Larry's mother dies while he's shooting a film in New York City, but he doesn't find out until he returns to Los Angeles two days after the funeral. Once he's past the initial shock, Larry uses his loss as an excuse to avoid a number of unsavory invitations. Meanwhile, Richard Lewis accuses Larry of taking back his meditation mantra, and Larry plots to relocate his mother's body at the cemetery.
WAR
38.1
Wins Above Replacement
“The Special Section” ranks #31 of 120 Curb Your Enthusiasm episodes on the Humor Index, scoring 84.0 — Elite. The episode packs 31 scored jokes at 1.0 per minute, averaging 7.3 on craft and 7.2 on impact, with Larry landing the most laughs. Every joke is ranked below with its individual craft and impact scores.
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Top Jokes
Larry · Father: Is she dead? Er, yeah. Dead, dead, she's dead.
Father: The last words she said to me, 'If anything happens to me, you don't bother Larry. Don't spoil his trip in New York.'
Father Irony/Sarcasm Cringe/Discomfort ★ Rewatch Larry: Ji ya, ji ya, ji ya, I made it out of clay. And when it's dry and ready, oh, ji ya I will play
Larry Wordplay/Pun Callback ★ Rewatch Callback Richard Lewis · Larry: You know what it means? 'Fuck me.' Fuck me! Fuck you!
Larry · Cemetery Manager: My mother had a tattoo on her ass? On her right buttock, yes, sir.
All Jokes — 31 analyzed
Show all ↓ Hide ↑ Larry · Director: Let me take out Gino's balls in a plastic bag... The balls will never read. They're not gonna read as well. Balls will read. Why won't balls read?
Larry: You know, 'Seinfeld,' we did two takes and we were done.
Larry Meta/Self-Referential Character Comedy Cheryl · Larry: It's hard to take anything you say seriously right now. You just look crazy.
Larry · Father: Is she dead? Er, yeah. Dead, dead, she's dead.
Larry's Father: Let's see, the funeral was on Monday... so she had to die on...
Father: The last words she said to me, 'If anything happens to me, you don't bother Larry. Don't spoil his trip in New York.'
Father Irony/Sarcasm Cringe/Discomfort ★ Rewatch Father: Your mother didn't say not to call Andy. She said not to call you, that's all she ever said.
Father Escalation Cringe/Discomfort Andy: Abe Lincoln, he's Jewish. He got 'shot in the temple.'
Andy Wordplay/Pun Running Gag Larry: That bat mitzvah, oh, God. Is there anything worse? Can you think of anything worse?
Larry Observational Character Comedy Cheryl: Larry's mother just passed away. And we're going to take some time with that.
Cheryl Irony/Sarcasm Cringe/Discomfort ★ Rewatch Larry: My mom died. Yeah. So I'm just not gonna be doing much for a while.
Larry Callback Cringe/Discomfort Callback Larry: Well... my mother died. Tell Julie good luck, sorry I can't be there. And mazeltov.
Larry Callback Character Comedy Callback Larry: He saw me at the Improv screaming at the audience one night in New York... he thought I could play this tough Jew
Larry Observational Character Comedy Jeff · Larry: Lonely, lonely... Lonely... Just keep repeating it.
Jeff: Who's gonna stop us? Nobody. It's totally applicable.
Larry · Ed: I kind of need to be alone with my own thoughts. Oh, absolutely. Jeez, bless your heart.
Larry Ed Callback Cringe/Discomfort Callback Larry · Cemetery Manager: My mother had a tattoo on her ass? On her right buttock, yes, sir.
Father: She saw a tattoo parlor. She said, 'Hey, let's do it.' Your parents had tattoos. With our names.
Father Character Comedy Irony/Sarcasm ★ Rewatch Larry: I can't imagine my parents making love. I can't imagine you making love
Larry Escalation Cringe/Discomfort Larry: There's no good Chinese food in LA. A country of one billion people couldn't send one good chef to Los Angeles.
Larry Observational Escalation ★ Rewatch Larry: A country of one billion people couldn't send one good chef to Los Angeles
Larry: You can't be an East Indian-giver
Larry: Splitting it? What is this, a timeshare in the Hamptons? You don't split a mantra.
Larry: It strikes me as being a tad... homosexual.
Larry Character Comedy Cringe/Discomfort Larry: You know, it was just that I've been going through a rough time, what with my mother and all. I didn't even have a chance to say good-bye.
Larry Callback Cringe/Discomfort ★ Rewatch Callback Gravedigger · Larry: I only got four shovels. Asshole.
Larry: Ji ya, ji ya, ji ya, I made it out of clay. And when it's dry and ready, oh, ji ya I will play
Larry Wordplay/Pun Callback ★ Rewatch Callback Richard Lewis · Larry: You know what it means? 'Fuck me.' Fuck me! Fuck you!
Larry: Sometimes I like to pretend that I'm deaf and I try to imagine what it would be like... not to be able to hear them. It's not so bad.
Larry Dark/Subversive Character Comedy Larry: I was in this movie, and they gave me this counterfeit money... My mother died...
Larry Callback Escalation Callback Larry Callback Escalation ★ Rewatch Callback Top Episodes — Curb Your Enthusiasm