it to air was pretty bad (an architect who wanted elevator operators to have a stool to sit on). It felt like a weak, laugh-free Seinfeld episode crammed into a 5 minute segment. I think he’s one of the greatest comedy minds out there, but his humor does not translate well in a sketch format. Plus, I don’t think he was fully formed yet then either. Some of his Fridays stuff wasn’t great either. You could see the potential, but it felt like something was missing. By the early 90s though, he was the GOAT
@@ginao6810Absolutely (although Julia was on for 2 or 3 seasons). Gilbert Gottfried is another example. People need to have a specific skill set to work on SNL. It’s not fair to blame the performer or the show when it doesn’t work out. It’s like how Michael Jordan struggled when he tried out baseball.
Personally, I can't tell you how many times I had been fired by my Pop to only get the phone call the next morning, "Where the Hell are you?" "You fired me." To only hear..."Oh Jesus Christ Daniel, that was yesterday."
This sounds eerily like an early season 2 moment from The Wire lol where the character of Ziggy "gets fired" (yet again) from his job on the docks, a new person assumes it's legit til he's told by another worker that the foreman is Ziggy's father and he 'gets fired' all the time.
@Tim Snortin' I understand that comment, because he is f*cking racist. Though, I wouldn't want the guy who played Kramer as a Neighbor, the idea of a Kramer type of person living next door would be fun.
Larry David screaming "I'm ******* done!" Is my new ringtone For reference, this is Jason Alexander describing this bit on Seinfeld: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-4SgIH4tTtRo.html Full circle, here is Dick Ebersol's version: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-FWO_SHBfddA.html
The beauty of this thing at this point is you know what's coming - the crew knows this story as well as anyone - and it's still a joy to watch him tell it over and over again. It's as much a part of American cultural tradition as Paul Bunyan or Johnny Appleseed. Except that it happens to be true.
@@bonvivantinsf I'm actually kind of surprised that HE was surprised that Kevin knew about it. I thought this was fairly well known by now even by casual fans, nevermind other comic performers who've idolized him for many years. It's talked about at least once in documentary material from the series. Still, I thought it was rather endearing how Kevin wasn't overly tipping his hand that he already knew it, but wanted more than anything for Larry to tell it first hand.
LEGEND my favorite LD story is Jason Alexander retelling an argument between himself and LD over how George Costanza was written to respond to something for an upcoming episode they were working on. Jason proclaimed to him "this would never happen, and if it did, no person would ever respond this way." to which LD replied "this DID happen and THIS is how i responded!"
I worked in then managed a warehouse that built and repaired heavy lifting cranes/hoists. The quit on Friday show up on Monday was like a sitcom. Drama. Intrigue. Fighting. And everything was back to normal in 3-4 days. Did it myself a few times.
Even though his stories about jobs and working and careers are within show business, I think everyone working any job relates to these. I think it's because all jobs are built on a certain amount of nonsense and lack of logic; Larry is just the only guy who has ever bothered to point that out...
Somebody told a story once about Larry doing stand-up, taking the stage, standing there for a minute looking at the crowd and going "Nah, I'm not doing this", replacing the mic, and walking off.
Back in '93 I worked with an older guy who was let go one Friday. He showed up the next Monday and just kept showing up and worked there till after I left at least a year later!
I think it takes a special person to be able to do that, and that’s to have the ability to have very little shame or care of what people think. most people would’ve been worried that if it didn’t work, they would be embarrassed in front of everyone
@@jacobpeters5458 Sir, I'm from the anti-Jewish Defamation League, you're going to have to come with us and have a little chat. Frankly we feel you hit a little close to home for our comfort with your so called "joke" about P78. Let's just say that's not a detail for public consumption. (jk I made that up... although I am pretty sure I'm the most neurotic non-Jew in America, if that counts as cultural appropriation I'm guilty as sin)
I dont know that actor's name that they cut to laughing near the end of the video but he was in one of the best spoof movies of all time: Not Another Teen Movie
@@DaveSarra in fairness to how you chose to edit this, nobody's really missing much. It's not like there was some great button to the end of this story, some hilarious-in-of-itself response that Larry to what is clearly a detail prompted by Kevin that he'd never considered before. I think he basically just says "oh, right, to say that in the moment, yeah that would've been good". That's it really.
Hahah! @2:57 = Larry David and Harrison Ford emote anger with the exact same facial gestures & mouth movements, ...right down to the single hand throwing accusative fingers in broad strokes towards those who irritate him.
