Greene Energy

Making nice with Susie Essman

by Tami Fertig

(CLICK IMAGE FOR LARGER VERSION)

Susie Greene might be a fictional character on HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm, but she still scares the bejesus out of us. Played by NYC-based comedian Susie Essman, she's a freely flowing volcano of rage, constantly spewing sarcasm and profanity at the show's star and creator, Larry David, and at her portly onscreen husband, Jeff Garlin. She sees through every lie they tell, every scheme they plot — and, sneering disdainfully, she puts them to shame. Essman, who will perform standup at Gershman Y's annual fundraiser this Saturday, seems a teeny bit nicer.

City Paper: Most people know you for your work on Curb. What's your standup comedy like?

Susie Essman: Susie Greene is kind of a simplistic character. Susie Essman's way more complicated and covers a lot more subjects. I talk a lot about relationships and sex and having teenagers and all the things that go along with that. Susie Greene's a prude — she just curses a lot.

CP: What do you like about Susie Greene?

SE: Y'know, I enjoy playing her because she's so comfortable with her anger. Much more so than I am. And so it's a very cathartic releasing character for me to play. I just get to scream and yell and just be angry, and everybody rewards me for it. It's not that often in life that you get to do that.

CP: Do you improvise your curses?

SE: Everything's improvised on the show. We don't have a script. There's no dialogue. So, yeah, all of that just comes into my head and out of my mouth.

CP: Does Larry have a favorite curse?

SE: No, whenever I just start screaming and yelling at him he gets the giggles. I don't know who I represent, maybe his third-grade teacher or something. My favorite, though, is when I kick him out of the house. I love kicking him out of the house.

CP: Why do you think people enjoy being verbally abused?

SE: It's just become such an odd thing in my life: People actually walk up to me in the street and beg me to yell and scream at them. I don't know why they want to be screamed at so badly, except that I think there's no malice in it, and nobody gets hurt, so it's OK.

CP: Do people who meet you ever fear Susie Greene's wrath?

SE: No. I get the opposite. Sometimes people will come up to me and tell me how much they love the show, and I'm always very polite and gracious — and I can see that they're visibly disappointed that I'm not getting angry at them.

CP: The sixth season of Curb closes with Larry's house guest defending him against Susie and silencing her mid-curse. Is this a sign of things to come? Is Susie going to be nicer to Larry?

SE: [Laughs] Don't bet on it. Do not bet on it. It was an aberration.

Susie Essman Sat., April 12, 8 p.m., $75-$150, Gershman Y, 401 S. Broad St., 800-595-4TIX, gershmany.org