This book gives you a behind the scenes look at the world of sitcoms and comedy movies told from the perspective of Larry Charles. I really enjoyed the earlier portion of the book that spent time talking about his time working in TV including his time on Seinfeld and didn't enjoy the later part of the book that focused more on the movies that he worked on as I hadn't watched a lot of them.

It just really took me out of the book though when Larry was talking about large stacks of fan mail and the Arsenio Hall show in the late 1980s and then referred to this same fan mail as "email". There is reference to some of the fan mail being written in crayon - never hear of email written in crayon. The late 1980s were not a time where there was mass adoption of email and even if there was why would it all the emails be printed out and piled up on a desk. I don't know if this is misremembering on Larry's part or just sloppiness on the part of the editor but the fact that this got through editing and was both in the written book and read out loud in the audiobook makes me question how well the other details in the book were remembered.

I received this book from NetGalley, Hachette Audio and Grand Central Publishing for review.

Comedy Samurai is an incredible look into the mind of an through the lens of an amazing character and writer./director Larry Charles. Larry narrates this guided tour through his Zelig-like contributions to and appearances in classic writing rooms from Fridays through Curb Your Enthusiasm, and his directing exploits with Sacha Baron C0hen and others. He clearly has powerful personality and humor, and his disregard for what others think empowers him to write in the absurdities and rude thoughts that we all have or at least relate to but mostly push under the surface. These make up so much of the appeal for Seinfeld and Curb oddballs that are just benevolent enough to be on this side of misanthropy. Combining this with the pranksterism of Borat and Bruno (and Bill Maher) challenging unsuspecting real people can lead to comedy gold, and Charles highlights his efforts to capture these and the behind the scenes wrangling of people, technology, and the environment. It definitely made me curious to watch or rewatch some of his work, such as Religulous and Larry Charles' Dangerous World of Comedy. One thing I wish I got his take on was the infamous Borat - Giuliani interview, but that was in the sequel and apparently after the Charles - Baron Cohen falling out.

Charles’s memoir is a wild, behind-the-scenes tour of four decades in comedy, from the mean streets of Brooklyn to the even meaner writers’ rooms of Hollywood. He’s not a polished narrator, but he’s a natural-born storyteller, and frankly, no one else could do justice to his own tale.

Charles was the George Harrison to Jerry and Larry’s Lennon and McCartney. If you want to write your own classics, you eventually have to branch out. He pushed for Wayne Knight as Newman, helped shape the evolution of Elaine, and eventually left Seinfeld to run Mad About You. His first directing gig? Curb Your Enthusiasm, of course.

Charles’s adventures extend beyond sitcoms. His work with Bob Dylan on Masked and Anonymous was a highlight for me. I loved the fact that he seemed to worry more about the wellness of Dylan’s one-of-a-kind, custom jacket than the star himself. The film premiered at Cannes, where Dylan refused to pose with Roger Ebert (who promptly panned the movie).

Charles details how Hollywood manipulators dangled directing gigs over his head to get what they wanted, and how Ari Emanuel (the real-life Ari Gold) made Entourage a meta experience for industry insiders and survivors. Curb Your Enthusiasm took frequent hiatuses, and Larry David was supportive when Charles stepped away to direct Borat. This move would cement Charles's reputation for boundary-pushing comedy.

Borat was a career high; Bruno and The Dictator, less so. Charles doesn’t shy away from discussing how his relationship with Sacha Baron Cohen soured over time. Clearly, comedy is a blood sport, and not everyone leaves the ring without their collection of assorted scars.

Charles’s Hollywood odyssey also includes a brief, ill-fated stint directing A Walk in the Woods with Robert Redford and Nick Nolte. After working closely with Redford to rework the script, Charles was blindsided by Redford’s sudden disapproval and was subsequently fired. Even in Hollywood, sometimes the real drama happens off-camera.

The most raw section of Comedy Samurai covers Charles’s attempt to tell Larry David’s story for HBO. Charles was fired from Curb (allegedly in the name of diversity), only to discover that other “old white guys” remained. When the two Larrys reunited for an intimate, hours-long conversation, the footage was unusable, leading to a series of errors involving agents, screaming matches, and endless notes from HBO.

The final product was heavily edited to make Larry David seem more “relaxed” (good luck with that), and the two haven’t spoken since 2022. Charles insists he’s not mad, just disappointed at how poorly they communicated. He claims his intent wasn’t to create a hatchet job or a puff piece with the film, but to offer a genuine conversation with a cultural icon.

Comedy Samurai is Larry Charles’s attempt to control the narrative. As much as he protests that he’s protecting Larry David, it’s clear he’s also staking his claim to one of comedy’s great creative partnerships. The memoir is messy, honest, and full of behind-the-scenes dirt, sometimes too much, sometimes not enough. If you’re looking for a polished, sanitized Hollywood memoir, look elsewhere. If you want the unvarnished truth (with plenty of blood, guts, and laughter), you’re in the right place.

If Larry Charles was the “Comedy Samurai,” then Larry David was his Comedy Daimyo. However, after their creative breakup, Charles would have to be the Comedy Ronin (“Comedy Ronin” is still a wickedly cool nickname, even if it's not the one he chose for himself).

Text: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Narration: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Overall Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Disclaimer: I received a free advanced reader copy (ARC) from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest, unbiased review. These opinions are my own.

This one was was a mixed bag. There were parts that were great. There were long stretches that were wandering and often plaintive. I think it’s the bones of a really good memoir, but it could have used another pass for editing from a structure point of view.