Comedy veteran and
Curb Your Enthusiasm actor Shelley Berman received the Lifetime Achievement Award at this year's Boston Comedy Festival, held from October 7 to 13. The 81-year-old actor-comedian, however, feels ambivalent about the award, especially since he has no plans of giving up his career anytime soon.
"I'm not finished yet!" he jokingly told
The Daily Free Press. "Every once in a while, I'll get the compliment, 'You were a great comedian.' Wait a minute! Take out the 'were' and we'll talk."
Ironically, Berman, who plays
Larry David's father on
Curb Your Enthusiasm, said he “didn't even dream of becoming a comedian.” In between doing dramatic projects, he got involved with The Compass Players, an improv group in Chicago that would eventually become the Second City. In 1957, he happened to catch Mort Sahl performing at a night club, and it was then that Berman realized his true calling.
"Comedians always had to do mother-in-law jokes," he said of the time. "To see somebody get up and make an audience laugh not by telling jokes --just by making comments -- that was remarkable for me to see that."
From there, Shelley Berman developed his career as a comedian, releasing six comedy albums, all of which are “the result of improv.”
Berman is, of course, more than just an improviser and a comedian. He is also an accomplished actor. However, on
Curb Your Enthusiasm, he taps into all three of his artistic capabilities in order to deliver an outstanding performance.
Because
Curb Your Enthusiasm has no formal script, Berman and costars David,
Richard Lewis,
Jeff Garlin and
Susie Essman often only have descriptions of motivation or action to guide them in their portrayals.
"I got called in [to work a scene out] with Larry David," Shelley Berman said of his audition. "I came in and was handed a piece of paper that said, 'His mother -- your wife -- has died, but you don't want to tell him.'"
His improv cracked up David the producers so much that they decided to hire him on the spot. Since then, his character has provided for many of the show's most memorable moments, including a pot session between him, David and a prostitute.
Berman received his Lifetime Achievement Award at a gala comedy event at the Cutler Majestic Theater. Sahl, who was in absentia, and Bill Dana were bestowed the same honor at the event.
-Lisa Claustro, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: The Daily Free Press
(Image Courtesy of WireImage)