EPISODE · Sep 11, 2026 · 2H 24M
Dopey 599: Jeff Garlin! “I Was Going to Be Dead at Noon” — Curb Your Enthusiasm, Addiction, Bipolar Disorder and Recovery
from Dopey: On the Dark Comedy of Drug Addiction · host Dave & Chris
Tickets for Dopeycon: https://buytickets.at/thedopeyfoundation/2216905PAtreon: www.patreon.com/dopeypodcastEpisode summaryTHIS WEEK ON DOPEY! Actor, comedian, director and Curb Your Enthusiasm star Jeff Garlin joins Dopey for an unusually candid conversation about comedy, compulsive eating, mental illness, addiction and the breakdown that nearly killed him.Jeff explains why he believes his morally questionable Curb character is nothing like the person he tries to be. He talks about gratitude, refusing to indulge in self-pity and the early comedy lesson that taught him never to make an audience feel sorry for him.The conversation then moves into Jeff’s lifelong relationship with food. He describes compulsively eating sugar as a child, hiding food, binging on the road and eventually developing diabetes. Even a stroke and the loss of part of his toe couldn’t make him stop. Although alcohol and marijuana were also part of his story, Jeff says food was the addiction that brought him to his knees.Jeff opens up about working on The Goldbergs while struggling with undiagnosed bipolar disorder, severe ADHD, resentment and increasingly erratic behavior. After his departure from the show became public, shame and fear pushed him toward suicide. He called two people and told them that he intended to be dead by noon. His family and friends intervened, and Jeff entered treatment in Cincinnati, where DBT helped him understand his emotions and behavior. After returning home, a friend brought him to an AA meeting and gave him the beginning of a new life.Jeff also discusses transcendental meditation, clairvoyant experiences, his friendship with Larry David and how a lunch conversation became the original HBO special that evolved into Curb Your Enthusiasm. He reflects on the show’s improvisational process, Bill Buckner’s redemptive appearance and the extraordinary creative mind of Larry David.Before the interview, Dave shares listener stories involving grief, Suboxone, meth, crack, a police raid, cocaine psychosis, boofing drugs and leading a recovery meeting while hallucinating animals underneath the bed.PLUS MORE! ON A BRAND NEW EXCITING EPISODE OF YE GOODE OLDE DOPEY SHOW... Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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What this episode covers
Timestamps 00:00:01 – Dopey song and Oro Recovery 00:02:28 – Gratitude, Patreon and DopeyCon 00:04:37 – How Dave finally landed Jeff Garlin 00:06:59 – A firefighter-paramedic writes about grief and buried emotions 00:09:30 – Mountainside and BetterHelp 00:11:52 – Cocaine, 2C-B, ketamine and boofing during psychosis 00:14:00 – Leading a meeting while hallucinating animals under the bed 00:16:23 – Suboxone, Leah and listener comments 00:18:46 – LICR, Brayburn and scab picking 00:21:07 – The “Perc 30” argument 00:23:26 – More reactions to Leah’s story 00:25:53 – Dating a man addicted to meth and crack 00:27:57 – Police raid, hidden drugs and sixty days sober 00:29:30 – Jeff Garlin joins Dopey 00:30:16 – “A human being who does the best he can” 00:32:39 – Is Jeff Greene actually a bad person? 00:35:02 – Jeff’s knee injury and the Katz’s connection 00:37:29 – Why Jeff refuses to ask, “Why me?” 00:39:53 – Self-pity, comedy and never begging an audience to laugh 00:42:14 – Sobriety, marijuana, alcohol and compulsive eating 00:44:35 – Why AA worked better for Jeff than OA 00:47:00 – Addiction, greatness, Jerry Garcia and Miles Davis 00:49:25 – Jeff’s earliest memories of being funny 00:51:52 – Comedy as his lifelong calling 00:54:12 – Drinking as a teenager and discovering stand-up 00:56:38 – Brian Regan inspires Jeff to become a comedian 00:59:07 – Jeff’s lifelong food addiction begins 01:01:31 – His mother, childhood and hiding food 01:03:55 – Sugar, unrequited love and using comedy for protection 01:06:21 – Binging, food hangovers and reaching 320 pounds 01:08:45 – Road food, marijuana and losing part of his toe 01:11:10 – Success, diabetes and surviving a stroke 01:13:31 – Finding God during COVID 01:15:56 – Clairvoyance and delivering a message from a friend’s father 01:17:00 – Undiagnosed bipolar disorder and working on The Goldbergs 01:20:50 – The Little Caesars scene and deciding to quit 01:23:16 – Diagnosis, shame and the beginning of Jeff’s bottom 01:25:18 – “I will be dead at noon” 01:27:41 – Treatment in Cincinnati and learning DBT 01:30:06 – Checking the facts and finding “wise mind” 01:32:32 – Public humiliation, suicidal thoughts and entering AA 01:34:51 – Recovery changes Jeff’s life and comedy 01:37:15 – Jeff praises Dave’s interviewing and listening 01:39:33 – Would treatment have prevented what happened on The Goldbergs? 01:42:00 – Gratitude, resentment and spiritual recovery 01:43:20 – Transcendental meditation and higher consciousness 01:45:44 – Jeff’s friendship with Larry David 01:48:03 – Directing Jon Stewart and Denis Leary 01:50:31 – The lunch that became Curb Your Enthusiasm 01:52:57 – Why Curb is a situation comedy 01:55:21 – Larry David’s genius and 121 episodes of Curb 01:57:32 – Giving Bill Buckner his redemption 01:59:48 – The Cubs, Wrigley Field and saving people through comedy 02:02:09 – Jerry Seinfeld and Jeff’s upcoming book 02:04:33 – Photography, stand-up and rapid-fire questions 02:06:59 – Belushi versus Aykroyd 02:09:18 – Jeff’s final compliment to Dave 02:11:45 – Spotify comments 02:18:35 – Dave performs “Atlantic City” 02:22:04 – A listener performs “Good So Bad” on banjo
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Dopey 599: Jeff Garlin! “I Was Going to Be Dead at Noon” — Curb Your Enthusiasm, Addiction, Bipolar Disorder and Recovery
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