J.B. Smoove enters our Zoom interview dressed to the nines.
“You look very stylish right now,” is the first thing I say to him. “You’re definitely showing me up on this Zoom call.”
Smoove — black pork pie hat and shades on, plus earrings and a chain draped over a red flannel shirt covering a neatly tucked denim shirt — deadpans: “It’s all good, man. It’s hard to catch up to me, so don’t try.”
The 58-year-old stand-up and improv comedy vet is preparing to wrap 17 years and seven seasons of HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” which airs its series finale on April 7. Since Smoove joined Larry David’s unscripted comedy in Season 6, it’s been hard to imagine that “Curb” ever existed without him. Still, after 70 episodes, Smoove believes Leon “left a lot on the table.”
“That’s the thing about characters that makes them iconic and legendary,” he tells PvNew. “They give you a lot, but you know it’s not everything.”
He pauses, and considers the impact of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” at large. “It’s the same thing with the show,” he says. “Do you know how many people, for the rest of their lives, are going to say, ‘This is such a “Curb” moment?’ … No matter if this show comes back or if it’s the end, that shit’s gonna go on forever.”
It’s April Fools’ Day today. Do you appreciate a good prank?
I’m always prepared for a prank. I thought you weren’t gonna show up today. I thought I was gonna get up in the morning, get all fancy and dressed up for a Zoom call — my damn hat on, my glasses, my chain, my nice shirt — and you weren’t gonna show up because of April Fools’ Day.
Has anybody tried to get you today?
No one has got me today as of yet, but I haven’t been outside. I haven’t been out into the real world.
Have you ever pulled an April Fools prank on someone?
No, man. When you’re already in it, you get to prank people all year round. If I was a plumber or contractor or something like that, it would make sense. Because no one would see it coming. But being a comedian, being in the field, every day is April Fools’ Day!
The suspicion level is too high, you’re saying.
It’s too high. They know something might happen. But if I was a short-order cook, they wouldn’t expect it. If I was a short-order cook, I would make a grilled cheese sandwich and put some spearmint gum in there along with the cheese. So when my customer bites into it, they’re like, “Ah! You got me, man! This ain’t a grilled cheese sandwich, this is a spearmint melted cheese sandwich!”
Well, that sounds disgusting. Let’s talk about “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” Obviously the show is unscripted and improvised. Were you given a longer leash to experiment after you had proven yourself for a few seasons, or has it always been complete freedom?
It’s always been freedom. But “Curb” is also a puzzle. Even though we’re improvising, we do need pieces to connect. The show is, in some way, being written while you’re performing it. The leash is long because we do different takes, we change it up. Larry laughs and ruins the scene — he always breaks. But we always swing for the fences, because that’s where the gold is.
You mentioned that Larry breaks a lot. Who in the cast is the hardest to make laugh?
Susie is tough, man. I’m kinda tough, too, because Leon doesn’t laugh. He gives it to Larry straight. He doesn’t sit there and giggle with Larry. He’s trying to give Larry that good-bad advice.
One thing I’ll say: I never know my route in the scene. There’s a fork in the road and I decide whether I want to have Larry’s back or if I want to go against him. Sometimes I make a left on red. It depends what I think I’ll get the most mileage out of — being on his side or saying, “Nah, Larry, that’s fucked up.” I can pull him back or egg him on.
That’s interesting, because pulling him back would seem to go against that traditional improv “yes and” ethos.
As long as what I’m saying fits the context of Leon, it works. That’s what makes “Curb” so amazing. You don’t know where it’s going to go. And once you know the show is improvised, you’re eager to see what someone’s take is on the moment. Two episodes ago, the maid caught Larry going downtown. The audience gets giggly anticipating what Leon is gonna say about that. You look forward to Susie cursing Larry out. You look forward to Larry and Richard going at it. You look forward to Jeff putting fires out. Even in the last episode, Larry is accused of asking Cheryl’s massage therapist for a happy ending. You can’t wait to see what Cheryl is gonna say. You know this world already, it sets you up in your mind.
One of the hardest laughs last episode is when Cheryl says the massage therapist is going to “#MeToo” Larry, and Leon says he was in a three-way and got “#WeTooed.” How does a joke like that go from an idea to making it on the show? Is that something you arrive at by riffing, or does it just spill out of you spontaneously?
You’re just saying it! The premise is laid out already, and it’s up to you to decide how you want that joke to end. Going back two seasons, Leon tells Larry, “I shot a porno constipated.” I planted a seed. It’s insight into what this guy has done. It lets you know Leon is a freaky motherfucker. He’s doing wild shit! So me mentioning two seasons later that I was in a threesome and I got “#WeTooed,” that’s just going back to what the character would say.
Every time I shoot, I call my wife on the way home from the set. My wife says to me every time, “What did Leon say today?” I’m fucking Leon! She separates these two guys because she knows Leon is a fucking animal. He’s nuts! But that’s what gives me the perfect platform to go as far as possible. Every scene, I go as far as Larry will allow me to go because I know how to pull back if he says, “That’s too much.” It’s harder to turn it up than it is to pull back. So my first take, I go as hard as possible. More than likely, that first take makes it in the final cut — even if it’s the most outrageous thing I can think of.
And when Larry asks you to pull back, is that because he thinks what you’re saying is out of character?
Larry is putting together a puzzle in his head. He does the editing. So he’s basically writing and editing the show as we go. And we have great writers and producers who always give punch-ups that are hilarious. They’ll take something you said and punch it up even more. They’ll throw out alts. So I can’t take 100% credit for everything I say. Sometimes the original thought works. Sometimes you gotta mellow it out a little bit. Sometimes you gotta act more candid, or surprised, or excited. There are different ways of delivering your lines that change the scene completely.
When you’re not shooting “Curb,” are you thinking about Leon and what he might say or how he might react to certain things?
I think about shit all the time. I think about things I wish I would have said more than anything. I’ll drive home like, “Damn!” Every day I think of something funny to say and I write it down in my book or on my phone. Sometimes when I’m shooting, I’ll hear something that reminds me of something I’ve already written. For instance, there’s a scene a few seasons ago when Leon says, “You know how many times I’ve peed in a Gatorade bottle? A thousand times. You know how many times I’ve peed in a Gatorade bottle and drunk that shit? Once.” That’s the kind of stuff I think about, but I’m waiting for the right scene to apply it to. There’s a process to it. People don’t respect improv as much as they should.
It’s interesting to hear about your process. So much of improv is reactive, but it’s also these ideas you’ve had in your head for years that subconsciously get activated while performing.
once I’m in my Leon mode — once I got my durag on, my slides on, my socks to my knees, that robe with no fucking belt, my chain around my neck — I become this dude. For my first four or five seasons, I would never even read the goddamn outline. I work better in the moment, and I don’t want to get ahead of myself and overthink it. I’m such a fan of the show, I don’t want to know nothing! Not even the guest stars, unless they’re shooting with me that day. Because I’m gonna watch the show, and I don’t wanna know shit. Season 12 is actually the first season I’ve seen screenings. Larry invited all of us over to watch some of the episodes.
Did you watch the finale with the whole cast?
The finale is the one episode that I did not want to see. I don’t know where it’s gonna go. It’s like someone gives you a bunch of gifts for Christmas, and you open all of the gifts except that one big box. I’m gonna leave it sitting there with a big bow on it, and watch everybody else open all their gifts. And when I open that box, it’s gonna be the most amazing feeling in the world, because I know I might never get a gift like that again. That’s what “Curb” is to me. It’s a gift to be a part of this amazing show with this amazing crew. These are real fucking friends on this show.
You’ve talked about how before you joined “Curb” in Season 6, you would watch the show with your wife and talk about how you should be on it. Is there another franchise you want to manifest yourself into?
I would love to be a villain in a 007 movie. I’d like to shoot somebody in the ass.
