Jerry Seinfeld: Comedian and Star of “Unfrosted”
Every voice is named by two or more agreeing sources.
“We killed ourselves, physically killed ourselves.”
He describes the intense effort put into making the sitcom.
“That was abject terror.”
He describes the fear he felt before appearing on The Tonight Show.
“I would write down all the jokes that I liked.”
He advises keeping a notebook of jokes you enjoy.
“I was making, I think, $60 a week emceeing, which I thought, I'm going to live on $60 a week, that, that's all I need.”
Jerry earned only $60 a week early in his comedy career.
“And Jackie Mason was in the audience, who was, you know, a gigantic star in comedy even then. And he says, come here, I wanna talk to you. And he takes me over to the bar and he says, you're going to be so successful at this, it makes me sick.”
Jackie Mason told Jerry he would be wildly successful, boosting his confidence.
“There was no emotional hole in my life that people love to say comedians, that's why they do this. They're filling some emotional need. I have always rejected that very strongly.”
He rejects the idea that comedians perform to fill an emotional void.
“40% of the material could be different show to show.”
He notes that roughly two‑fifths of his material varies between performances.
“If you don't become a real writer, creating new material every single day, you're gonna get wasted.”
He advises comedians to write daily to stay relevant.
“I will fight them sometimes. I had a bit about poker that they hated, and I got mad about it.”
He describes clashing with his audience over a poker joke he liked.
“It made me mad. Uh, I actually did it on television before it was ready, and it bombed.”
He recounts performing a poker bit on TV before it was ready, which bombed and angered him.
“we were totally physically exhausted for 8 months of the year. Totally. You know, Larry and I together would sometimes write a 60-page script in 2 days.”
They would write a massive 60‑page script in just two days, leading to extreme exhaustion.
“No, we never screamed.”
Jerry contradicts the claim that he and Larry David ever had screaming arguments.
“I just love good timing. I don't know why. I think people today are so disrespectful, in my view, of audiences' feeling of timing.”
Jerry believes modern audiences and performers lack respect for proper timing.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. You go back on stage and— well, after COVID, I hadn't worked for 2 years, and, um, and I had done a stand-up special right before COVID so my whole act was gone. So I had to start a new act, and I hadn't been on stage in 2 years.”
Jerry recounts restarting his stand‑up career after a two‑year COVID hiatus.
“Well, that was an exercise program I found in a bookstore in Milwaukee in 2004, and it was Uh, no, that interval training was new, and, uh, it was a very painful type of training, but very short. So that interested me, 'cause I didn't wanna spend a lot of time exercising, and the intense pain seemed interesting too.”
Jerry recommends the Body for Life program for its short, intense interval training.
“I am so excited to read the worst reviews.”
He looks forward to seeing negative reviews for his upcoming movie.
“Oh my God. Well, I'm 70, okay?”
He states his age as 70 years old.
“If I— if you ask me my 3 keys to a successful life, you want— you want my 3 keys? Transcendental meditation, lift weights, espresso.”
He recommends meditation, weightlifting, and espresso as three keys to a successful life.
“Depression is probably— too strong a word. It's just we all have these mood dips, you know, where you just— you're feeling good and then something not great happens, or you're late, or you see a scratch on your car and you just get depressed about it.”
He downplays depression, saying mood dips are normal for everyone.
“I wouldn't call it real depression.”
He disputes labeling his mood darkening as actual depression.
“26 missiles were fired at the city, and they were all taken out by the Iron Dome tech that they have.”
All 26 missiles were intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome defense system.
“I would say to him, you're English, you don't know anything about comedy. You're— you know about wit. English people are witty. I go, there's no money in witty. We do comedy. We get big laughs in this country.”
Seinfeld challenges Hugh Grant's claim that English people understand comedy, emphasizing the commercial value of American-style humor.
“I go, everyone stop. This is a Pop-Tart movie. None of this matters. We will not have any screaming. This is not important.”
Seinfeld diffuses a set argument by reminding the crew that the film is just a silly Pop‑Tart movie.
“I'm not really that interested in me or my age, or I'm on— I'm just on this ride like everybody else. Okay, where's— you know, it's like Disneyland. You're just on this little cart going along the track and you're going, all right, so we're gonna make a turn now. I wonder what's gonna be around the turn. So I don't care.”
Seinfeld says he is indifferent to his age, viewing life as a ride he doesn’t need to analyze.