What's Larry David's Quarantine Routine?

When he’s not organizing benefits for caddies, what’s Larry David been up to in this period of social isolation? It’s something many viewers of Curb Your Enthusiasm might be wondering right about now — and it’s one that Maureen Dowd at The New York Times decided to explore. “We are cooped up with no end in sight, getting increasingly irascible,” Dowd writes — and who better to approach for guidance during this period that David himself?

Dowd reached out to David and discovered that he was “barricaded” in his own home. When asked what might get him to leave, his response was precisely what you might expect: “Anarchy and a potential dental emergency — and not necessarily in that order,” he told Dowd.

In David’s conversation with Dowd, he touted the benefits of Purell; he also took aim at toilet paper hoarders. “In fact, in a few months, if I walk into someone’s house and stumble onto 50 rolls of toilet paper in a closet somewhere, I will end the friendship,” he said. He also offered some advice for those looking to shed bad habits during this period:

Mr. David said the best way to stay away from self-destructive behavior in quarantine is to think of it “like quitting smoking. You wake up and you say, ‘I’m not going to smoke today.’ ‘I’m not going to freak out today.’ That’s the only way you can do it.”

Dowd’s article also mentions that David has been taking notes on the current situation in California, possibly for a future Curb Your Enthusiasm season. As part of a recent feature for Vulture, Curb Your Enthusiasm director and writer Jeff Schaffer offered his take on what a coronavirus episode of Curb might entail, and made an excellent point about David being ahead of his time.

“[David] put Purell on each table at Latte Larry’s, he waged a jihad against defecation in his restrooms, and he’s been practicing social distancing since before he knew what it was called,” Schaffer wrote. Perhaps the defining narrative for a time of self-quarantine was in front of us all along.

Subscribe here for our free daily newsletter.