-Thank you. Thank you. -Congratulations.

(applause and cheering)

I... I really am fascinated to know, like,

when you started the show... Because you've known Larry

-since, like, 1985, I think it is. -Yeah, around them. Yeah.

Right, you-you were in stand-up together,

-you shared stories your whole life. -Right.

That's why, I guess,

your chemistry is so good on the screen.

Did you ever think that the show would become the institution

-that it's become? -Absolutely not.

When we first started the show, we had no budget,

we-we had no trailers, we had no...

We had, like, Porta Pottis. We had... no dressing rooms.

It was this slapdash kind of... It was kind of like,

"I got a barn, let's put on a show," kind of a show.

-Right, right, right. -And we never knew

from year to year if we were coming back. It was just...

The fact that it's 20 years later...

-We started in 2000. -Wow.

20 years later, and ten seasons is amazing.

-It's amazing. -I-I remember...

And it's the greatest job ever.

What makes it the greatest job for you?

Well, for me, I show up.

-(laughter) -I-I'm with all my friends, you know.

I tell everybody to go (bleep) themselves.

(laughter)

Then they give me money, and I go home.

Sounds like a great... That sounds like an amazing job.

(applause and cheering)

-And... they love me for it. -Right.

You know, so... but, also, it's just...

I mean, we have so much fun. We laugh all day long.

It feels like that kind of show.

And-and you know, people always talk

about how Curb is created,

how, you know, the show is put together,

and you have a framework of what's going to happen,

but nobody knows how you're gonna get there.

-No script, yeah. -And there's no script.

Like, do-do you ever get used to that?

-Yeah, I'm totally used to it. -That's just the world now?

Yeah. Oh, yeah, I mean, when I have a script,

that feels odd to me, you know. Yeah, yeah.

I mean, it's improvising.

We know our characters so well.

-We know our relationships so well. -Oh, right, right, right.

We... And the scene is set out.

I mean, it's not this willy-nilly thing.

I mean, we know exactly what has to happen

-in each scene, so we're just... -Got it.

It's like what you and I are doing right now.

-We don't have a script. -Yes, but I mean...

But we're not trying to, like, get somewhere specific.

Like, you know what I mean? Like, there's not an episode...

Yeah, we're trying get to the end of the segment, Trevor.

-(laughter) -Yes, but...

True, but it has to tie up. Like, Curb-- that's what I love

-about Curb Your Enthusiasm-- every episode ties... -Yeah.

-Every little moment... -That's Larry. That's Larry's brain.

-That's Larry's genius. Yeah. -Well, it is genius.

But every moment ties into something.

You don't know what's going to tie into the end of the story,

and that becomes, like, an arc that takes you through.

-And then it'll come back. -Exactly.

And then it'll come back, yeah.

You've also developed a chemistry

on the show with each other. Like, what I love about Curb

is how differently each character acts

with another character.

Does that just come naturally, or is it who are you?

Um, I think that...

You know, I think that over the years,

we've developed kind of a dialogue of the unconscious,

if I may be deep.

-That is deep. -Uh, I think... We don't...

Like, Larry and I have never discussed our relationship

or my character, ever.

And we just... we never discussed it.

We just kind of had this trust and respect,

-which you have to have when you're improvising. -Right.

And it just developed.

All of us. We-we have this little family

that-that we work so well together.

It's really fun.

It really feels like a family, it looks like a family.

I mean, it's a very dysfunctional family,

-but a family nonetheless. -Yes, well,

what family is not dysfunctional?

That's true. That is true. Uh, one...

That's why, you know, I was so happy that you came to the show.

Because originally, J.B. Smoove was supposed to be on the show.

And then, he's on a production-- The Last O.G.

And then, he couldn't make it, and he was like...

I was like, "But I want to have someone.

I love Curb Your Enthusiasm."

And I'm glad you came, 'cause this is amazing.

So you really wanted J.B. Is that what you're saying?

-(laughter, groaning) -No, no, no, no, no. No, I'm saying...

No, I'm saying, like, 'cause I thought J.B. was coming,

-and I didn't know how this would go. -And it was...

-But I'm not J.B. -No, but you...

But sometimes second choices,

like, ends up being the best choice.

-Oh, there you go! -No! -(laughter)

No, no, no! No, no! No, I'm just saying...

Like, Will Smith was supposed to be Neo in The Matrix.

Then we got Keanu Reeves, and he's perfect.

-You're my Keanu Reeves. -(laughter) -There you go.

-No, no. -(applause and cheering)

You know what? You know what? It's fine.

Curb Your Enthusiasm returns for its tenth season

-January 19 at 10:30 p.m. on HBO. -Yes.

Susie Essman, everybody!