Do you know which is the biggest superpower in the world? No, it’s not invisibility, or being all-powerful. But the biggest superpower there could be is the ability to speak what’s on your mind without any fear. If you could say what you were thinking without worrying about anything, then you are the most powerful being. And, of course, there are going to be repercussions and you might have to regret them later.
So, I recently (re)watched all 10 seasons of ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ and it is one of my favorite things on TV.
Curb is a fictionalized but prettay, prettay, prettay close to the true depiction of the Seinfeld creator and the character Larry David. In the show, he is now semi-retired, still earns loads of money from Seinfeld syndication, spends his days playing golf, eats out with his manager, and gets into trouble. He gets into trouble because he just tells whatever bothers him. (I wish I could do that. Sigh!) Anyone who has a problem with getting offended frequently should watch Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Even if one hasn’t seen Seinfeld yet (tch tch tch, Shameful.), Larry David in ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ is amazing. Each episode revolves around Larry’s antics which are just his way of fixing wrong things in the world. Most of the time, I would be on his side too. In fact, Larry just says things I want to say to the world. He proves again and again in Curb that most of the genius behind Seinfeld was his doing. Every episode would have multiple sub-plots that one wishes to appreciate the writing even more.
The season 1 opens with him getting doubted by his wife because he just happens to wear corduroy pants and when he sits, his wife’s friend assumes that he is getting ‘excited’ by her.
In the very latest season, Larry doesn’t like the fact that the tables in one coffee shop are wobbly. Now, would you like a wobbly coffee table? No, right! He just tells it to the coffee shop owner ‘Mocha Joe’ and obviously, he doesn’t like it. One thing leads to another and Larry ends up opening a Spite Store, just to get back at Mocha Joe.
It also has the much-awaited, much wished Seinfeld reunion done brilliantly.
Curb Your Enthusiasm goes no holds barred in making the most sensitive topics funny and get your moralities checked. In it, you would have Larry cheating on one disabled person with another disabled person so that it evens out. He would have a ‘probably-going-to-be-queer’ kid get a sewing machine on his birthday. He would play eeni-meeni-minie-moe to find who could donate a kidney to his best friends. The way people would unleash expletives on Larry would make you think as to how many insults a person can take on his very own show and not change himself.
Technically, the show is staged as improvisational dry humor at best it could be. If you are familiar with Curb memes but you are not aware of the show Curb Your Enthusiasm, I don’t have my sympathies with you.
I highly recommend Curb Your Enthusiasm. The show and the title music is kind of my life’s motto if I am allowed to do that. If I have sounded too enthusiastic about this review, eh, let me curb my own enthusiasm.
Recommended reading: Fan Fiction: https://danozzi.substack.com/p/i-wrote-a-curb-your-enthusiasm-episode CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM — “THE VIRUS”
