Curb Your Enthusiasm head Jeff Schaffer learned a key rule of comedy from Sasha Baron Cohen
Jeff Schaffer (second from left) watches actors rehearse a scene for his new Netflix show Brew Bros.
Netflix
Author, director, and producer Jeff Schaffer has worked on some of the biggest TV shows in the past 30 years. After appearing as a writer on Seinfeld – he didn’t come up with Festivus, but he came up with the aluminum rod of vacation – he worked as a writer, director and producer for Curb Your Enthusiasm for the past 11 years. The show ended its tenth season in March, the same month that Schaffer launched a new show on FX called Dave, starring rapper / comedian Lil Dickey.
In an interview in the CNET podcast I am so obsessedSchaffer explained how writing Sasha Baron Cohen about Bruno partially influenced his approach to portraying Lil Dicky’s character, especially when it came to putting him in uncomfortable situations.
“He always told us to make sure the person you hit got a point,” said Schaffer. “Make sure it’s a valid target. And that translates [Dave] where we talk about a lot of things. People will be very surprised to see Dave’s Lil Dicky videos. You will be very surprised how deep this show is and how much it has to say. “
While the show is definitely full of humor, Dave deals with topics such as mental illness in the black community, personal self-confidence, appropriation problems and creativity. And if working on Dave and Curb Your Enthusiasm wasn’t enough, Schaffer and his brother Greg Schaffer also produced the new Netflix series Brew Brothers. The comedy follows two brothers who run a terrible craft brewery in Van Nuys, California. Schaffer proudly indicated that this is the “porn capital of the world”. And it doesn’t get lost that Schaffer makes a show with his brother about two brothers who work together.
In our in-depth interview, Schaffer talks about Brews Brothers, how he got the idea of the Festivus pole and when Larry David knows it’s time for another season of Curb Your Enthusiasm (it’s complicated).
Listen to my entire conversation with Schaffer on Spotify or Apple and subscribe to I’m So Obsessed in your favorite podcast app. In each episode, we meet an artist, actor, or creator to learn more about his work, career, and current obsession.
Look at that:
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