‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’: The Most Important Larry Lessons of Season 10

Curb Your Enthusiasm completed its 10th season on HBO this week, and along with a string of excellent celebrity cameos and endless F-bombs from Susie, came a handful of genius Larry Lessons we can all benefit from. Larry David, the man who can’t help but point out discrepancies, awkward moments, and all of life’s injustices small and large, continues to be a figure we can admire. Really! He’s not perfect and he’s not always right, but he’s got his reasons and that’s more than most people can claim.

Here, we examine some of the best words of wisdom, pearls of knowledge, and true Larry Lessons that only this man could provide us all.

Episode 1, “Happy New Year”: The Big Goodbye 

The Big Goodbye is a genius concept and one we’ve all likely employed at some point in our lives (I know I did it earlier this year when, you know, parties were a thing). According to Larry, this is when you avoid a person all night at a party; you might see them across the room but you never quite make it over there to have a conversation with them, and this is by design. So then when you’re getting ready to leave, you go over and give them The Big Goodbye, making them feel all special (despite the fact that you basically ignored their presence for an extended period of time) and then you slip out and go home. Boom. Of course, this backfires when Phil Rosenthal calls him out on it, but then it fires right back at Phil when he realizes, well, Larry has no shame, especially when it comes to getting out of social engagements.

Episode 2, “Side Sitting”: Side Sitting is always a bad idea

As we see in this episode, side sitting is never good. It makes you look creepy. Sit across from the person you’re dining with like a normal human. It can get you in trouble, as Larry found out with both his ex-wife and ex-assistant. Through a 2020 lens, this practice can also transfer germs faster due to the lack of personal space. Sitting across from someone will help others to not get the wrong idea and is simply proper etiquette.

Episode 4, “You’re Not Going To Get Me To Say Anything Bad About”: Always bring two toothbrushes

While we won’t all suffer the injustice that is having to ditch our luggage because of weight requirements on a private plane on the way to a fancy wedding in Mexico, it’s a safe bet to bring another toothbrush along on your vacation just in case. And! This toothbrush should be placed in your carry-on bag (along with an extra pair of undies, just in case) so that if you do become separated from your main luggage, you’re still good to go. Toothbrushes can fall on the ground, be misplaced, or forgotten by your travel partner. I’ll always think of Larry when I pack an extra toothbrush from now on, though it is a good excuse to stop by Timothy Olyphant’s room in search of one…

Episode 8, “Elizabeth, Margaret and Larry”: “The word ‘appreciate’ is very odd”

I’ve nearly eliminated the word “appreciate” from my vocabulary after watching this episode. It’s something we already knew, perhaps subconsciously, and a way we have chosen to manipulate others, by throwing this word around when it works out best for us — often for selfish reasons. “People seem to think that if they use the word ‘appreciate’ the seas part for them,” Larry tells Jon Hamm, who gets a kick out of this observation. But it’s true! Throwing around the word “appreciate” causes people to feel guilty or at least an overinflated sense of self-worth when they agree to help you with a request. I would appreciate if we all stopped doing this to each other — though I do appreciate Larry for pointing this out. 

Episode 10, “The Spite Store”: Big johnsons are always causing more trouble than they’re worth

“I knew that big penis was nothing but trouble,” Larry says when a large male sex organ can be blamed for everything from breaking a priceless watch to burning down his spite store, Latte Larry’s. It’s a general life lesson that many of us learn at one time or another, both the owners and observers of such an item, that despite the general allure, big johnsons are often not worth the trouble they can cause. 

And for the record here, Latte Larry’s and all that it implemented were good ideas, for the most part (the female toilets still needed some thought and a redesign). Although elements such as bolting down the tables and having hand sanitizer at each one (timely!) and using coffee cup warmers and establishing a “no defecation” rule ended up creating the perfect storm for Larry’s business, individually they are excellent business ideas. Wobbly tables are the worst! Hand sanitizer is important and having it readily available only encourages others to use it frequently! Everyone loves consistently warm beverages! You should just be running into the coffee shop for a beverage, not to take up the bathroom for extended periods of time! And while this ultimately led to the downfall of Larry’s spite store (not to mention home life), it’s still hard to call any of these bad decisions, though we’ve all surely learned our Larry Lessons here.

Where to stream Curb Your Enthusiasm