>> rose: welcome to the program. tonight larry david. first, there was standup, then "seinfeld," then "curb your enthusiasm." he is now on broadway in a play he stars in and wrote called "fish in the dark." >> certainly i wanted to do something new by writing the play, and then all of a sudden it was presented to me to be in it, and, yes, i did have that moment of, well, this is going to be really challenging. yeah, i made the decision to do it. >> rose: larry david for the hour next.

captioning sponsored by rose communications from our studios in new york city, this is charlie rose. >> rose: larry david has been called everyone's favorite curmudgeon. his particular brand of bark observational humor has made him one of the most distinctive voices in comedy. 25 years ago he and fellow comedian jerry seinfeld created a show that made television history. "seinfeld" ran for nine seasons, considered by many to be the greatest sitcom of all time. larry david followed his success there with the improvisational comedy series "curb your enthusiasm." now he is on broadway. he wrote and stars in "fish in the dark." i recently spent time getting

into larry david's head for cbs's "60 minot!s." tonight, we bring you an hour from those conversations. look at this, larry david above the title. what would your mother think now? >> my mother would be doing cart wheels. she would not be able to contain herself. >> rose: her son on broadway. yeah. i think she would lose every friend that she had. it would be a lilt too much. >> rose: she couldn't have imagined this. >> no, no. no never. >> rose: and you? what does it mean for you? >> you know, i don't look at this and do cart wheels. >> rose: part of -- it could be somebody else's name almost. >> rose: part of the process? yeah, part of it. >> rose: opening scene is a

man dying. >> yeah. >> rose: yet you, larry david the writer, chose that as the opening set piece. for comedy. >> it's funny. >> rose: explain why it's funny. >> because it's dark. it's the things that you would normally not be able to joke about. and, so, on some level that works. >> rose: because that's what you have done finding that some level dark some level unattractive some level revealing, and make it funny. and why is it funny for the audience? because they see it in themselves or what? >> that's part of it and because it's something that they're not used to seeing jokes about. >> rose: right. so it's surprising. it's surprising to be irreverent

in a situation like that, it surprises them, and i think they like that. because they've had the same thoughts. but they weren't expressed. >> rose: that idea has been very good to you, hasn't it? >> what idea? >> rose: the idea that people -- what you just said that people see it see thoughts they're not able to express and they recognize it and recognition is part of comedy. >> yes, yes. yes. that's exactly right. it's been good to me and a lot of other comedians. and writers whatever. >> rose: that's what comedy is. >> yeah. >> rose: do you know why you wanted to be a comedian? >> yeah. because i had no -- there was nothing else in the world i could possibly do. there was nothing else i could do.

yeah. i had nothing. it seemed like i was funny so why not try and use this particular skill that i had to make a living. because there was nothing else that i could do. >> rose: larry david grew up in the sheepshead bay section of brooklyn new york, lived in an apartment complex surrounded by his extended family. >> so this was my apartment. this is where i grew up. >> rose: okay. this is where my aunt uncle and cousins grew up. >> rose: and. and the schwartz's lived here, buddy and their girls. >> rose: upstairs? upstairs, my grandmother, uncle, cousin. friends on the second and third and fourth floor. >> rose: so you grew up here. yes. >> rose: doors were open, you

could come in and out. >> yes. >> rose: kalinsky. oh louie looky there! surprise surprise. we had a piano here. looks even smaller than i remember it. >> rose: you must be mrs. galinski. i'm charlie rose. >> hi. >> rose: what was it like? you know he lived here. >> look at the size of our kitchen. >> rose: you had your own room? >> yeah, this was my room right here. >> rose: again. this was my room i shared with my brother. there were beds here and here. yeah, this is my room. and -- >> rose: ken is older or younger. >> older. >> rose: you shared a bedroom.

yeah. this is the master bedroom. that's my parents' room. >> rose: look at that. the bathroom, i assume. >> yeah, that's the bathroom. by the way, this was a three bedroom, so this was luxurious. >> rose: this was house size. this was a den. >> rose: this is where the tv was. >> this is where the tv was yeah. and my father used to sit here on the chair and watch the untouchables, and this was the couch and -- yeah. >> rose: that's great. but you knew most of the people in this building? >> yeah, you knew everybody in the building. >> rose: they all knew you, you knew the kids, everybody knew what everybody's business was? >> absolutely. you could recite every apartment. you knew who lived in every single apartment. >> rose: and who lived there before they did? >> well, no, we were the first ones in the building. >> rose: right. so, you knowyk

there wasn't much turnover, and you knew who lived in every apartment. >> rose: and your grandmother would come down and -- >> yeah, yeah, my grandmother upstairs. >> rose: would you eat together? >> well, yeah. yeah, we would, except for my father because he came home too late from work to eat with him. >> rose: he was a clothing manufacturer? >> he was a salesman. >> rose: salesman, yeah. i mean, seems like this is a good thing -- family, everybody took care of each other. >> yeah, it was good. it was good. i remember always trying to touch the ceiling to jump up because i was this high. >> rose: oh, yeah. eventually, i got to be able to touch it? to dunk it. >> yeah, to dunk it. and...

we used to -- they had a basket that went over the door of the room and we'd play with a big sock, you know. you were never bored as a kid. there was no such thing. we played so many games that we invented. and i took you around the neighborhood. we used to play high life. we played with our arms and slung a ball. >> rose: let me ask you, roots are everything, family's everything. >> yeah. >> rose: you're walking back here for the first time. >> yeah. >> rose: ever! yeah. >> rose: emotions? not much. >> rose: you've moved on. (laughter) >> i could be in man manhattan now

for all i care. >> rose: you don't care. a place where your moth -- your mother around father raids you with the confidence you have to come do this. are you heartless? >> i'm devoid of feelings at this moment. >> rose: this is mott the side of loving, kind, sweet generous larry david. >> that my friend described. >> rose: yeah, the one your friend told me about. he said, you will be surprised. you will meet a guy who's just lovely and wonderful. and you come to where you grew up and you feel knotting? >> absolutely nothing. (laughter) >> rose: i mean, memories.

yeah, you would think i would be flooded with this wave of emotion coming back to my old apartment. >> rose: yeah. this is where it began. >> i'm surprisingly unmoved. >> rose: you know, you've gone from this, a lovely place, full of warmth to a cold mansion in l.a. >> yeah. that's true. that's true. when can i go home? (laughter) when can i go back to that cold mansion as you described it? yeah. >> rose: how did this growing up in sheepshead bay -- parents here and brother here in the same room your uncle and aunt next door, your grandmother on the floor above, how much of that did you -- and how did you dig into that to write standup to write "seinfeld," to write

"curb your enthusiasm"? >> i wish i could answer that. >> rose: i'm serious. it's a good question. >> rose: you can't make the connection? >> things make an impression on you and it stays with you, and you're just able to tap into it. >> rose: it's almost a creative process you can't really put in your hands? >> yeah. but it was all shaped here, whatever -- >> rose: whatever it is. yeah. >> rose: that's about as much as you know about how it worked. >> yes. >> rose: you just know it worked. >> yeah. >> rose: because we're all -- yeah. >> rose: the child is the father is the man they say. >> yeah, but i'm sure it's the same for everyone. and plus let's face it, you're born the way you are. if i had grown up with -- >> rose: in beverly hills. -- mr. and mrs. anderson in iowa would i be the same? >> rose: i don't know, i think it's a combination.

>> yeah, a combination. >> rose: you know genetics and the other parts. >> right. >> rose: is nurture. but i'm not nearly smart enough to talk about that. >> rose: it is a connection, the creative process. you know it's there, you know it gave you -- >> this place where i'm standing now shaped everything yeah. >> rose: and in part gives you confidence? >> where does the word -- why is that word being mentioned to me? >> rose: it's not a word you're familiar with? >> no, no. not in the slightest. i can't even believe it came out of your mouth. gave me confidence? >> rose: you're just putting me on. >> gave me confidence? what kind of confidence? where was the confidence? where's confidence? >> rose: it's a confidence you found when you sit down to write! the confidence you found when

jerry seinfeld came to you and said -- >> doesn't mean i had confidence! i thought, oh boy i've got to do this. doesn't mean i was confident i was going to be any good. >> rose: when did you know you were going to be good? >> i don't! i don't! what's wrong with you? >> rose: both his confidence and his sense of humor emerged after leaving brooklyn. you have said on stage, happy childhood. happy childhood. miserable adult, but happy childhood. >> yeah. >> rose: so it was happy mainly because of home. >> yeah. i don't remember being unhappy. i don't remember bouts of depression or anything. i think once -- yeah everything up until college was great, you know. everything up until i graduated was great. >> rose: how did you fit in in

maryland? >> oh, that completely -- it was a completely different experience than high school. >> rose: in what way? i fit in! >> rose: ah! i fit in! i made friends! people liked me! i was popular! i was funny! it just worked. it worked. >> rose: but why? i don't know. something came out. something came out. my sense of humor came out. >> rose: that's what they say. buns i got away from brook -- once i got away from brooklyn, my sense of humor came out. i sort of discovered who i was. >> rose: and you could make a people laugh. >> yes into after college, larry david tried his handed a standup comedy but success did not come quickly. you were described and have been described as a comic's comic. >> well, i think -- i think to a large part, they like to come in the back of the room because, very often, i wouldn't do well.

>> rose: you wouldn't do well. i wouldn't do well, no. >> rose: the man who created "seinfeld." >> yeah. >> rose: the man who created "curb your enthusiasm." >> yeah. >> rose: didn't think you would do well? >> i didn't do well, very often. >> rose: why? because i didn't relate well to the audience. >> rose: did you have contempt for them? >> no, i didn't have -- if they liked me, i loved them. if they didn't i had great contempt, yeah. (laughter) but, you know, when you do standup, there's certain requirements you have to do. when you go on stage you get introduced you have to say, hey, how you doing? how are ya? >> rose: it was false for you? it was false. i couldn't do it. >> rose: it was even said sometimes you would take a look at the audience and not go on. >> yeah. >> rose: you made a judgment about them before you gave them a chance to laugh. >> yeah. i did that once. previous comedian, i was in the back of the room, there was

something about them i didn't like. when they introduced me i got up on stage and i kind of looked them over and i said, aaaa... i don't think so. and i left. >> rose: didn't you worry that your reputation would go down? >> no. >> rose: didn't you worry the word got out larry wouldn't show up? >> no, the club owners liked me and put up with me. >> rose: there's nothing that i can imagine more difficult than people waiting and saying to you hey, make me laugh. that's what it's like. >> yeah they're pretty demanding. it was tough. i think if i did it now, it would be a lot easier because they would be coming to see me. >> rose: you have a persona now. >> yeah. >> rose: they'd laugh even if it wasn't funny. >> yeah. and then i was trying to act like they were my friends.

i was trying to be who i was with my friends, so i would go up and that's what i was trying to do. they weren't my friends, they didn't know me from a hole in the wall and it didn't work. >> rose: you found out you were better than improvisation. >> i did take an improve class and i remember in the class, i remember that day i did very well. i felt great doing it. i really liked it. i can interject. i didn't have to wait for somebody to do the talking. >> rose: yes. and i can make up the lines as i was going along and it wasn't a script and i could remember every compliment i got since i was 5 and i remember one of them came up and said you're really good at. this and stayed with me. years later when i got the idea for "curb." >> rose: i'll come to that. did you have to muster the courage to go up or were you steeled to take the audience as you found them?

>> you mean doing standup? >> rose: yeah. yeah. i once had this dream where there was a war going on in my house. i was upstairs sleeping and i heard the sounds of canons and gunfire downstairs in the living room, okay. in my dream, i wake up and i go, what the hell's going on here? and i go downstairs and there's like a war. there's people in army uniforms and there's different sides and i ducked behind the couch, okay. then all of a sudden -- and there's a little stage area with a microphone in the living room of this big house i lived in -- wasn't my house, not the real house i had but this dream house -- and through the gunfire going over my head and everything, a guy comes up to me one of the soldiers, points a gun at my head and says, get up and do a set.

i said, what? >> rose: or i'll blow your brains out. >> yeah, or i'll blow your brains out. i said, what? he said, do a set. i said, i can't, there's a war going on here! he said, get up. so i got up and went through the gunfire. >> rose: that was your nightmare. >> yeah. >> rose: a hell of a way to earn a living. >> well, i didn't earn much of a living. >> rose: meanwhile, your friends were doing okay. >> my friends were doing well, yeah. >> rose: why are they doing well and you're not? >> they've got it figured out. they know how to do it. >> rose: or you hadn't found yourself. >> well, i think a combination of both, yeah. >> rose: "seinfeld" was killing 'em. >> oh, yeah. yeah. he was doing great. >> rose: did you ever say to yourself, i am not going to make it? i dream of this, this is what i ought to be doing and i'm not

making it? >> yes, of course, all the time. this is an apocryphal that i used to walk around looking for spots -- >> rose: you didn't. i did. >> rose: i don't believe you. swear to god. in the event i became homeless, where would i stay? i found this great spot between 5th and 6th and there was heat blowing out of it and i thought, that's for me. >> rose: i'll always have a home because i discovered this place. >> exactly. >> rose: you wouldn't even go on late-night talk shows. >> no, well i really -- >> rose: didn't get invited. i didn't get invited. in fact, one time when i was at the improv, the night show coordinator came up to me and i didn't ask him if i could go on. he came up to me unsolicited and

said johnny wouldn't like you (laughter) >> rose: your wife was once the coordinator. wasn't she a guest coordinator for letterman. >> yes, my future wife at the time laurie. >> rose: and couldn't get you on? >> no. >> rose: david said -- no. somebody said it. i think it was laurie. (laughter) >> rose: said, you are not right for my show! (laughter) >> yeah exactly. >> rose: so there were a bunch of people sitting around, talking about you, and they said that if someone had told them that you would be as successful as you are, people would say you're crazy. you are crazy to think larry david is going to be this huge star with "seinfeld" and "curb"

to his credit. >> yeah, i could see that. i could see how they'd think somebody would be craze. but, you know -- >> rose: well, nobody believed you could be as good as you are then, did they? >> well, i did have -- you know, i don't want to say that i never did well, but when i did do well, you know -- >> rose: it was enough to keep you going. >> yeah, it was enough to keep me going and enough to make me think that i had something to offer. you know, jerry and i always had a really good comedy rapport and we used to write together sometimes and we'd go off and he'd tell me his premises and i would tell him mine and we would share information and help each

other. then when he got the offer from nbc, he approached me. so it was just that, really. >> rose: you had written for him before. >> i hadn't written for him. >> rose: you would talk about routines. >> yeah we would talk about routines. and laurie, my ex-wife, likes to think that the whole "seinfeld" thing was -- that she was responsible for it because carol leafer, a comedienne friend of ours, for her birthday and a present for her, i wrote standup material for carol for her birthday present. she was having a party and at the party she said, read the material. i said, i don't want to read it. so jerry read it and jerry got great laughs. so laurie insists that, well, yeah, if it's not for that, because laurie is the one that

made jerry reed that's why. >> rose: and jerry loved it and got a lot of response. >> well, it was a party, you know. >> rose: whose idea was "seinfeld"? >> well, it wasn't much of an idea, really, if you examine it. >> rose: it was about nothing. it was about nothing, seriously. i mean we -- he came up to me at the rising star and mentioned nbc wanted to do a special with him. we were both living on the west side and we were going to take the cab back and share a cab. before we got into the cab we went into the grocery store to get some stuff and we started talking about the products, things in the grocery, as we were prone to do. as we were talking, you know, i said, this is the show, this is what the show should be. this is the kind of dialogue that we should be hearing. >> rose: but then why did you create a character, george, who was a reflection of you rather than you playing the role?

>> it never -- that was never even on the table. it was never -- i never said, oh, i would like to be in it. i didn't want to be in it. >> rose: why not? i wasn't interested many acting really. i didn't want to do that. >> rose: even though it had a kind of improvisation to it. >> well, not really. i mean, it was a scripted show. >> rose: right. written by you? >> yeah but you couldn't -- first of all, there is no way i could have been the executive producer of the show and also been in it at the same time. >> rose: right. that would have been impossible. it was way too much work to do that. >> rose: and the most successful show demands a good executive producer and a big star. >> yeah. yeah, you have to put all of your time and attention and focus on it. >> rose: did it change you? i mean, it gave me money. >> rose: of course it did, lots of money.

>> but -- >> rose: well, confidence. it gave me something that i didn't have, but not in the way that people think that, oh man, it was like a total transformation. to this day i couldn't still walk up to a woman at a bar and say hello. i don't have that. >> rose: yes, you do. i don't. i don't. charlie, don't argue with me on this one, baby! >> rose: oh, come on, you can go up and say -- all you have to do is go up to the bar and say, hi i'm larry david. >> yeah. really? first of all, and i know she would go, who are you? so what? >> rose: no she wouldn't. you know better. >> i'd never do that. >> rose: you would never go and say i'm larry david? >> no. >> rose: because you're afraid of being turned down?

>> yeah, of course are you kidding? >> rose: today, with all the success? >> yeah. >> rose: one of your friends sadome, just think about it he created "seinfeld," executive producer, "curb your enthusiasm," he's going to broadway, this is a man who's done something remarkable creating three big productions. >> well, you are who you are. from the time you're born. i don't think that changes. it never did for me. yeah, i know externally i know. >> rose: it gave you the confidence to get engaged. >> the confidence to get engaged. >> rose: it did. yeah. >> rose: then it took you a while to get married. >> well, it's not like i never had a date. i'm not some hermit. i mean i had dates. >> rose: yeah. yeah it gave me the confidence at least to ask.

you know, i'm making a living. it's something you can consider. >> rose: so explain to me what happened. how did larry david growing up in brooklyn become larry david executive producer? what was it that enabled you to take that huge leap forward and become what you are today? >> well, certainly -- you know, if jerry hadn't approached me at "catch a rising star" that night, there's no way i'm signature here, that's for sure. that started the whole thing, that show. in terms of the writing aspect of it, i had no writing experience, and i think that turned out to be a good thing. i didn't know how things were done in television. i was just kind of guessing. and somehow, it came out, and it

was good and acceptable. but i think the idea that we didn't do that show the way shows are done, which there's a lot of writers in a room all throwing jokes in and all working on a script at one time. that's not how it was done at all. >> rose: how was it done? it was just done basically after a writer would hand in a scripped -- well, the first couple of years, there were a few writers. but mostly, all the rewriting was done by me and jerry. >> rose: but do you have a unique perspective on life that somehow is funny? >> well, i hope. (laughter) i'd better yeah. >> rose: but that's what's happened, isn't it? i mean, you had the capacity that somehow -- and the world caught up with you -- to look at

life with a certain edge. >> i must. i suppose i do. yeah. couldn't articulate it. i don't know what it is. >> rose: you don't know what it is. >> no. >> rose: has anybody ever tried to explain it to you. >> yeah. >> rose: and what do they say? well, one article i read said that i take -- i blow up the small things and reduce the big things. >> rose: there's some truth to that. >> there's some truth to that, yeah. i don't know. >> rose: probably better you don't know. >> yeah, probably. >> rose: when "seinfeld" -- who made the decision to end it? >> well i left two years before it was over and then jerry went on for the last two years. >> rose: and he decided even though he was doing quite well, because he was working so hard. nine years for him seven years

for me. >> rose: was it hard to leave? i was ready. i felt like seven years was a long time to be doing that. also, after you do these shows for a while, the bar is so high then it's almost intimidating to think, how am i going to do another 22 22 shows? it seems impossible. so i would go through that same thing every year. then finally, i thought -- >> rose: that's what the guys in monty python told me. they said, we didn't think we could be that good every year. we didn't know that we could with b that funny. >> yeah. >> rose: you're running against yourself. >> you're in competition against your previous seasons. >> rose: and what did you think you were going to do when you left "seinfeld"? >> i really didn't know. i thought i would do some standup. >> rose: what was your state of mind at this time? >> leaving "seinfeld"? >> rose: yes sir. well, when the show premiered

in september, i remember thinking, you idiot, what have you done? oh, my god... all your friends are there, all the fun is there. what did you do? so i was upset. yeah, i thought i really had made a terrible mistake. >> rose: i have no pride in this question, but were you happy? (laughter) >> you mean -- >> rose: i mean, did you look at larry and say, i'm all right. everything's good. >> no, i don't think like that. >> rose: never? no. but i do have a much better disposition than people expect. >> rose: meaning what? that generally my mood is pretty good. you know, before i did "seinfeld," i was very bleak. i would wake up in the morning and the first thought in my head

is oh, no. oh i've got to go through this now. >> rose: another day. i've got to muddle may way through. >> yeah. but once "seinfeld" started, all those thoughts were gone. >> rose: what did "seinfeld" do for you? it gave you... >> it gave me a reason to -- i don't know. it focused me on something. >> rose: but success can give you confidence. >> i guess, yeah. i don't know. you know when you're working hard, you're focused. >> rose: you just do it. you just do it and you don't really think about it. but i'm a much happier person than people expect. >> rose: that's what your friend said he's happy, kind. >> i'm in a good mood, generally. i'm much happier post-seinfeld

then pre. there's no comparison. >> rose: is it part because of the success people said they did it well, this is the greatest sitcom in the history of television? you created along with jerry the greatest sitcom in the history of television! that's what they say. that gives you confidence. that gives you -- gives you something to call home about. >> not the way you would think it does. >> rose: then what way? well, you don't have to worry about money anymore. >> rose: right. so that terrible problem is gone. and that's a huge deal. >> rose: it is, it is. that's huge. so once that's gone you don't really have any right, given what your lifestyle is, you have no rights -- no right to complain. you cannot complain. you have too much.

there are too many people who have nothing and i used to have nothing. i was able to complain, okay? i was able to be dark and bleak and complain. but once -- once i started making money on that show all reasons to complain were out the window. i had my health. i had money. could not complain. couldn't justify it, no way. i mean, i could complain to myself, but never to another person. >> rose: tell me about the creation of "curb your enthusiasm." >> well, so now i had finished "seinfeld" -- >> rose: you had a lot of money but not as much as they say. (laughter) >> right, i had a lot of money, but not as much as they say, and i was thinking about going back to do standup. i hadn't done it in ten years. and jeff garland, who played

jeff green on the show fabulous guy, funniest guy, he had an office next door to me and said what are you going to do? i said, i'm thinking of going back to standup. he said you should film it film the process of going back after a ten-year absence of doing standup, he said and i'll direct it. i said, i don't want to do that the camera following me around, i don't like the idea. i talked to laurie. she said, you should do it, but i wasn't convinced. i started to think about it and thought, if they filmed the stuff on stage that would be fine. it would be the stuff off stage that would be the problem because it was boring. what, they're going to film me at the dry-cleaner? it was nothing. it would be boring and i didn't like the idea of a camera following me around like that. but then i thought, perhaps i

made up some stuff. suppose i created this fictional kind of world where i was married and i had a manager and jeff would play the manager and i'll create some funny situations that we could film as if they were real. and i said to jeff you don't direct it, you play my manager and i wrote this -- >> rose: i'll write it. i'll write it. i wrote this outline. >> rose: mainly improvisational. >> it had to be because if it was supposed tock documentary it couldn't be scripted because it wouldn't seem spontaneous so that's how it started. >> rose: this is the way larry david on "curb your enthusiasm" has been described -- outrageous offensive, antisocial politically incorrect, unfiltered. >> oh, that's just -- i love that. love that. >> rose: why do you love that? i just love all those things.

that's what a comedian is supposed to be. >> rose: all that. yeah into the main thing a comedian should be is authentic. >> and funny. >> rose: and funny. yeah. >> rose: but why is it disconnects? i'm talking about "seinfeld." why has this connected? because some people, deep inside of them would like to be that character, would like to be unfiltered, say what's on their mind with no social restraints. >> that's exactly right because we have to behave a certain way in society and if we don't we can't get along, we won't -- social intercourse is just filled with so many lies and deceit. it's all so deceitful that everybody has all these thoughts that -- >> rose: and would we be a better world if, in fact,

everybody expressed all these thoughts? >> no, i don't think so. >> rose: so it's a good thing. yeah, it's a good thing. >> rose: but it's a good chance for us to see it. >> yeah. >> rose: and sort of fantasize that we could be like that. >> right. every social encounter is just fraught with anxiety and all kinds of things that are lurking beneath. it's all subtext. everybody has thoughts they're not expressing about the other person or things in general, and with this show, i was able to express every thought that i had. >> rose: about everything. about everything yeah. >> rose: about making love with a palestinian woman. >> yeah. >> rose: where did that come from? >> i just thought that i'm just the kind of guy who would have sex with anyone wouldn't care what their beliefs were. >> rose: and whatever she was saying to you, you wouldn't care. >> yeah they could be an

anti-semite, i could have sex with them, i wouldn't care. so what? if it was an attractive anti-semite who wanted to stick with me, iblgd do it, i wouldn't care. then i thought, who would be an anti-semite, well, maybe a palestinian. >> rose: and what would she say when you were making love? okay pi meoccupy me is what she said. >> she made all this stuff up that's the thing about the improvisation. i couldn't write better than these actors. criesy-eyed killer, the actors came up with that. >> rose: who came up with the idea of taking a holocaust survivor and the survivor from the television show? the mind of larry david. >> you know all of a sudden there was a promo for "survivor" on television and it struck

me -- and i can't believe nobody else put this together -- that there are holocaust survivors who call themselves survivors right? >> rose: right. and then i thought oh, yeah, i got to get those two in the same room, you know, who had the worst experience. but -- >> rose: and make it funny. yeah, and make it funny. and i also thought this seems like an idea that it's right there for the plucking you know. and i better -- we better get this out fast. so -- >> rose: does anybody say to you, larry, you have gone therefore? >> yeah. yeah. >> rose: and you ignore it? well, yeah. >> rose: because you are your own man. >> well, here's the thing -- everybody likes something as long as it doesn't affect their group. you know -- >> rose: say whatever you want

about them but don't dare talk about me. >> a good friend of mine loves dogs, loves the show. she loves the show. she would call me upup after shows and the most offensive stuff was going on and she just couldn't get enough of it but then as soon as there was something about a dog -- >> rose: no. nope! and you could say that about a lot of different people. >> rose: but is there a point where you have said i have gone too far? >> no. >> rose: this will not play there will be too much of a reaction against this? >> no. >> rose: because out of the mind of larry david, it's okay? >> it's i'm just doing what makes me laugh. if i think something is too far it probably isn't making me laugh. >> rose: that's the test, good comedians know what makes them laugh and that's what they can create. >> yeah. >> rose: is it genius? don't you do that.

>> what? >> rose: what you have. idiculous. >> rose: is it fun? it's so much fun. >> rose: is it really? charlie i just had the greatest time on "curb." i was laughing. i mean, i don't know if you could tell, if you could see me smiling. every take, we had to stop, i had to go like this to the crew keep rolling just let me get my composure back. when j.v. smoov is talking to you and cheryl and bob, they're all amazing. >> reporter: larry david has lived an extraordinary life one that even he can appreciate. hasn't larry david looked out for himself? >> well charlie, i mean sure. >> rose: what would you change about your life? >> about my life some. >> rose: yes, your life.

that's a tough question. i don't know. i can't think of anything. it would sound too petty for television. >> rose: in other words, you're editing yourself now. >> yeah. >> rose: i don't want you to edit yourself. i want you to tell me. >> somebody's got to edit me! you're not going to! everything i don't want to say i know is going to be aired. i'm going to go, oh, no! i said that and that! >> rose: tell me! what don't you like about your life? >> i like my life. i'm very happy about my life yeah. >> rose: but you're afraid of people thinking that? >> no. >> rose: are you afraid of them knowing what you don't like about your life? >> that yeah. >> rose: is it women? that's in there, yeah!

>> rose: what else? women is one thing, what else? what else? >> no, it's women. yeah. >> rose: are you telling me the truth? >> yeah. yeah. >> rose: hmm. larry david has a woman problem? >> i wouldn't put it like that. >> rose: how would you put it? i'd say that i'm relationship-challenged. >> rose: why? see, this is why i didn't want to say anything! i don't want to talk about this! >> rose: i do though. oh, yeah, i'm sure you do. i can't talk about it. it's too hard to talk about.

i can't talk about it. i'm uncomfortable talking about it. >> rose: why is it hard? it makes me uncomfortable. >> rose: it's personal. it's none of my business. >> i'll tell you when the camera's off. >> rose: i know. what i'm trying to do is this is what everyone who's watching wants to know. who is larry david. >> this guy. you are too much mr. rose. >> rose: why? you're probing. what is the probe? >> rose: because we want to know who you are! >> who the hell knows! i don't know. >> rose: you do know! whatever you see, that's what i am. >> rose: that's not true. you told me you created a character. it's not you. it's who you might want to be but you're not. who are you? (laughter) >> i don't know, charlie. leave me alone. leave me alone! >> rose: you just want to go back into your routine.

>> yes! >> rose: all of a sudden, your routine is okay. >> yes! i want to get you out of my life right now. (laughter) who am i? >> rose: yeah. i'm a jerk that's who. >> rose: no, that's an act. i'm like everybody else. >> rose: that's an act. no. >> rose: it really isn't? no. >> rose: how are you a jerk? i'm just a jerk. >> rose: how are you a jerk? let's stop talking about me. that's why i don't want to do this interview in the first place. you think i want to be talking to "60 minutes"? i didn't want to do it! i knew you would be asking questions like this! no, i don't want to do "60 minutes"! >> rose: then why did you do it? >> i got talked into it. >> rose: you have no backbone, no capacity to say no? >> no! >> rose: but the guy that you create would be able to say no. >> there you go. >> rose: there's your biggest hangup. >> yeah. >> rose: you can't say no but you can create a character

that's can say no. >> yeah. >> rose: you're not a jerk but you can create a character that's a jerk! >> yeah. that's it. that's better than any therapy i ever got. >> rose: your director just said to me -- >> yes. >> rose: -- charming, dashing, handsome. >> yeah. yeah. dashing? >> rose: do you feel that? do i feel dashing? >> rose: yes. i don't feel dashing. ♪ i don't feel dashing ♪ ♪ i don't feel dashing ♪ >> rose: yes you do. do you think i feel dashing? are you insane? do you think i ever had one moment of feeling dashing? maybe if i was drunk. >> rose: you know what women say? back to women. >> yeah. >> rose: nothing is more attractive to a woman than somebody that makes them laugh.

(laughter) >> oh, that's such utter nonsense. that's such nonsense. gilbert godfrey did the funniest joke about that. oh, gosh i wish i could remember it. it's -- no. they might say that, but no. >> rose: what do they mean? i was funny when i had nothing, and it didn't work, okay? >> rose: i promise you, this is my last question about women. >> yeah. >> rose: what do you think women want? >> what do they want? >> rose: mm-hmm. they want love, security. you know -- >> rose: you must be attracted to them. >> well, i could give them one of those. >> rose: is there any part of you that said i've conquered television, i have plenty of money, i could go back to television anytime i want, they're beg meg to do more --

begging me to do more "curb your enthusiasm." i want to do something new. i want the challenge. >> well certainly i wanted to do something new by writing the the play, then all of a sudden it was presented to me to be in it and yes, i did have that moment of, oh well, this is going to be really challenging, and, yeah, i made a decision to do it. >> rose: and you're glad you did. you are. >> yeah, but -- >> rose: you're glad you were talked into doing it. >> okay. okay. i'm glad -- somewhat. i'm glad with reservations. >> rose: what are the reservations? >> the reservations are -- it's the schedule. >> rose: the schedule?

there's a sameness to every day that i find very disturbing. >> reporter: and boring or just disturbing? >> disturbing. >> rose: you like variety every day in your life. >> yes. >> rose: you like improvisation. >> exactly. >> rose: you don't like a script. >> exactly. my life is scripted, perfect! yes! my life is scripted and it's odd! it's odd. look, i don't want to complain -- >> rose: i was going to say, you're not the man to complain, just want to tell ya. >> i can't complain. i'm not allowed to complain. >> rose: you walk out on stage and they're cheering at the sight of you. >> yeah, one of the sad things of my life, i'm not allowed to complain. >> rose: that's why you create a character that complains all the time by the way! >> that's right. what were we talking about? >> rose: we were talking about the acting of it.

>> we were talking about the sameness. >> rose: you're glad you did it. it worked out well. >> what's worked out well is they really like it. >> rose: they the audience. yes. >> rose: that bought the tickets, coming to see you. >> yes. >> rose: and once here are applauding generally. >> yeah. yeah, they like the show. >> rose: do you have an ego that that just sort of makes you thrilling? do you love it? do you love the idea when you hear that applause and you think about sheepshead bay and all that you have done since then? you're looking at me like it's crazy. do you? when you walk out and you know, look, there have been tough times for me, which we've talked about, and here i am at the center of new york on broadway in a play that i wrote and i'm the star of and when they say

their first glimpse of me -- >> it's not what you think. >> rose: really some. yeah. it's not what you think. i don't -- you know, every now and then, i go, oh, this is kind of cool. but, now after almost two weeks of doing it, i am fairly confident that the play is working and it's funny and people are really enjoying it. captioning sponsored by rose communications captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> rose: for more about this program and earlier episodes, visit us online at pbs.org and

charlierose.com.

>> and by bloomberg, a provider of multimedia news and information services worldwide.

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