Print
E-mail
Comment
Rate
Jeff Garlin definitely will not curb your enthusiasm
Click image to enlarge
|
BY: ARLENE FINE Senior Staff Reporter
Anyone who has watched Jeff Garlin play Larry David’s overweight friend and manager in HBO’s hit comedy “Curb Your Enthusiasm” knows he is one guy you would enjoy meeting at a deli for lunch.
Writer, producer, actor and director Garlin will be in Cleveland to look for “some good whitefish” and to perform his comedy routine at Hilarities 4th Street Theatre on March 14-15.
“I’ve been making people laugh all my life,” says Garlin in a phone interview from his Sherman Oaks, Calif., home. “I remember seeing Jimmy Durante when I was 8 and asking my parents, ‘Is that a job?’ and when they said yes, I told them, ‘That is the job I want.’ In school, my role was always the class clown, looking for laughs.”
Garlin spent hours as a youngster watching his favorite comedians like Richard Pryor, Woody Allen, Jackie Gleason, Jack Benny, Abbot and Costello and Martin and Lewis.
“I’m still blown away when I think that Sid Caesar’s ‘Show of Shows’ was done live before millions and millions of TV viewers,” he says. “When we ad lib the dialogue on ‘Curb,’ it is done on a closed set with many takes and a lot of editing. So I can’t even imagine what that early TV experience must have been like.”
The multi-talented Garlin began performing stand-up routines at the Comic Strip in Ft. Lauderdale while attending the University of Miami. He dropped out of college to perform at Chicago’s Second City Theatre for five years and has been working steadily ever since.
As all “Curb” fans know, many of the show’s episodes have Jewish overtones. Over the past six seasons there have been hilarious comedic routines about a seder, a bat mitzvah, synagogue life, intermarriage, Orthodox Jewry and Jewish weddings. Along with David and Garlin, other Jewish regulars on the show are Shelley Berman, Susie Essman, Bob Einstein and Richard Lewis.
“Our fans come from all walks of life,” says Garlin. “Somehow our neurotic humor resonates with everyone.”
Being a self-professed “neurotic Jew” comes in handy, adds the comedian. “When you are neurotic, you notice things that others might not. When I tap into my Jewish angst, I find humor in everyday bits of life, even my compulsive overeating. But I sure would like to be calmer and more at peace with myself.”
Garlin has appeared in a number of TV shows and hit movies such as “Daddy Day Care” with Eddie Murphy. Last year he wrote, produced, directed and starred in “I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With.” The movie is about a man with a food obsession n something the 6"1' zoftig Garlin, the father of James, 12, and Duke, 8, can relate to.
As much as he makes fun of his weight, Garlin, 46, has coped with some serious health issues. He’s a stroke survivor with epilepsy, who fights Type 2 diabetes and suffers from ADD. “I’m seriously trying to take better care of myself these days, and I really feel a lot healthier,” he says.
But he still insists his two favorite hobbies are “eating puddin’ and napping.”
afine@cjn.org
Writer, producer, actor and director Garlin will be in Cleveland to look for “some good whitefish” and to perform his comedy routine at Hilarities 4th Street Theatre on March 14-15.
“I’ve been making people laugh all my life,” says Garlin in a phone interview from his Sherman Oaks, Calif., home. “I remember seeing Jimmy Durante when I was 8 and asking my parents, ‘Is that a job?’ and when they said yes, I told them, ‘That is the job I want.’ In school, my role was always the class clown, looking for laughs.”
Garlin spent hours as a youngster watching his favorite comedians like Richard Pryor, Woody Allen, Jackie Gleason, Jack Benny, Abbot and Costello and Martin and Lewis.
“I’m still blown away when I think that Sid Caesar’s ‘Show of Shows’ was done live before millions and millions of TV viewers,” he says. “When we ad lib the dialogue on ‘Curb,’ it is done on a closed set with many takes and a lot of editing. So I can’t even imagine what that early TV experience must have been like.”
The multi-talented Garlin began performing stand-up routines at the Comic Strip in Ft. Lauderdale while attending the University of Miami. He dropped out of college to perform at Chicago’s Second City Theatre for five years and has been working steadily ever since.
As all “Curb” fans know, many of the show’s episodes have Jewish overtones. Over the past six seasons there have been hilarious comedic routines about a seder, a bat mitzvah, synagogue life, intermarriage, Orthodox Jewry and Jewish weddings. Along with David and Garlin, other Jewish regulars on the show are Shelley Berman, Susie Essman, Bob Einstein and Richard Lewis.
“Our fans come from all walks of life,” says Garlin. “Somehow our neurotic humor resonates with everyone.”
Being a self-professed “neurotic Jew” comes in handy, adds the comedian. “When you are neurotic, you notice things that others might not. When I tap into my Jewish angst, I find humor in everyday bits of life, even my compulsive overeating. But I sure would like to be calmer and more at peace with myself.”
Garlin has appeared in a number of TV shows and hit movies such as “Daddy Day Care” with Eddie Murphy. Last year he wrote, produced, directed and starred in “I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With.” The movie is about a man with a food obsession n something the 6"1' zoftig Garlin, the father of James, 12, and Duke, 8, can relate to.
As much as he makes fun of his weight, Garlin, 46, has coped with some serious health issues. He’s a stroke survivor with epilepsy, who fights Type 2 diabetes and suffers from ADD. “I’m seriously trying to take better care of myself these days, and I really feel a lot healthier,” he says.
But he still insists his two favorite hobbies are “eating puddin’ and napping.”
afine@cjn.org
 |
||
| Cleveland orchestra debut for young Israeli conductor |
Article Rating
Reader Comments
The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of clevelandjewishnews.com.
You must register with a valid email to post comments. Only your Member ID will be posted with the comments. Registration is free.
Registered users sign in here: |
Become a Registered User |
