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• Mr. Garlin's bio
• Curb your Enthusiasm
• The Second City Theatre

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Tavis: Jeff Garlin is a funny and talented actor who stars on the hit HBO comedy, "Curb Your Enthusiasm.' The show kicks off its fifth season this month, season four now out on DVD. He also serves as executive producer of the series. Jeff, how are you?

Jeff Garlin: I'm young and handsome. I'm young and handsome with allergies.

Tavis: Indeed you are, young and handsome. So, season number five.

Garlin: Yes.

Tavis: Did you guys expect this thing to be going this...

Garlin: I expected at some point during season number one for them to say, 'We've made a horrible mistake.'

Tavis: Yeah. But they haven't. And why do you think they haven't? This thing - it works. Why does it work, though?

Garlin: Well, I think more, I mean, other things have been funny and been canceled. I think it has the right home, HBO. And it's irreverent and not politically correct. And I think people like that, because everything is so controlled.

Tavis: Yeah. And it's unapologetically Jewish. I mean, it is a Jewish show, is it not?

Garlin: I guess you could say - I mean, I'm Jewish, Larry's Jewish.

Tavis: A lot of the humor is Jewish.

Garlin: A lot of the humor is Jewish, 'cause it's a big bowl of Jews doing the humor. So yes, it's very Jewish.

Tavis: And yet, this is always fascinating for me, because I find it interesting that even though we still live in a very segregated world, even when you segregate the humor, so to speak, even when it's the humor of another community, people still get it. I mean - that's not a good philosophy for building neighborhoods, and it might not be the best philosophy for building television, but it does seem to work. Other people get it.

Garlin: You have to do what you do and be what you are. And I don't think that anyone with any intelligence will look at something differently because it's different than they are. It's, the answer is, is it good, is it funny? Yeah. Who cares what is it is? Yeah.

Tavis: Tell me how you guys do this. Because you guys don't do this show like the typical sitcom, where you get a script, it gets sent to your house and you know exactly what you're saying in every scene. You guys do this differently.

Garlin: Yes, we have an outline, which only a few of us get to see. It's about seven pages long, which is - Larry writes by himself. And it's the detailed story of the show. Now, most sitcom scripts are about 40 pages, and ours are seven. So a lot of the dialogue is what's improvised in the action, you know. But we know the story. Although that can change sometimes based on how the improvs go. And we shoot them, we shoot the scenes over and over. We don't just do it once. And so when you're watching a scene, it's usually like four or five different takes mixed into one.

Tavis: Well seven, you get seven pages. You get more than what I get. So that's...

Garlin: There you go. But the same type of thing. Imagine if this was scripted, that's what a regular sitcom is like. This is much more 'Curb Your Enthusiasm.' You know you're interviewing me.

Tavis: And - if something were scripted, although scripted things obviously are funny, there are a lot of shows that are scripted that are funny. Does being on this tight rope, this high wire, make it potentially more funny? Because you guys are - making it up along the way?

Garlin: I think it makes for, potentially more funny at all times. Every once in a while, a couple of times a season, Larry will tell me that he thought that the scene we just filmed would have been better if it was scripted. Every once in a while.

Tavis: Based upon - what makes him feel that way?

Garlin: Just that, it just never hit the right beats in terms of - the guest actor didn't really get what they were supposed to do. And if it was on the page, they would have gotten it.

Tavis: Right. So tell me how comfortable you've become - I assume you are comfortable now after five seasons. But you're comfortable doing with this with no...

Garlin: Oh, yeah. I actually, I could actually go without even the outline. He could just tell me when I get there. You're doing this now. But actually, what's kind of funny is, Larry and I will be doing a scene...

Tavis: That's a lot of confidence, Jeff.

Garlin: Well, Larry and I will be doing a scene. And let's say - it's in the car, and we're driving, and I'll go, 'Do you know what this scene's about?' He'll go, 'I forgot.' And we ask for the outline to remember, 'Oh, yeah, yeah, this is where we do this.' And that's fun. But my training comes from Second City, which is a theater in Chicago, an improv theatre. So I'm very comfortable. Like, I love doing your show. I decided before I even did it, because there was no pre-interview. I love that. We're talking. Hopefully, we're interesting. But, you know what I mean, I love that.

Tavis: Yeah, I love that too. The scripted thing just doesn't work for me.

Garlin: Oh, same here.

Tavis: Where did this, I love the title, and I've never asked, and I think Larry was on this show once, or somebody was here. "Curb Your Enthusiasm" is a great title. - Who came up with that?

Garlin: We were just in the editing. We're doing - we did an hour special, which was also the pilot. And we're in editing and trying to think of titles, and I actually was voting for, Larry - one day we were ordering some soup. And we said, 'You want some soup, Larry?' He goes, 'No, soup's too distracting.' I said, 'That should be the name of the show, 'Soup's Too Distracting.'' I thought that was funny. The next day, he came and he goes, "Curb Your Enthusiasm." And we all went, 'Yeah.' So, I have no idea what it means. But you should "Curb Your Enthusiasm.'

Tavis: I should curb my - just tone it, let me bring it down then.

Garlin: Bring it down.

Tavis: Let me just bring it down. Tell me - how you guys, when you get these seven pages. Do you guys, before you start, do you talk through this thing at all? I mean, you literally just start shooting.

Garlin: No. We have no rehearsal.

Tavis: No rehearsals, even. So it's not just a script. You don't do scripts, and you don't do rehearsals even.

Garlin: The rehearsal is all based on where the cameras are going to be. We're gonna be over here. The cameras will be here. Because we have two cameras at all times. So we just - know where the cameras are going to be. There's no rehearsal, which makes guest actors very uncomfortable, most of the time.

Tavis: Why would a guest actor, then, want to do something like this?

Garlin: They like the show.

Tavis: Yeah. I'd be scared to...

Garlin: It's a challenge. But also, for the most part, we hire the right actor. You know, so.

Tavis: Is it just, well no, it ain't. I was gonna say, is it just me? It's clearly not just me. This season does not have a lot of sitcoms premiering.

Garlin: Yeah.

Tavis: There are only - what do you make of that? - Is the sitcom dead?

Garlin: No, I mean, maybe the three camera 'Everybody Loves Raymond' style of sitcom. I think "Everybody loves Raymond" might go down as the last really good three camera sitcom, because now I think it's all pretty stale. And, you know, it's just stale, you know? And I think the reason that they're - not doing it is because right now, reality shows are where it's at.

Tavis: And you like reality, or you hate reality?

Garlin: I'm more, I don't care. I don't watch it.

Tavis: Well, you gotta care - because - if you think that that's what's killing off sitcom television, which you love, obviously, you gotta care about it. Or have an opinion about it.

Garlin: I have an opinion. I don't like it. But I'm saying I don't care in terms of, I don't pay attention. You know, people like - people tell me to watch "The Great Race." They say, 'That's a good one.' Someone even gave me a DVD. I'm like, no, I'm not going to be watching it. I don't watch. And then I heard Martha Stewart, her new catch phrase for her thing is, 'You just don't belong here.' She's actually going to say to another human being, 'You just don't belong here.' How is that good for us as human beings? What is positive about that? Nothing.

Tavis: So, which one is better? 'You just don't belong here,' or 'You're fired.'

Garlin: Well, 'You're fired' means you can go get another job. 'You just don't belong here' is - something else, you know?

Tavis: Yeah, you need to disappear?

Garlin: Yeah. - This comedian, Laura House, was doing all of these different sayings of them. We were performing in San Francisco together. And it's just a ridiculous thing. It's horrible. This is all horrible. Gonna get voted off of the island. It's just bad. It's bad. We need comedy. And this, you know, I actually look at my gig, what I do is, through "Curb Your Enthusiasm," through standup, through movies, whatever, I ease people's pain. That's my job. I'm a nice distraction. People can laugh for a few minutes to avoid what's going on in the real world, you know? We need more of that. Not more reality crap.

Tavis: And what better than seeing a young handsome comedian on stage who makes you laugh.

Garlin: What better? What better?

Tavis: Tell me, I assume you still like the standup because you're still doing it?

Garlin: I love it, love it.

Tavis: What do you get out of it that you don't get out of "Curb Your Enthusiasm.'

Garlin: The immediate audience laughter. You know, "Curb Your Enthusiasm,' there's no audience. And I think both of them serve a purpose for me. And that is, keeping my mind working. I think without, I know there'll be a time without "Curb Your Enthusiasm," maybe even now, I don't know if we're going come back. Every year, I think that, by the way. But with my standup, it keeps my mind working so I can function. I think without standup, I'll become mush.

Tavis: Never.

Garlin: Oh, I think so, my friend. That's what it does for me.

Tavis: How do you - I didn't realize, again, I keep learning these things about the show as we move through here. I didn't realize you guys had no audience at all, so you do this...

Garlin: Zero audience.

Tavis: Okay, so no audience.

Garlin: The crew.

Tavis: Okay, so even on a show - again, back to one of those sitcoms that has a script, that has an audience, that now is dead, apparently, at least this season.

Garlin: Right. Or dying, per se.

Tavis: Dying. Certainly, for sure. At least with an audience, even though you tape it 18 times, and the audience gets tired of seeing that laugh track, applause, applause, applause. At least the first couple times out, you know whether the stuff is funny or not, because the audience gives you a response live. How do you guys know this stuff is funny?

Garlin: Well, the first season - we were really working in a vacuum. We had no idea...

Tavis: Whether it was working or not.

Garlin: ...whether it was working or not. So that was strange. So now we just sort of throw it to the wind, assuming that people will like it, because they've shown to like it. So we'll see what happens. But you know, in terms of the reality show thing, I want to get back to that for one second, it's all cyclical, man. There will come a point where comedies will be en vogue. Right now, it's not. It's okay. It's all cyclical, man.

Tavis: And when they are, you will be around.

Garlin: I hope to be around from there.

Tavis: You'll be around. Jeff Garlin, I'm glad you came around here.

Garlin: It was a pleasure.

Tavis: Nice to see you. Was this okay, unscripted?

Garlin: Oh, this was beautiful, man. I'm going have you on "Curb.'

Tavis: (laughs) I'm gonna hold you to that.

Garlin: Okay.

Tavis: That's our show for tonight. You can catch me on the weekends on PRI, Public Radio International. Check your local listings. See you back here next time on PBS and at some future point on "Curb Your Enthusiasm.' Until then, good night from Los Angeles, thanks for watching. And keep the faith.