With its razor-sharp wit and boundary-pushing humour, Curb Your Enthusiasm has become a cultural phenomenon. But how does Larry David’s masterpiece reflect Jewish identity, challenge stereotypes, and resonate—or not—with audiences worldwide?

Comedian and broadcaster Viv Groskop is joined by Paddington and Philomena Cunk writer Joel Morris, author of Be Funny or Die: How Comedy Works and Why It Matters, and Jeremy Dauber, Columbia professor, Mel Brooks biographer and author of Jewish Comedy: A Serious History, for a joyous yet thought-provoking exploration of one of television’s most daring shows.

This event will last approximately 1 hour, without an interval.

About the speakers:

Joel Morris is one of Britain’s busiest and most respected comedy writers, working on everything from Charlie Brooker’s Wipe shows, the Philomena Cunk series and A Touch Of Cloth to Murder In Successville, Miranda, and the hit Paddington films. He has won BAFTA, RTS, Sony and Broadcast Awards for his TV and radio writing, and put words in the mouths of everyone from Mitchell & Webb and Flight of The Conchords to Armstrong & Miller, Kevin Eldon and Peter Serafinowicz.

Jeremy Dauber is a professor of Jewish literature and American studies at Columbia University. His books include Jewish Comedy and The Worlds of Sholem Aleichem, both finalists for the National Jewish Book Award. More recently he is the author of Mel Brooks: Disobedient Jew and American Comics: A History. He lives in New York City.

Viv Groskop is an award-winning writer, comedian, playwright and broadcaster. She has two Masters degrees in Russian Studies and is a former judge of the International Booker Prize. She has had seven radio plays produced, and is the author of six books including How to Own the Room (also a hit podcast with over two million downloads) and The Anna Karenina Fix, an internationally best-selling guide to Russian literature. A contributing editor at Russian Vogue for ten years during the 2000s, she has spent extended periods of time in Kyiv, Odesa, Yalta, Moscow and St Petersburg. A fluent Russian-speaker-in-rehab, she also speaks some Ukrainian and Surzhyk.