You Won't Believe How Patton Oswalt Landed His 'Seinfeld' Role

Patton Oswalt came on the show and, given an opening to talk about Larry David, could not help himself. The actor and comedian lit up dissecting what makes David such a singular improviser, especially in those classic Curb Your Enthusiasm desk scenes.

The genius, Oswalt explained, runs opposite to how most people approach improv. Where others try to win a scene with the funniest line, David does the reverse. He sets up everyone around him to be funnier, and in doing so somehow ends up being the funniest one in the room.

Oswalt described a scene where his own character had told an absurd lie, and David's character was simply, gleefully delighted that the lie had worked, so pleased with himself that he never clocked how ridiculous the whole exchange was. That, Oswalt said, is the move. David is forever setting up his scene partners, then reacting to them.

It works because David understands the value of the straight man, the guy who simply cannot believe what he is hearing. Oswalt pointed to the scenes with JB Smoove, where half the comedy is just David unable to process what is coming out of Smoove's mouth. He brings in elite improvisers like Richard Kind and Vince Vaughn and then plays the incredulous foil.

Oswalt's favorite flavor, though, is David in public, turning the most inconsequential interaction into a slow-motion disaster. Told to take a number and get his food, David cannot resist asking whether that is really necessary, and the molehill becomes a mountain. Oswalt suspects this has happened plenty in David's actual life, and what separates him is the wherewithal to step back and recognize the comedy in it, even while, as Oswalt put it, he is burning his life to the ground.

Rich could not get enough of the breakdown. Oswalt's tenth comedy special, Tea and Scotch, is out now on the Gorilla Plus channel, with the 800-lb Gorilla YouTube release coming June 9th.