‘Comedy Samurai’ Larry Charles Returns: ‘Seinfeld,’ ‘Curb,’ ‘‘Borat,’ and ‘Brüno’ episode artwork

EPISODE · Jun 18, 2025 · 1H 14M

‘Comedy Samurai’ Larry Charles Returns: ‘Seinfeld,’ ‘Curb,’ ‘‘Borat,’ and ‘Brüno’

from Obsessed: The Podcast · host The Daily Beast

Over the course of his 40-year career, Larry Charles has had two central creative relationships with Larry David (‘Seinfeld’ and ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’) and Sacha Baron Cohen (‘Borat’ and  ‘Brüno’). Now, he reveals in a new memoir that he hasn’t spoken to either man in years. In his return to The Last Laugh podcast, Charles breaks down how it all fell apart with two comedians he still considers complicated geniuses. He shares stories about how ‘Seinfeld’ solved its early Elaine problem after Julia Louis-Dreyfus came to the creators sobbing and reveals why a young David Sedaris turned down an offer to write for ‘Seinfeld.’ Charles also discloses what exactly it was about his HBO documentary that Larry David couldn’t stand, shares his thoughts about friends Bill Maher and Cheryl Hines flirting with MAGA, explains why there was a time he would have literally “died” for Sacha Baron Cohen and what went so wrong with their final collaboration ‘The Dictator.’  Buy Larry Charles’ new memoir ‘Comedy Samurai: Forty Years of Blood, Guts, and Laughter’ Follow Larry Charles on Instagram @larrycharles Follow Matt Wilstein on Bluesky @mattwilstein  Follow The Last Laugh on Instagram @lastlaughpod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Over the course of his 40-year career, Larry Charles has had two central creative relationships with Larry David (‘Seinfeld’ and ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’) and Sacha Baron Cohen (‘Borat’ and  ‘Brüno’). Now, he reveals in a new memoir that he hasn’t spoken to either man in years. In his return to The Last Laugh podcast, Charles breaks down how it all fell apart with two comedians he still considers complicated geniuses. He shares stories about how ‘Seinfeld’ solved its early Elaine problem after Julia Louis-Dreyfus came to the creators sobbing and reveals why a young David Sedaris turned down an offer to write for ‘Seinfeld.’ Charles also discloses what exactly it was about his HBO documentary that Larry David couldn’t stand, shares his thoughts about friends Bill Maher and Cheryl Hines flirting with MAGA, explains why there was a time he would have literally “died” for Sacha Baron Cohen and what went so wrong with their final collaboration ‘The Dictator.’  Buy Larry Charles’ new memoir ‘Comedy Samurai: Forty Years of Blood, Guts, and Laughter’ Follow Larry Charles on Instagram @larrycharles Follow Matt Wilstein on Bluesky @mattwilstein  Follow The Last Laugh on Instagram @lastlaughpod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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‘Comedy Samurai’ Larry Charles Returns: ‘Seinfeld,’ ‘Curb,’ ‘‘Borat,’ and ‘Brüno’

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This episode was published on June 18, 2025.

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Over the course of his 40-year career, Larry Charles has had two central creative relationships with Larry David (‘Seinfeld’ and ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’) and Sacha Baron Cohen (‘Borat’ and  ‘Brüno’). Now, he reveals in a new memoir that he hasn’t...

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