Larry makes the tabloids when a woman claims he knocked her into a magazine rack and neglected to apologize.
WAR
31.4
Wins Above Replacement
“A Brush With (the Elbow of) Greatness” ranks #72 of 90 The Larry Sanders Show episodes on the Humor Index, scoring 71.6 — Solid. The episode packs 55 scored jokes at 2.4 per minute, averaging 6.8 on craft and 6.3 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
Hank: Would you call beating a man half to death... because he ran out of nondairy creamer abusive? Of course, after you beat a man like that, you know what the next step is. Larry had to make him his bitch.
Hank Escalation Absurdist Dark/Subversive ★ Rewatch Larry: Except, instead of a house, it was a supermarket. Instead of Letterman, it was you. Instead of breaking in, she got pushed. Instead of New York, LA. - Instead of a redhead...
Larry Escalation Absurdist ★ Rewatch Artie: I fished a dead bird out of her spa on the Fourth of July. - She owed me a favor.
Artie Deadpan/Understatement Absurdist ★ Rewatch Larry: I'm vivisecting a choirboy. Why don't you call John Tesh?
Larry Dark/Subversive Absurdist ★ Rewatch Larry: What's it like not being a celebrity? I mean, you must do a lot of shitty things in your personal life. I bet you bumped into someone in a supermarket.
Larry Irony/Sarcasm Character Comedy ★ Rewatch All Jokes — 55 analyzed
Show all ↓ Hide ↑ Larry: Now that sign says "applesauce." No, I'm kidding. It says "applause."
Larry Misdirection Wordplay/Pun Hank: And now, because I am daffy about this guy and I don't care who knows it...
Hank Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Larry: Before I go on with the monologue, I have to ask Hank... what is "daffy"? You said you're "daffy about the guy," which scares me. What exactly does "daffy" mean?
Larry Character Comedy Callback ★ Rewatch Callback Hank: cuckoo about the guy.
Larry: You should get some help.
Larry: I'm getting some immediately after the show. Hope the bars are open.
Larry Deadpan/Understatement Dark/Subversive Larry: Larry Bird retired because he said he realized he was white.
Larry Observational Absurdist Larry: Not since Neil Bush appeared on television in America's Most Wanted... has a president's son been on television.
Larry Irony/Sarcasm Observational Larry: he says that he's going to "come out swinging." Isn't that what got Clinton into trouble?
Artie: Chicks seem to dig his sound.
Larry: "Chicks seem to dig his sound"?
Larry: Artie, I don't wanna keep you. I know you have Twiggy waiting at your pad.
Larry Irony/Sarcasm Character Comedy Hank: Does this hat make my ass look fat, by the way?
Hank Absurdist Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Artie: Horse-hocky. Everybody looks good in a cowboy hat.
Artie Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement Hank: that obnoxious turd who does that "Hey, Vern" character.
Larry: Oh, that's Ernest.
Artie: He's funny.
Larry: Right. Right. Phone call for me. Better get that.
Larry Reaction Beat Cringe/Discomfort Jeannie: I thought we agreed that the fishing pole was an outdoor toy.
Jeannie Cringe/Discomfort Observational Larry: You are such a girl, and besides, the shag bass are biting, honey.
Jeannie: What?
Larry: The shag bass.
Jeannie: Put it back.
Larry: Put it back?
Larry: Throw it back into the carpet?
Carol Biederman: You know, he looks thin when you see him on his show... but in real life, he has kind of a gut.
Larry: I had one of those headaches where I get tunnel vision.
Larry Character Comedy Cringe/Discomfort Larry: Artichoke hearts? Ever try 'em in a salad?
Artie: They really add zing.
Larry: Don't they?
Larry Artie Cringe/Discomfort Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Larry: Except, instead of a house, it was a supermarket. Instead of Letterman, it was you. Instead of breaking in, she got pushed. Instead of New York, LA. - Instead of a redhead...
Larry Escalation Absurdist ★ Rewatch Larry: The media should have something better to do than focus on me. That's why I refuse to watch the local news. "Two kittens fell in a well." - Who gives a shit?
Larry Irony/Sarcasm Character Comedy Artie: Approximately.
Larry: Approximately not many.
Hank: Would you call beating a man half to death... because he ran out of nondairy creamer abusive? Of course, after you beat a man like that, you know what the next step is. Larry had to make him his bitch.
Hank Escalation Absurdist Dark/Subversive ★ Rewatch Artie: I fished a dead bird out of her spa on the Fourth of July. - She owed me a favor.
Artie Deadpan/Understatement Absurdist ★ Rewatch Artie: How would you like to be the guy who watches this all day long? Ten bucks says it's a cable channel by the end of the year.
Artie Observational Meta/Self-Referential ★ Rewatch Artie: This isn't a fuckin' lending library, lady.
Artie Character Comedy Observational Larry: I heard a crash... but, you know, a supermarket in LA, I figured it was looting.
Larry Observational Dark/Subversive Norman: Take it easy. Let that Excedrin work for you.
Norman Callback Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Callback Norman: This is a publicity bonanza. Gentlemen, I'm wetting myself.
Norman Character Comedy Reaction Beat Larry: So what are you saying? That after the monologue, I should scratch my balls and spit?
Larry Callback Escalation Callback Artie: You may have a problem there... that's just completely unrelated to the world of publicity.
Artie Deadpan/Understatement Callback Callback Norman: and I'm wetting myself again.
Norman Running Gag Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Callback Larry: Oh, great. So now everyone in Iraq knows I'm an asshole.
Larry Escalation Character Comedy Larry: Yeah, but don't worry. The chairs are Scotchgarded.
Larry Callback Deadpan/Understatement Callback Artie: this is the sort of thing that might have kept Dennis Miller on the air... for another week or two.
Artie Dark/Subversive Observational Tommy Oh: I don't know much about this Sanders guy... but, you know, I don't think Arsenio would do something like this.
but a whole lot of pushing and shoving.
Larry: What's it like not being a celebrity? I mean, you must do a lot of shitty things in your personal life. I bet you bumped into someone in a supermarket.
Larry Irony/Sarcasm Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Larry: See, I can't do that. I can't be an asshole.
Writer: That must be real hard for you, Larry.
Larry: You think she would have sold those tapes to Entertainment Tonight... if I wasn't Larry Sanders?
Larry Irony/Sarcasm Character Comedy Larry: I'll have... Just get me none. Because I'm so wired... I've had so many, I can barely lie still.
Larry Character Comedy Callback Callback Hank: Not buy. Not buy. Forget the food. All we need are the wrappers.
Darlene: Why don't I just go outside and climb into the Dumpster?
Hank: I would never ask you to do that. I'm mean... Hey. You've got your dignity, babe. Remember that.
Hank Irony/Sarcasm Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Larry: I'm vivisecting a choirboy. Why don't you call John Tesh?
Larry Dark/Subversive Absurdist ★ Rewatch Tony Danza: It's me in an apartment alone with a kitty. Bad-luck kitty. The kitty keeps gettin' into trouble. It's a bad-luck kitty, right?
Hank: So let's put these Chicken In A Minute wrappers... from the food that we enjoyed earlier... in the trash, right where it belongs.
Hank Cringe/Discomfort Character Comedy Callback Larry Reaction Beat Character Comedy Artie: I'm gonna tell everyone out here the nickname you have for your penis.
Artie Dark/Subversive Character Comedy Artie: The only way you're gonna get better ratings is if you marry Hank on the air.
Larry: God, you're a sick fuck.
Larry: you are twice as attractive in person... as you are on that security camera. It does not do you justice.
Larry Irony/Sarcasm Cringe/Discomfort Callback Carol: I think you saw me, and I also think that you know what you did. Everybody saw it.
Carol Cringe/Discomfort Escalation Cindy: And patented, self-regulating Frostbuster technology. It's the future of your kitchen today, and it's only from Antarctic.
Cindy Absurdist Character Comedy Hank: That's Cindy Remington, a junior at USC majoring in telecommunications... and I believe she loves horses.
Hank Absurdist Character Comedy Larry: Please accept it before he describes the ribbon.
Larry Escalation Meta/Self-Referential Top Episodes — The Larry Sanders Show
