Life’s Work: An Interview with Jerry Seinfeld (2017)

Re:Life’s Work: An Interview with Jerry Seinfeld (2017) by Gatsky on Monday October 17, 2022 @07:43AM (#33232241)

I don't know the man, but what I see is that he is, ultimately, dissatisfied with his work. There is an effortfulness to what he does that belies an underlying cynicism about comedy. He is a tragic figure in that sense, all that success and yet not quite content. I can believe that he micromanages everything. Maybe part of it is that he really wants to do standup, but the show was much better than any of his standup. The standup pieces he does for the show are undoubtedly the weakest part of Seinfeld. It is notable that in the Seinfeld reunion episodes in Curb Your Enthusiasm, all the old cast gets skewered but not Jerry [1]. I suspect Larry knows that deep down, Jerry can't take that kind of joke. Still can't.

[1] I just want to say that the scene where Larry impersonates George is one of the funniest things I've ever seen.

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Re:Life’s Work: An Interview with Jerry Seinfeld (2017) by hackeraccount on Monday October 17, 2022 @08:45AM (#33232727)

Total non-sequitur but that - "standup pieces he does for the show are undoubtedly the weakest part" is just what I thought about The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Not that I'm saying the rest of it was that good - it had an oddness that the supporting cast was always better or at least written better then the principals. Honestly the wardrobe was better then the principals...

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Re:Life’s Work: An Interview with Jerry Seinfeld (2017) by drc500free on Monday October 17, 2022 @10:56AM (#33234358)

At first, then it felt like every character - lead or supporting - got Flanderized into pap.

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Re:Life’s Work: An Interview with Jerry Seinfeld (2017) by ethbr0 on Monday October 17, 2022 @09:09AM (#33232947)

> I suspect Larry knows that deep down, Jerry can't take that kind of joke. Still can't.

What's the meanest thing you can say to someone really dedicated to their work?

Your work is worthless.

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Re:Life’s Work: An Interview with Jerry Seinfeld (2017) by seanalltogether on Monday October 17, 2022 @09:27AM (#33233159)

When Bee Movie came out it got slammed pretty hard, and he seemed to disappear for awhile after that.

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Re:Life’s Work: An Interview with Jerry Seinfeld (2017) by BLKNSLVR on Monday October 17, 2022 @10:10AM (#33233718)

I liked Bee Movie, it wasn't for Seinfeld's established audience though, it was for kids, and I enjoyed watching it a few times with my kids, and they enjoyed it too.

Funny thing with people's expectations for consistency across totally different forms of media and target demographic.

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Re:Life’s Work: An Interview with Jerry Seinfeld (2017) by ethbr0 on Monday October 17, 2022 @03:53PM (#33238713)

> Funny thing with people's expectations for consistency across totally different forms of media and target demographic.

I am Jack's consistent disappointment that my coworkers don't live up to the discourse standard that HN accustomed me to.

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Re:Life’s Work: An Interview with Jerry Seinfeld (2017) by lqet on Monday October 17, 2022 @09:19AM (#33233061)

I guess many, if not most, great artists would immediately agree.

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Re:Life’s Work: An Interview with Jerry Seinfeld (2017) by lqet on Monday October 17, 2022 @09:16AM (#33233033)

I think you are right.

Have you watched "Comedian"? It's a documentary which follows Jerry around as he struggles to re-enter the world of standup comedy. It was released in 2002, so this is just a couple of years after his show ended.

He clearly is not happy and is extremely hard on himself.

One quote I remember: after a show in a small club in New York with which he is very unsatisfied the club owner says something like "You looked like you were having fun", and Seinfeld replies: "That's my job."

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Re:Life’s Work: An Interview with Jerry Seinfeld (2017) by vanderZwan on Monday October 17, 2022 @09:27AM (#33233153)

> Maybe part of it is that he really wants to do standup, but the show was much better than any of his standup.

I thought he was considered royalty among stand-up comedians even before the show? As judged by fellow comedians I mean

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Re:Life’s Work: An Interview with Jerry Seinfeld (2017) by Gatsky on Monday October 17, 2022 @09:48AM (#33233432)

I feel like standups respect each other much more than the audience respects them. Presumably because only other standups know how hard it is to even survive up there, let alone succeed.

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