The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling Page #10

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it was maddening.

It's a little maddening when

you're in a recording session

and the clock is ticking.

But, ultimately,

I really respected it,

because it was the craft

of the joke writing.

It was kind of the first time I

had ever worked with somebody

with that level of detail.

The line I had was

"Oh, yeah, you're dead.

You're dead this time."

But I don't know that it's going

to track. It's "Ozzie, get up."

Kirkpatrick:

He'd have the script,

with just tons

of alternates.

Constantly, constantly looking

for the best version.

There's lines like,

"I don't venture out much."

There's even places in my shell

I haven't been.

Kirkpatrick:

And they were doing a plan,

RJ, the Bruce Willis

character says...

Okay, step two.

Kirkpatrick:

And Garry added...

I thought we'd be dead

by step two,

so this is going great.

Kirkpatrick:

Garry had spent four years

working on "Over the Hedge,"

and really put

a lot of himself into it.

- You're the devil.

- ( screams )

I don't think he's able

to shut off that quest for--

I guess, people

might say perfectionism,

but it's a quest

for excellence.

The best version

of whatever he's doing,

especially when it comes

to the funny.

I would like to mention

now that I appreciate

everybody who's

piecing this together.

I am now going to do it assuming

it's being pieced together.

So, I appreciate it.

Hope your family's happy

and you're happy.

I appreciate the help

in making it look like

a continuous

performance.

Feel free to play this tape

at the animated audio awards

that are in Culver City,

I think, this year.

Have a great time,

and if you need me to present

something for you, I will.

Just really appreciative

for everybody who's there.

Apatow:

Garry would always say to me,

"When people ask how I'm doing,

what do you say?"

- Duchovny:
Right.

- Then I would say,

"I always say Garry is either

"the happiest person I know,

or has completely

lost his mind."

And he would say,

"Yeah, that's about right."

( both laugh )

- And that brought him

comfort in some way.

- Right.

But it was hard to know

what was going on.

Duchovny:
Garry was a guy

that people asked about.

Like, if you were known

as one of Garry's friends,

people would ask you

about Garry.

- People were concerned.

- Maybe.

Some people were concerned.

Some people...

some people never understood

why he wasn't working more.

You know, it was like,

they would see a guy

with all this talent

and they would go, "Why doesn't

Garry do another show?"

"What's he doing?

Why isn't he doing something?"

- Apatow:
Yeah.

- And at a certain point, I...

you know, I was just like,

"He doesn't want to work."

But, at a certain point, I said,

"Well, what does he have to do?

"He just did two seminal

television series.

I mean, what more do you want?"

Garry had hit home runs twice.

He had two Super Bowl rings.

And I didn't think he felt

he could do it again,

because he had given everything.

And that was it.

I think his whole

methodology

was to basically fall over

the finish line for something.

Duchovny:

I feel like that ambition

had kind of left him.

I think he was trying

to find the next question

that was going

to interest him.

And whatever form

that was going to take.

- ( groans )

- Shandling:
Dan?

- Yeah.

- Come on in.

- Wait a minute.

- You know what we'll do?

- What?

- Do this another time.

( laughs ):

Oh, come on!

- Hey, Garry.

- Hi, Dan.

How are you doing?

Good to see you.

The great Pete Tolan,

who's eating my nuts.

And that's not the first time,

by the way.

Tolan:

The next time, weirdly,

that I saw him as focused

in his way was doing

the "Sanders" DVD set,

which he put tremendous

amount of energy into.

As you know, I don't tape

any of my sexual encounters,

because it requires me spending

too much time in editing.

( laughs )

Apatow:

And so the extras became

this meta-examination

of the real people who made it,

and that was just as fascinating

to him as the actual show.

Shandling:

Yeah, let's go down this way.

What do you say?

Seinfeld:

Beautiful. Look at the light.

Shandling:

Light so far is good enough?

Is it good enough?

Look around.

I don't know

if I was on my...

I don't know if I was on

my game or not yet.

Editing puts you

on your game.

Well, but we want to...

we want to edit

very little of it.

We want it to be

natural, like this.

To be an actor is kind of

to say to the world,

"I have nothing to say,

"and I want to become

hugely famous

because I can say things that

other people will think of."

No, acting...

and the challenge of real

acting, and great acting,

is being able to bring up

certain human emotion

and be open.

Oh, please,

the human emotion.

You're duplicating human life

itself, in a way,

if you're connected

to what your own sh*t is.

- ( pretends to snore )

- Okay.

Fall asleep.

I guess.

That's fine.

And I'm not just

saying that.

It's just... it's...

I will say this--

go ahead.

- No, you will say this.

- I will say this.

People are always

putting these things

in front of their

statements.

"I'll say this."

"I'll tell you one thing."

- Okay, let me be honest.

- Question?

May I say something?

( laughs )

Out of the blue.

I'll tell you

what I think.

Here's a thought

that crossed my mind.

Now how about this?

I'll tell you what

nobody agrees with.

Let me bounce

something off you.

( both laughing )

Shandling:

What we're tending to do, Judd,

these conversations,

they're sort of running...

the feel is that

they're as-is.

So, there's places

where it isn't...

many places where

it isn't funny.

- Yeah, yeah.

- It's just laying there.

Is that conceivable

for a DVD track?

Apatow:

Yeah.

The marriage thing, Gar.

I said you do

look good.

I heard that.

The marriage thing.

What do you think? Do you think

it's something you can do?

I mean, I don't know

that there's the right person,

been the right reasons,

in the right time,

in the right maturity

on my level.

I don't know.

I'd want to do it

for the right reason.

What would

a right reason be?

I'm not sure if I know,

but I think I would see it

when it was there.

Tell me what you want

to tell me about this.

Berg:

I will just never

forget him talking about

wanting to manipulate

expectation.

Shandling:

Always to extend compassion...

Compassion to all the sentient

beings in that direction.

- All sentient beings.

- Yeah.

Berg:

Trying to redefine

the physics

of conversation.

Exploring silence.

This is the most amazing

interview I've ever had.

Isn't that the idea?

You used to come over.

You never

come over anymore.

I guess you're busy.

Did you... did you turn

Jewish since I saw you last?

( laughs )

And he boxed

with Alec Baldwin here.

I mean, I remember

coming into the gym

and seeing Garry

and Alec Baldwin

beating the sh*t

out of each other.

Man:

Just dance around.

Step around. Step around.

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