arts & Life

Susie Says

Sara Eaker
Special to the Jewish News

S

usie Essman is best
known for playing the
sassy, foul-mouthed
Jewish housewife Susie Greene
on Larry David's critically
acclaimed HBO comedy series

Curb Your Enthusiasm.
She's also voiced Mittens the
cat in Disney's animated movie
Bolt, appears in Jake Kasdan's
new Fox series, Weird Loners, has
authored the book What Would
Susie Say? and was featured
in the documentary Heroes of
Jewish Comedy. But she's also
an almost-30-year veteran of
standup comedy — in which
she's known for withering sar-
casm and uninhibited insults
— which is how she'll take
the stage Friday, May 1, at
the Andiamo Showroom in
Warren.
We caught up with the
New York-based Essman,
59, for a preview of her
humor before her first
visit to Detroit.

DJN: Are you looking
forward to playing
Detroit?
SE: You know, I have
never been there. So,
why not? I'm always
picky about the rooms
that I play. What people
don't get about comedy
is that the room is really
important — there's
an intangible thing
about a room that can
make it work or not. [For
example,] high ceilings are
not good for comedy, the laughs
dissipate into the air. Laughter
should hover and be conta-
gious. Other comedians say that
Andiamo is a great room.

DJN: What is your process as
a comic?
SE: The way I work is very
anxiety provoking. I am not
a comic who knows what I
am doing, A to Z — I usually
figure out what I am opening
with and then it is a free-for-

56 April 23 • 2015

all. I talk to the audience a lot. I
like to be spontaneous and have
an experience, and [feel like] all
of us are in this live-performance
experience together. We are get-
ting that less and less in our lives.
We are all brothers and sisters in
this room together. But it makes
it more dangerous and scary for
me. I still feel that edge that it
might not work — even though it
hasn't happened. It's just the way
I work; on the edge, walking the
tightrope and my net is material.

DJN: What is one of your favor-
ite memories of doing Curb

Your Enthusiasm?

SE: We laughed so hard doing
that show. We are all really close,
which is why we can speak to
each other in this despicable way.

Standup comedian

Susie Essman speaks

her mind at Andiamo.

than your character on Curb.
SE: My kids can push me. I have
gone Susie Greene on my kids.
In a way, it is fun. If a restau-
rant has poor customer service
(which I can't stand) and I lose
it or get nasty, it's not a problem
because people expect that from
me. When I meet people and I'm
nice, they are disappointed.

DJN: I hear you are a vegetar-
ian.
SE: I was a vegetarian for 35
years. But then I bought my
husband a gift of the "Bacon of
the Month Club" — you know,
you run out of gift ideas — and I
thought, this smells so good, why
have I not eaten this in 35 years?
I ate the bacon and that was it, I
started eating meat again.

"I have gone Susie Greene on my
kids ... But basically, I am nice.
When I meet people and I'm nice,
they're disappointed."

We will be talking about baseball,
and then they say action and we
are screaming and then it's like
"cut, where do you want to get
lunch?" We had a lot of fun.
One of my favorite moments
is in "The Doll" episode: I am
screaming in the driveway to this
Spaghetti Western theme music.
That is the first time I really
established Larry and Jeff's fear
of me. That was my dream job.
I mean come on, I get to scream
and yell and tell people to go
f*** themselves! The outfits? We
would laugh hysterically nonstop
putting those outfits together.
It was pure joy and pleasure.
Sometimes Larry would say, "You
went too far!" I mean, when you
take apart each piece of Susie
Greene's wardrobe it's OK, but all
together?

DJN: I have read that you are
very nice, and very different

DJN: What is your favorite
Yiddish word or saying?
SE: Oh, there are so many words.
Let's see. Ungapatchka.

DJN: What does that mean?
SE: I have a Yiddish dictionary,
hang on.

DJN: [Googling] It looks like it
means overly ornate, busy and
garnished to the point of dis-
taste. Like Liberace's home was
so ungapatchka?
SE: Yeah, yeah. Too much!

❑

Susie Essman performs
at 8 p.m. Friday, May
1, at the Andiamo
Showroom in Warren.
$25-$69. (586) 268-
3200; andiamoitalia.com .

