Jeff Garlin

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More About

• Jeff Garlin
• Curb Your Enthusiasm
• Larry David
• Stand-up Comedy
• Arts, Entertainment, and Media

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It took the success of Curb Your Enthusiasm to make Jeff Garlin a household name (well, among households that have HBO), and his serene counterweight to Larry David has also made them the best comic duo on television. But then there are the fat jokes, some of them cruel. Garlin’s weight has gone up and down, and there’s a tendency—see Oliver Hardy, Fatty Arbuckle, and John Candy—to ignore the pathos of the chubby sidekick Oh, look—he’s stuffing his face! Hilarious, except when it’s not. Garlin put food in the title of his sweet, little-seen 2006 rom-com I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With, and now he’s written a comic memoir about the serious consequences of obesity: My Footprint: Carrying the Weight of the World (Simon & Schuster, $25). He suffered a stroke 10 years ago (go back and watch the first few episodes of Curb), and he admits to being a compulsive overeater. The book follows Garlin’s efforts to curtail his diet, add exercise, and lessen his environmental impact. (He even attempts—gasp!—to ride the bus in L.A.) Yet as you’d expect in an account that includes a visit to Richard Simmons, the author pokes fun at the whole process. “I screw up so much on my journey,” he says. Even so, you want him to succeed. (Also: 7:30 p.m. Thurs. at Parlor Live Comedy Club in Bellevue.) BRIAN MILLER
Wed., March 17, 7:30 p.m.; Thu., March 18, 7:30 p.m., 2010