JAI LENNARD

His longtime run as Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm confidante may be winding down, but, as he approaches 60, he says he's just getting started.

BY KEITH NELSON

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JAI LENNARD

J.B. SMOOVE IS a joke. That being said, the longtime Curb Your Enthusiasm star isn’t a buffoon who vanishes from your mind the moment the last giggles ripple from your lips. Rather, he’s the type of joke who makes you forget he’s a joke, unfurling things you never thought connected, making you think more than you ever planned. He draws you closer, speaking in hushed tones, denoting the severity of what he’s saying...until his booming voice knocks you back to your senses, breaking the tension with a ridiculous punchline you can’t believe you’re agreeing with. That’s J.B. Smoove.

As Curb Your Enthusiasm comes to an end, the 58-year-old comedian’s 17-year, seven-season run as Leon Black, Larry David’s irreverent house guest–turned–life advisor, is ending along with it. But you wouldn’t be able to tell from talking to him. When we sit down to chat days after the premiere of the 12th and final season’s second episode, he’s decked out in pristine plaid pants, a dapper turtleneck, and an ostentatious fedora only a handful of humans can pull off. It’s a carefully curated outfit befitting a man who doesn’t overlook a single detail in his jokes. His smile expands and recedes—sometimes mid-sentence—with an accordion-like cadence, depending on whether he’s demurely discussing political correctness or bombastically joking about fictional Larry’s “dry dick.”

He’s come a long way from riffing about giant food stamps on Def Comedy Jam in the nineties and playing a barber with problematic views about interracial prom dates on Everybody Hates Chris in the aughts. He left a trail of jokes in box office smashes (Mr. Deeds), maligned cult classics (Pootie Tang), and movies that maybe shouldn’t have existed (The Watermelon Heist), all of which led him to Larry’s sanctum of sarcasm, where minutiae are magnified and stars are born.

If you compiled the funniest scenes throughout Curb Your Enthusiasm’s award-winning run, Leon arguing about the different types of semen, teaching Larry how to “get in that ass” during an argument to preserve his dignity, and joking about how his life-changing sexual prowess would have a wheelchair-bound woman tap dancing would be a few of the many scenes in that pantheon. If Larry is a misanthrope trekking through life while begrudgingly keeping up with social norms, Leon is his unfiltered vacation from it all; he’s the human hall pass, someone whose presence means he can indulge in all his confrontational and crude impulses. He and Larry share the impulse to always have an opinion on what’s happening in the world, which may be why Smoove still feels skeptical that Curb Your Enthusiasm is actually ending.

JAI LENNARD

“I’m not going to call him a liar; I just don’t believe Larry,” he explains with a devious chuckle. “Some of us have this impulse where we feel, Ooh, I gotta address that."

Whether we’ve seen the last of him as Leon or not, Smoove doesn’t sound like someone who thinks his career will fade to black just because the sun is setting on the role that has defined his ascending professional years. He sounds like a man basking in new horizons, suggesting that he’s just getting started—even 30-plus years into his career. “One thing I made sure of was to keep the brand, the style, and my voice relevant,” Smoove says excitedly. “I call myself the oldest young comic out there. I can make more [jokes]. This is a formula. I’ll make more. Just because a piece of me is being taken away doesn’t mean I can’t make more.”

Speaking with Men's Health, Smoove went into detail about Curb Your Enthusiasm’s ability to survive a world that’s grown tired of offensive comedy, how the show has forever changed the way he sees the world, and what turning 60 will look like for him and his health.

Men’s Health: For many people, you’ve been synonymous with Leon Black for the past 17 years. What’s the biggest misconception about J.B. Smoove?

J.B. Smoove: People think I’m Leon. Larry’s said I’m the total opposite of Leon. I’m more candid; I consider myself a smart man. I’m a motivator. I’m a mentor to some people. Leon, meanwhile, is a free spirit. We don’t even know his whole story; you don’t know where the fuck that dude came from. All we know is he showed up when his sister was there, he refuses to leave, and now Larry keeps him around. We’re two different people—you don’t want to get typecast as if this is the only thing you can do.

There are levels to the portrayal of Leon: If you realize, Leon doesn’t really laugh at shit. He just bluntly gives Larry good-bad advice. The idea may be funny, but to Leon, he’s really trying to help this motherfucker. One thing about being an actor is that you want to control your movement and know all of these roles and jobs are just pieces of who you are. They are ways people can remember you, but they’re not necessarily you.

MH: In a few years, you’re going to be 60. What does that look like?

JS: Sixty looks like this right here. [Gestures] I’ve been doing this shit so long at the same speed; I’ve been doing it since I started. There’s really no difference between me now and the J.B. Smoove who was on everything and touring in his 30s. One thing I made sure of was to keep the brand, keep the style, and keep my voice relevant. I call myself the oldest young comic out there. I’m not calling myself [Michael] Jordan, but you have to come at him. You have to show him something different he hasn’t seen before. If I’ve seen that move before, I’m gonna tell you I’ve seen that move before.

I’m not getting into this whole joke-stealing controversy, but you definitely do influence people. It’s only natural that young comics get motivated by you. They get inspired by what you do. It doesn’t have to be jokes; it could be your cadence, delivery, or presence. 

Premises, punchlines, a certain number of laughs per minute. These are all rules you need to engage your audience and keep them engaged—they’re gonna laugh at the premise as much as they laugh at the punchline. The premise sets them up. If they laugh at the premise, lean forward, or start smiling, they know your brand, and they know this dude is about to trip on this.

MH: On Curb, you give Larry a glimpse into Black culture. You’ve told him Black people don’t blush and explained what “lamping” means. Are there any things you’ve brought up on the show that Larry wasn’t aware of in real life?

JS: Larry had never heard the phrase “Get in that ass” in his life until that scene. The first take, he didn’t know what the fuck I was talking about. I’ve turned him on to so much stuff; some of his favorite terms he uses in his everyday life are things like “Can a motherfucker live?” Larry told me, “I say that shit three times a day.”

MH: The show has touched on polarizing issues like race, disability, and religion without being too bogged down by controversy. How has Curb survived as the world has changed?

JS: Because it connects with people—it’s reality. There’s nothing in the show that’s far-fetched. It’s stuff that really happens, and Larry brings it to life. That’s why I sometimes use the term “cringe-worthy,” because it affects people in a certain way. We have our audience, but Larry sees things that some of us forget about. He accentuates it and makes it bigger than it is. He puts himself in that situation, and then he reacts to it. So it becomes action and reaction. It’s honest comedy, but it’s also relatable.

MH: How did you feel about the season 6 episode “The N Word”?

JS: It was hilarious. I thought it was funny as shit, but it’s reality. Maybe someone’s been through that situation. Larry takes things from real situations and just blows them up. He’s also very smart in how he sets it up, even with the Michael Richards stuff and him going through that whole situation at the comedy club. You had to address the elephant in the room. There are elephants in life we have to address. There’s an elephant in the world. Do you address these elephants, or do you always skip over them? Being a fan of Curb before I got on the show, you really have to have an open sense of humor. You have to understand that pointing out the flaws of humanity is just as funny a way of bringing us together as anything would be. The world is too [politically correct] right now. If we keep going P.C., the world’s going to be too spotless.

We’re not going to be able to deal with anything directly, because we’re used to dealing with it and then backing off. Say you’re at a comedy show that Netflix is filming. You’re laughing your ass off. The camera is on the comedian, but it also shows the audience. There’s a joke in there that’s a hard joke. You’re in the moment. Everybody’s having a good time, and all of a sudden, the camera hits you and you’re laughing your ass off. Your boss watches this Netflix special and sees you laughing. You go to work the next day, and your boss says, “Hey, man. I saw you on that Netflix special. You were laughing at a certain joke I didn’t like. You’re fired.” Do you get fired because you were laughing at a bit in a comedy club? Do you see the layers? The more you make these layers, the more it’s going to be outlawed to laugh at humanity and what’s naturally there. If comedians go away and all you have is the real news every day, could you take the starkness of the real news? Could you take the hardest reality of the real news every day as opposed to a comedian’s take on the news?

JAI LENNARD

MH: I know Curb operated with a sort of improvised shooting style where you’d deliver the same line multiple times. What were alternate versions of some of your favorite lines??

JS: I probably did six different versions of “Get in that ass” [from season 6, episode 4, “The Lefty Call”]. One version involved lighter fluid and matches. Set that ass on fire. There are different ways of doing it. For me, it works, not just in the improv world but for a stand-up, because we work off of what we hear. If I hear a cameraman, producers, or writers in other rooms snickering, I know I have a captive audience, so I naturally show out. Everybody else on the show is kind of playing an overexaggerated version of themselves, but Leon is a character. I have to really think about “What would Leon say?”

Then I also get to apply the rules of stand-up and improv that J.B. knows. I have to merge these two things together and also be creative. If you go from season 6 to season 12, there must be a thousand bits that Leon has said. Some don’t make it.

MH: Any scenes that didn’t make it that come to mind?

JS: There’s one scene that didn’t make it from season 6, where I found out that my sister Loretta [Vivica A. Fox] had some form of cancer and couldn’t have sex anymore. In the scene, what didn’t make it was me giving Larry praise for staying with my sister even though he could never have sex with her again. That’s a real man right there. I respect you, man, for knowing that from now on, while you guys are together, you’re gonna have a dry dick. I’m saying things like that for at least five minutes straight. The scene involves him looking away as if to say, “Oh no. What have I gotten myself into?”

I’m praising him. They’re going to build a statue of you in the middle of city hall, and you’re going to be standing there with a dry dick. You’re gonna be a legend. You’re gonna be a dry-dick legend. [Laughs] I kept reiterating it. Wow, that’s deep, man. You can’t have sex with my sister. That’s crazy to think about. I’m proud of you. I couldn’t do it, but I’m proud of you, man.

MH: That’s the core legacy of Curb Your Enthusiasm—exaggerating interpersonal relationships to show social norms you wouldn’t have thought of. Is there anything from the show you apply to your life?

JS: I see things differently. Everything is Curb-y. It’s weird. I’ve had people say to me, “Oh, this is a Curb moment.” [Laughs] I’ve seen so many people do the “chat and cut.” Let’s take the Michael J. Fox season [season 8]. I just did a comedy show, and there was a random guy in the front row in a wheelchair, and I just went around him the whole time. I never gave him any attention. He told me, “I was hoping you were going to hit me with a few, man.” I felt bad up there. He said, “I’m a real person, man. I come to a comedy show to laugh, not to feel sad about myself.” I said, “Next time I see you, Imma tear your handicapped ass up.” He said, “If I can laugh at everything else, I can laugh at myself.”

I see things differently. Everything is Curb-y. It’s weird. I’ve had people say to me, “Oh, this is a Curb moment.” [Laughs] I’ve seen so many people do the “chat and cut.” Let’s take the Michael J. Fox season [season 8]. I just did a comedy show, and there was a random guy in the front row in a wheelchair, and I just went around him the whole time. I never gave him any attention. He told me, “I was hoping you were going to hit me with a few, man.” I felt bad up there. He said, “I’m a real person, man. I come to a comedy show to laugh, not to feel sad about myself.” I said, “Next time I see you, Imma tear your handicapped ass up.” He said, “If I can laugh at everything else, I can laugh at myself.”

MH: This may sound bad, but one of your funniest jokes was “If you give Michael J. Fox a glass of milk, you know what that is?”

JS: A milkshake. [Laughs]

MH: I couldn’t believe the show went there. Did you ever play that Snoop Dogg song “Crip Ya Enthusiasm” for Larry?

JS: Yeah, he fucking loved that shit. I was supposed to be in that video. Snoop called me directly, saying, “Yo, J.B. Smoove, what’s up? This is the Dogg. I’m doing the music video for ‘Crip Ya Enthusiasm’—you know [Curb] is my favorite show.” I said, “Oh my fucking God. You have to do the show one day.” He said, “Tell Larry I want to do the show.”

JAI LENNARD

MH: You said you were a Curb fan before you joined the cast. I would’ve loved to see you in a scene with Krazee-Eyez Killa, or the nurse Larry accuses of having a wide vagina. Which pre-Leon scenes and/or characters would you have wanted to work with?

JS: I would’ve loved to have done something with Krazee-Eyez Killa. Chris [Williams] and I talk about that all the time. He’s a friend of mine. We always say, “Damn, I wish those two had met.” We would’ve hit it off.

MH: You two could’ve had a rap group.

JS: We easily could’ve had a rap group, man! I also love Wanda [Sykes]. Wanda is my girl. That season with Krazee-Eyez Killa was legendary. I remember myself crying laughing at that. “Larry, I hear you up there popping those bubbles.”

MH: He told Larry, “I thought you were my nigga.”

JS: Right! “Are you my Caucasian?” I always wanted to be on the show, but that season pushed me over the top. That’s when I knew I wanted to be on the show.

MH: You’ve made an indelible mark on arguably the funniest show of the 21st century. You feel as good as you did when you were in your 30s. How is your health as you approach 60—and the next chapter of your life?

JS: I’m a full-time vegan, I’m only ten pounds heavier than my high school weight, and I’m about to be 60 in two years—I’m a fucking specimen.

I’ve been a full-time vegan for eight years straight. I was a part-time vegan and a full-time carnivore for 20-something years with my wife; she hasn’t had meat in 28 years. Drink a lot of water, keep your weight down, and keep your stress down. The number-one killer is stress. I’m undefeated because I get up. When I’m right, can’t nobody beat me. That’s a Mike Tyson line.

That goes for anything in life you want to achieve. You better bottle me up. You better put me in a fucking bottle and send me to space. I promise, when I fall back down from space, you’re going to need me. You’re going to need that attitude. You’re going to need that drive. You’re going to need to motivate people in a certain way. You better freeze a few motherfuckers like Walt Disney—you’re going to need that mindset somewhere.

Grooming by Sabrè O'Neil using MILK Cosmetics

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