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No Curbing Susie

Sep 02, 2008 | by Steve Silverman

You don’t want to heckle this comic

Susie Essman is one of the funniest women in America. As Susie Greene on HBO’s long-running hit series “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” Essman portrays the tough-talking, clearly New York-raised wife of Jeff Greene, who plays Larry David’s manager. Susie often trashes her husband and Larry for their shortcomings right to their faces without any hesitation. Our Steve Silverman caught up with Susie after a recent visit to suburban Chicago. She barely abused him at all.

“Am I like Susie Greene?” Essman asked. “I’ll let you decide. By the way, who picked out those clothes? Darling, you need to get your eyes examined.”

“In some ways I’m like her. I have to be; I created her. But you don’t always have to get your point across by calling someone a fat f—-. A raised eyebrow, a withering look, it all does the same thing. But she is a much angrier person than I am. She reacts to everything. She really never takes things in stride and bides her time. With me, I’m not going to react quickly — at least not all the time. But I will remember and I’ll pick out my moment. That’s more dangerous, don’t you think?”

Essman still plays the comedy clubs as she has done for more than two decades. Her comedy is straightforward and blunt. She won’t make the comparison but she is very much like a female version of Don Rickles. “Some people say that there’s supposed to be a different style for women in comedy. They’re not supposed to do it the way men do. But that’s ridiculous. You have to be true to yourself and a lot of men don’t like funny women who look them in the eye because they are scared of them.

“That’s why I almost never get heckled. I’ve been doing comedy for more than 23 years—24 years to be exact—and I just don’t get heckled. Men do almost all the heckling in comedy clubs and they won’t even try it with me. Women would only heckle if they are amazingly drunk and I just don’t see that very often. Men know I can belittle them with one look or one word. That’s why I don’t get heckled.”

The interview grew silent for a moment as Susie gave me the once over and sighed.
Essman still loves doing “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and especially enjoys the quick repartee between the cast members. “It’s just a wonderful show and I love doing it. There is a great rapport (among the cast members) and it’s fun to do. I think the audience recognizes that and they realize we work well together. I think they also like the show. That’s why they watch.”

Essman was not always sure that she would be a stand-up comic and didn’t think she would have an opportunity. But she was drawn to the field as a teenager when she listened to her parents’ comedy albums. “The one that influenced me most was the ‘The Two Thousand Year Old Man.” I used to listen to Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner over and over because it made me laugh. I could do the whole thing – both Mel and Carl’s parts – by heart. I’m not saying that’s the only reason I went into comedy but it certainly got me thinking.

Speaking of thinking, Essman quickly turned her attention to the interviewer. “Has anything ever got you thinking? You don’t have to answer that. I know the answer to that already and I don’t want you to lie.”

I was just about to ask her another question, but Susie stopped me cold. “Are we through here, dear? I thought so. Thanks for coming.”

She turned and walked away. But not before she smiled warmly and gave me a wave goodbye as she prepared for the next show.

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