>> rose: welcome to the program. as summer comes to an end, we look back at some of the best moments in our program. tonight an encore presentation of my conversation with larry david. >> i want 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 oh, well this is going to be really challenging. and yeah, i made the decision to do it. >> rose: larry david for the hour next. >> rose: funding for "charlie rose" has been provided by: >> rose: additional funding provided by:

>> and by bloomberg, a provider of multimedia news and information services worldwide. 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 dark, observational humor has made him one of the post distinctive voices in comedy. 25iers ago he and fellow comedian jerry seinfeld created a show that made television history. seinfeld reason for nine seasons. it is considered by many to be the greatest sitcom of all time. larry david follows his success there with the improvisational comedy series curb your enthusiasm am 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 minutes."

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 cartwheels. she would not be able to contain herself. you know. her son on broadway. >> yeah. i think she would lose every friend that she had. it would be a little too much, yeah. >> rose: she couldn't have imagined this. >> no, no, no, never, yeah. >> rose: and you? what does it mean for you? >> you know, i don't look at this and do cartwheels. it's almost-- . >> rose: part of the -- >> it could be somebody else's name,. >> rose: part of the process. >> yes, part of it, yeah. >> rose: the opening scene is a man dying.

>> yeah. >> rose: yet you, larry david the writer, chose that as the opening set piece for comedy. >> funny. >> rose: explain why it's funny. >> because it's dark. it's just-- it's 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 is this. >> tas's part of it. and because it's something that they're not used to seeing jokes about. so it is surprising. to 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 for you, hasn't it. >> what idea? >> rose: the idea that people-- what you just said. that people see it and they see thoughts they they are not able to express and they recognize it. and recognition is part of comedy. >> yes, yes, yeah, that's exactly right. it's been good to me and a lot of other comedians and writers and what ever. >> 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 that i could possibly do. there was nothing else i could do. i-- yeah, i had nothing.

and 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 into the sheepshead section of new york am he lived in an apartment complex surrounded by his extended family. >> so this was my apartment. this is where i grew up. and here, this is where my aunt, uncle and cousins grew up. and the schwartz's lived here, buddy and ethyl. upstairs my grandmother and my uncle and my cousins. and friends on the second floor and fourth floor. i was up and down these stairs all day. >> rose: you would come in and out. >> yeah. >> rose: gallinski.

>> oh, look there, oh, wow, wow, hello. yeah. surprise, surprise. well, we had a piano over here. yeah. look, it looks even smaller than i remember it. >> rose: you must be mrs. gallinski. hello, i'm charlie rose. you must know this man. >> hello, hi. nice to meet you. >> rose: you know he lived here. look at our kitchen. look at the size of our kitchen. >> rose: you had your own room. >> yeah, this was my room right here. >> rose: again. >> this is my room. i shared with my brother, yeah. there were beds here and here. yeah. this was my room. and. >> rose: was your brother older or younger. >> he's older. >> rose: you shared a bedroom. >> yeah. this is the master bedroom.

that is my parents' room. >> rose: this is the bathroom. >> bathroom. and this was-- by the way, this was a three bedroom so this was luxurious. so this was a den. this was where the tv was, yeah. and my father used to sit here on the chair and watch the "untouchables", and this was the couch, yeah. >> rose: but you knew most of the people in this building. >> yeah, everybody. you knew everybody in the building. >> rose: they all knew you, you knew the kids, you knew, 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. so you know, for ten years, there wasn't much turnover.

and you knew who lived in every apartment. >> rose: and your grandmother would come down. >> yeah, my grandmother, upstairs. and. >> rose: would you eat together? >> well, yeah, yeah, we would. except for my father, because he came home too late. he came home too late from work to eat with him. >> rose: he was a clothing manufacturer. >> he was a salesman, yeah. >> rose: it seems like this is a good thing, family. >> yeah. >> rose: everybody took care of each other. >> yeah, it was good. it was good. i remember trying to touch the ceiling to jump, to jump and touch it because i was this high. and eventually i got to be-- . >> rose: you could dunk it. >> yeah, i could dunk it. and we used to-- they had a basket that went over the

door of the room. and we would 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. we had a high-rise, we played your with our arms. >> rose: okay, let me ask you this. >> sure, yeah. >> rose: roots are everything, family is everything. >> yeah. >> rose: and you're walking back here for the first time. >> yeah. >> rose: ever! >> yeah. >> rose: emotions. >> not emotions, no, nothing. (laughter) no, no, nothing whatsoever. >> rose: nothing. >> i could be in manhattan right now for all i care. >> rose: you don't care. >> no. >> rose: it doesn't mean anything. >> no.

>> rose: where your loving beautiful mother grew up with you, she raised you, she made awe long with your father. >> yeah. >> rose: gave you the confidence to go out and do what you do. >> oh, yeah. oh, sure, yes. >> rose: don't you feel that. >> nope, nope, completely devoid of any feelings whatsoever at this moment. >> rose: this is like curb your enthusiasm, isn't it. >> yeah, in a way. >> rose: this is that side of you at this moment. >> yes. >> rose: this is not the side of loving, kind, sweet, generous. >> that my friends describe. >> rose: what your friends tell me about, they said you will be surprised. will you meet a guy that is just lovely, fun and delightful and i comes from where he grew up. where he became a -- >> yeah. >> rose: young adult. >> uh-huh. >> rose: nothing. >> absolutely nothing. >> rose: i mean memory is everything. >> you would think i would

be flooded with this wave of emotion, coming back to my old apartment. >> rose: this is where it began. >> i'm surprisingly unmoved. >> rose: you go 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? when can i go back to that cold mansion as you describe it. >> rose: how did this growing up in sheepshead, parents here, your brother in the same room, your uncle and aunt next door, grandmother on the floor above, how much of that did you, and how did you dig into that to write panda, to write seinfeld, to write curb your enthusiasm. >> yes, i wish i could answer that question. >> rose: i'm serious. >> it is a good question, i

know you are serious, it is a very good question. >> rose: it happened but you can't -- >> it just, it makes an impression on you and it stays with you. and you are just able to tap into it. >> rose: yeah. it's almost a creative process, you can't really -- >> exactly. but it was all shaped here, whatever. >> rose: whatever it is. >> yeah. >> rose: that is about as much as you know about how it worked. >> yes. >> rose: you just know it worked. >> yes. >> rose: . >> i'm sure it's the same for everyone. plus let's face it, you are born the way you are. if i had grown-up with mr. and mrs. anderson in iowa, would i be the same? i don't know. i think its. >> rose: i think it's a combination of genetics and

other parts. >> right. >> rose: nurture. >> i'm not nearly smart enough to talk about that. >> rose: i'm serious, it is a connection, the creative process. and you know it today. it knows who you are, it gave you -- >> this place where i'm standing now, yes, shaped everything, yeah. >> rose: and in part gives you confidence? >> where does the word-- why-- why is that word being mentioned to me? >> rose: it's not a word you are familiar with. >> no, no. not in the slightest. i can't even believe that 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 is confidence? >> rose: the confidence you found -- >> found. >> rose: when you sat down to write, the confidence that you found-- when seinfeld came to you and

said i want you. >> -- mean i had confidence. i thought oh, i got to do this, yeah. doesn't mean i have confident it was going to be if i good. >> rose: when did you know it would 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. missionerable adult but happy childhood. >> right. >> rose: so it was happy mainly because of home. >> yeah, i mean i don't remember being unhappy. i don't remember bouts of depression or anything. i think once, yeah, everything up until like -- everything up until college was great. you know. everything up until-- up until i graduated was great. >> rose: and how did you if i fit in in maryland?

>> oh, that-- that-- completely, it was a completely different experience than high school. >> rose: in what way? >> i fit in. >> rose: ah. >> i fit in. >> rose: why-- was it different. >> i made friends. >> i was popular, i was funny. it just worked. it worked, yeah. >> 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. >> once i got away from brooklyn, my sense of humor came out. i sort of discovered who i was. >> rose: and you could make people laugh. >> yes. >> rose: after college larry david tried his hand at stand-up comedy but success did not come quickly. you would describe and have been described as a comic's comic. >> well, i think, i think in 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 wellness 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 he 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? >> well, no, i didn't have-- if they liked me i loved them. if they didn't i had great contempt, yeah. but you know, when you do stand-up there is certain requirements you have to do. like you have to go on stage. and when you get introduced you have to y hey, how are you doing? how are you? >> rose: you didn't like that, it was false for you. >> it was false, i couldn't do it. >> rose: it is even said though that sometimes you would take a look at the audience and to the go on. you made a judgement about them before you ian gave them a chance to laugh. >> yeah, i did that once. i was watching the previous comedian, i was in the back of the room, there was something about him, i didn't like. and when they introduced me

a got up on stage and i kind of looked them over and i was like, i don't think so. i left. >> rose: didn't you worry that your reputation would be going down? >> no. >> rose: didn't you worry that the word would get out that larry wouldn't show up? >> no. no, the club owners seemed to like me. >> rose: because they thought you were a comic's comic. >> and they put up with me. >> rose: there is nothing, nothing that i could imagine more difficult than to see some people waiting and saying to you, make me laugh, hey, make me laugh, that's what it's like. >> yeah, yeah. that's 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: and they would know who you are, you have a persona, they would laugh even if it wasn't funny. >> yeah. >> rose: but then -- >> then i was trying to act like they were my friends. you know. 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. but they weren't my friends. they didn't know me from a hole in the wall and it didn't work. >> rose: but you also found out that you were better at improvisation. >> i did take an improv 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 keep talking. and i could make up the lines as i was going along. there wasn't a script. and i remember somebody-- i can remember any compliment i got since i was five and i remember one of the women came up and said you played it really good there. >> oh, wow. and that kind of stayed with me years later when i got the idea for curb. >> rose: we'll come to that. but 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 stand-up?

>> rose: yeah. >> yeah, i once had this deem dream where i was-- 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. and i got-- and in my dream i wake up, i go what the hell is going on here, you know. and i go downstairs and there's like a war. people in army uniforms and different sides. and i duck behind a couch, okay. and then all of a sudden, and there is a little stage area with a microphone in the living room of this big house i lived in. it wasn't my house, you know, not the real house i had but this dreamhouse. and see the fire and the gunfire going over my head and everything. a guy comes up to me, one of the soldiers, points at a gun at my head and says get up and do a set.

>> rose: or i will blow your brains out. >> yeah, or i will blow your brains on, i said what, go do a set, how can i do a set there is a war. get up, i go through the gunfire, i get up and i take the microphone. >> rose: this was your nightmare. >> that's what it was like. >> rose: that's 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: so why are they doing well, and you're not? >> they had got it figured out. they know how to do it. >> rose: or you hadn't found yourself. >> well, i think a combination of both. >> rose: i mean seinfeld was killing them. >> yorx, yeah, yeah. he was doing great. >> rose: did you ever say to yourself, i'm not going to make it. i dream of this, this is me, this is what i ought to be doing and i'm not making it. >> yes, of course, all the

time. you know, i used to walk around looking for spots. >> rose: no, you didn't. >> i did. in the event-- swear to god. in the event that i-- if i became homeless, where would i stay. and i actually found this great spot, you know, in the 40s between 5th and 6th and there was heat blowing out of it. and i thought yeah, that's going to be for me. >> rather: i will always have a home because i have discovered this place. >> exactly, exactly. >> rose: you wouldn't even go on late night talk shows. >> no, well, i didn't really-- . >> rose: you didn't get invited. >> no, i didn't get invited. in fact, one time when i was at the improve-- improv the talent coordinator of the tonight show came up and i didn't even ask him about going on, okay. i didn't say can i go on, i would like to go on the show, okay. he came up to me unsolicited and said johnny wouldn't like you. yeah.

hey, you know what, maybe i don't like johnny. >> rose: injure wife was yuns the coordinator, the guest coordinator on letterman. >> my future wife at the time. >> rose: and couldn't get you on. >> no. >> rose: david say -- >> no. somebody, somebody said you don't want him. she said you are not right for my show. >> exactly, yeah. >> 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 would think that somebody would be crazy. but you know, well. >> rose: 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, it was-- you know, it was-- . >> rose: it was enough to keep you going. >> it was enough to keep me going and enough to make me think that i had something to offer. and you know jerry, jerry and i always had a really good comedy rapport. and we used to write together sometimes. he would tell me his premises and i would tell him mine. and we would share information. and help each other. and then when he got the

offer from nbc, he approached me. so it was just-- it was just that, really. >> rose: you had written for him before. >> i had written for him. we-- . >> rose: you talked about routines. >> yeah, we talked about routines. and lori, my ex-wife likes to think that the whole seinfeld thing was-- she was responsible for it because carol leiffer, a comedienne friend of ours, it was her birthday and for a present for her a wrote material. i wrote stand-up material for carol for her birthday present and she was having a party. and at the party she said read the material. i said i don't want to read it. i so jerry read it and jerry got great laughs with it. so lori insists that oh, well, yeah, if not for that, cuz lore sythe one that made jerry read it, that's why.

>> rose: an jerry loved it and got a lot of response. >> well, you know, it's a party. >> rose: whose idea was seinfeld? >> well, we-- we-- 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 that nbc wanted to do a special with him. and then we were both living on the west side. we were going to take a cab back, share a cab. and before we got in the cab we want into the grocery store to get some stuff, you know. and we started just talking about the products, things in the grocery as we were prone to do. and as we were talking, you know, i would say 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 ?

>> see, 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 in acting, really. i didn't want to do that. >> rose: even though had had a kind of improvisation to it. >> not really. i mean it was a scripted show. >> rose: written by you. >> right. but you couldn't-- there is no way that i could have been the executive producer of the show and also have been in it at the same time that would have been impossible. that is way too much work to do that. >> rose: and most successful shows demand 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: yeah, of course it did, lots of money.

>> but-- it gave me something, it gave me something that i didn't have. but not in a way that people think that oh, man, it's like a to the all transformation t wasn't that at all. i still, you know, to this day i still couldn't walk up to a woman at a bar and say hello, you know, so i don't have that. but i-- . >> rose: yes, you do. >> no, i do not, oh, no. >> rose: you know why. >> 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? >> really? first of all, and i know that she would go who are you? so what, yeah. >> rose: no, she wouldn't. you know better. >> i would never do that. >> rose: you would never go up and say i'm larry david. because are you afraid of being turned down? >> of course, yeah! are you kidding? >> rose: are you serious?

today. >> yes,. >> rose: with all the success. >> yes. >> rose: i mean one of your friends said to me just think about it. he created seinfeld. executive produced. curb your enthusiasm, he's going to broadway. this is a man whose's done something remarkable. creating three big productions. >> well, you are who you are. from the time you are born am and i don't think that changes. it never did for me. yeah. i know, okay, externally i know i have-- . >> rose: it gave you the confidence to get engaged. >> the confidence to get engaged. >> rose: yes, it did. >> yeah. >> rose: but then it took you awhile to get married. >> it's not like i ever had a date. i'm not some her hit. i had dates. but yeah. it gave me the confidence at least to ask.

>> rose: and she said yes. >> i am making a living. there is something there you can consider. >> rose: so explain to me what hatched. 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-- if jerry hadn't approached me at catch a rising star that night, there is no way i'm sitting here, that's for sure. that the staed the whole thing. that show. so 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 slow 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. >> rose: yeah. >> which you know, there's a lot of writers in a room 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 done basically after a writer would hand in a script, the first couple of years it was just-- 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. i better, yeah. >> rose: but that's what 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. i couldn't articulate it. i don't know what it is. >rose: you don't know what it is. >> no, huh-uh. >> rose: has anybody tried to explain it to you. >> yeah. >> rose: and what do they say? >> well, one article i read said that i take-- i make-- i blow up the small things and reduce the big things, you know. >> rose: there's some truth to that. >> there's some truth to that, yeah. i don't know. >> rose: it's 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, yeah. and injuriee went on for the last two years. >> rose: then he decided, even though it was doing quite well. >> yeah. >> rose: because he just was working so hard. >> well, it was nine years for him, it was seven years for me.

>> rose: was it hard to leave? >> i think i was ready. i just felt like seven years was a long time to be doing that. and after you do these shows for a while, the bar is so high that it's almost intimidating to think how am i going to do another 22 shows. it seems impossible, you know. so i would go through that same thing every year. and then finally i thought that-- . >> rose: that is what the guys of monty python told me. they said we didn't think we could be that good every year out. we didn't know that we could be that funny. >> it's-- . >> rose: you are running against yourself. >> right, you're in competition against your previous season. >> rose: and what did you think you were going to do when you left seinfeld. >> i didn't really know. i thought i would do some stand-up. >> rose: what was your state of mind at this time? >> leaving seinfeld? 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-- i was up set, yeah. i thought i really made a terrible mistake. >> rose: were you happy? (laughter) >> rose: i mean did you look at larry and say 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 i'm generally, my mood is pretty good, you know. before, before i did seinfeld i was very bleak. i would wake up in the morning and my first thought in my head was oh no, you

know, i got to go through this now. >> rose: another day. >> another day. but once seinfeld started, all those thoughts were gone. >> rose: so seinfeld did what 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. when are you working hard, are you focused. >> rose: you just do it. >> you just do it. you don't really think about it. but i'm a much happier person than people expect me. >> rose: that's what your friends tell me. >> yeah. >> rose: he's happy, kind. >> i'm in a good mood, generally. i'm much happier post seinfeld than i was preseinfeld, there's no

comparison. >> rose: and is it in part because of success. people said they did it well. this is the greatest sitcom ever 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 any more. >> rose: right. >> so that, that terrible problem is gone. and that's a huge deal. that's huge. so once that's gone, you don't really have any right given what your life style 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 even-- 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: and now you had a lot of money but not as much as they say. >> i had a lot of money but not as much as they say. and i was speaking about going back to do stand-up. 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. he said what are you going to do now. i said i'm thinking about doing some stand-up. he said you should film it. film the process of me going back after a ten year absence to do stand-up. and he said, and i'll direct it. i said you know, i don't want to do that. who needs a camera following me around. i don't like that idea. and i talked to lori about it. and she said no, you should do it i wasn't convinced. and then i started to think about it and i thought well, if they film the stuff on stage, that would be fine. it's the stuff that would be off the stage that i would have a problem with because it seemed really boring. what are they going to do. i will go to a dry cleaner, they will film me at the dry cleaner-- it was nothing. it would be boring. and i didn't like the whole idea of a camera following me around like that but then i thought suppose i made up some stuff.

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

supposed to be. >> rose: all that. >> yeah. >> rose: the main thing a comedian should be is authentic. >> and funny. >> rose: funny helps too. >> yeah. but. >> rose: why has this connected, because people somehow deep inside of them, including you, would like to be that character? >> yes, yes. >> rose: would like to be unfillered. >> yes. >> rose: would like to say what son their mind with no consequences. >> right. >> rose: would like to have no social restraints. >> yes, that's exactly right. because we have to be 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 deceits. it's all so deceitful, that everybody has all these thoughts that this-- . >> rose: and would it be a better world if in fact

everybody expressed all these thoughts. >> 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. >> yes, yes, yeah. >> rose: and sort of fantasize that we could be like that. >> right. every social encounter is just fraught with and sight and-- 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 others 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 to a palestinian woman. >> yeah. >> rose: where did that come from? >> i just thought that oh, i am just the kind of guy that has sex with anyone, wouldn't care what their beliefs were, you know, they could be-- . >> rose: whatever she was saying to you, you wouldn't care. >> i thought they could be an anti-semite. i could, i wouldn't care. what do i care, you know, so

what. and so-- if it was an attractive anti-semite who wanted to sleep with me, i would do it, i wouldn't care. and then i thought, all right, okay. maybe a palestinian. >> rose: yeah. and what would she say wile you were making love. occupy me is what she said. >> she made all that stuff up. see that's the thing about this improvisation. i can't write better than what these ackers can come up with. and so she came up with all that. all the actors did. >> rose: who came up with the idea of taking a holocaust survivor and a survivor from the television show? >> well, i was-- . >> rose: the minds of larry david, the mind of larry david. >> you know, this, 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 a whole cluster of survivors who call themselves survivors, right. >> rose: right. >> and then-- holocaust survivors who call themselves survivors. and i thought yeah, i got to get those in the same room, who had the worst experience. but-- . >> rose: and make it funny. >> an make it funny. and i also thought that 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. >> rather: does anybody say to you, larry, you have gone too far? >> yeah, yeah. >> rose: and you dig nor it. >> oh, yeah wroz because are you your own man. >> here's the thing. everybody likes something as long as it doesn't affect their group. you know. their part. >> rose: whatever i say about them but don't you dare talk about pea.

>> like a good friend of mine who loves dogs, okay. loves the show, okay. she loves the show. she would call me up after shows and the most offensive stuff was going on. and she just loved, con get enough. but then as soon as they were talking about-- something about a dog, nope. and you could say that about a lot of different people. >> rose: but is there a point in which 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, because out of the mind of larry david it's okay. >> because i'm just doing what makes me laugh. if i feel something's too far then it's probably not making me laugh. >> rose: that's the test really. >> yeah. >> rose: good comedians know what makes them laugh and that is what they can create. >> yeah rodz is it genius? don't dow that. >> what.

>> rose: what you have. >> ridiculous. >> rose: is it fun. >> it's so much fun. charlie, i just had the greatest time on curb. i was laughing, i mean, i don't know if you could tell, if you see me smiling. every take we had to stop. i had to go like this to the crew, keep rolling, let me get my composure back. when jb is talking to you, it's impossible to keep a straight face. and richard lewis, suzy, sheryl, an bob einstein, you know, they're all, all amazing. >> rose: larry david has lived an extraordinary life, one that even he can appreciate. does larry david look out for himself? >> well, charlie, i mean, sure. >> rose: what would you change about your life. >> about your life. >> rose: yes, your life.

that's a tough question. i don't-- i don't know. i don't think-- i can't think of anything. it would sound too petty for television. >> rose: in other words, you're editing yourself now. >> yeah, yeah. >> rose: i don't want you to edit yourself. i want to you tell me. >> well, somebody answer got to edit me. you're to the going to. everything i don't want to say, i know is going to be aired. i'm going to go oh, i said that, i said that. >> rose: well just tell me. what don't you like about your life. >> i like my life. i'm very happy with my life. >> rose: exactly. but you're a trades of people thinking that? >> no. >> rose: okay. >> or you're 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? do you want-- what else? >> no, it's women, yeah. >> rose: are you telling me the truth? >> yeah, yeah, yeah. >> rose: larry david has a woman problem? >> i wouldn't put it like that. >> rose: how would you put it? >> i would say that i'm relationship challenged, yeah. >> 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, i'm sure you do. >> i can't talk about it. i just-- it's too hard to talk about it.

i can't talk about it. i'm uncomfortable talking about it. >> rose: why? >> because it makes me uncomfortable. >> rose: it's personal, it's none of my business. >> i will tell you when the camera is off. >> rose: okay. what i'm trying to do is say this is what everybody that is watching this wants to know. >> yeah. >> rose: who is larry david. >> this guy. >> rose: who is larry david. >> you are too much, mr. roses. >> rose: why? 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. >> rather: well, you do know. >> whoever you whatever you see, that is who i am. >> rose: no, you told me, you created a character, it's not you. it's who you might want to be, but are not. who are you? >> i don't know, charlie, leave me alone. leave me alone. >> rose: you just want to go back into your routine. >> yes, yes, leave me alone. >> rose: all of a sudden your routine is okay.

>> i want to get you out of my life right now who am i? i'm a jerk, that's who i am. >> rose: you're not, that's an act. >> i'm like everybody else, a jerk. >> rose: no, that's an act. >> no, it isn't. >> rather: it really isn't. >> no. >> rose: how are you a jerk. >> i'm just a jerk. >> rose: how are you a jerk. >> oh, look, let's stop talking about me. i didn't want to do this in its first place, i didn't want to talk about 60 minutes. i didn't want to do it because i knew you would be asking questions like this. i said no, no, i don't want to do "60 minutes". >> rose: then why did you do it? >> they talked me into it just like they talked me into the play. >> rose: so you are a guy that you can be talked too things. >> yes. >> rose: you have no back bone, you have no capacities to say no. >> no, you know. >> rose: but the guy that you create would be able to say no. >> there you go. >> rose: and there's your biggest hangup. >> yup. >> rather: you can't say no but you can create a character that can say no. you're not a jerk but you can create a character who is a jerk because you don't have the courage to be a

jerk. >> that's perfect. that's good. that's good. i like that. how much dow charge? huh? 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: dow feel that? >> do i feel dashing? >> rose: yes. >> i don't feel dashing. i don't feel dashing. >> rose: yes, you do. >> you think i feel dashing? are you insane? do you think i have ever had one moment of feeling dashing, maybe if i was drunk i might feel dashing, but no. i don't feel dashing. >> rose: because you know what women say, back to women. >> yeah. >> rose: nothing is more attractive to a woman than somebody that makes them laugh. (laughter)

>> that's just-- that's utter nonsense. that's such nonsense. gilbert good fried did the funniest joke about that i wish i could remember it, but-- no, they might say that, okay. 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? they want love, security, what-- you know. >> rose: then you must be attractive to them. >> well, i could give them one of those. >> rose: is there any part of you that said i have conquered television? i have plenty of money. i could go back to television any time i want to, they're begging me to do more curb your enthusiasms. i want to do something new.

i want to challenge. >> well, certainly i want to do something new by writing the play. >> rose: right. >> and 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. >> yes, yeah, but-- . >> rose: you're glad that you were talked into doing it. >> okay, okay, i'm glad somewhat. i'm glad with reservations. >> rose: what are the reservations within the reservations are the schedule. >> rose: the schedule.

>> there's a-- to every day that i find very disturbing. >> rose: and boring or just disturbing. >> disturbing. >> rose: you like variety every day in your life. >> yes. >> rose: you like improvisation in your life. >> yes. >> rose: you don't like the script in your life. >> exactly, my life is scripted now, that's perfect, perfect. yes, my life is skripted. and it is odd. it's odd, you know. i don't want to complain. >> rose: you have lots of men complain. >> i can't complain, i'm not allowed to complain. >> rose: you walk out on stage and they are cheering, the sight of you. >> it is one of the sad things about my life. i'm not allowed to complain. >> rose: that's why you created a character that complains all the time. >> right. >> rose: what were we talking about. >> the acting of it. you really -- >> we were talking about the sameness of it. >> rose: first you are glad you did it because it worked

out well. >> what has worked out well is that they really like it. and. >> rose: they the audience. >> yeah. >> rose: that bought the tickets coming to see you. >> yeah. >> rose: and once here are applauding, genuinely. >> yeah, yeah, they like the show. >> rose: do you have an ego or is that just sort of makes you-- dow love it. do you love the idea when you hear that applaud, 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 some tough times for me, which we've talked about. and here i am at the centre of new york on broadway in a play that i wrote and i'm the star of. and when i said, they see

their first glimpse of me, its. >> it's not what you think. >> rose: really? >> yeah. >> rose: . >> it's not what you think. i don't-- you know, every now and then i go oh, this is kind of cool. but i am now after almost two weeks of doing it, barely-- 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 early episode visit us on-line at pbs.org an charlierose.com 678

>> funding for charlie rose has been provided by american express, additional funding provided by >> and by bloomberg, a provider of multimedia news and information services worldwide.

this is "nightly business report" with tyler mathisen and sue herera. >> race to the finish. the stock rally picks up steam into the closing bell. but after days of violent swings, is wall street satisfied with the bounceback? jackson hole. is it eroding as bankers group well the economic mess? new tax. why a quarter of all u.s. employers could soon face some hefty fees on their health plan. all that and more tonight for wednesday, august 26. good evening. welcome. tyler mathisen is off tonight. the move higher was massive culminating in the dow's third biggest point gain ever. it was the exact opposite of ye