Curb Your Enthusiasm: 10 Funniest Leon Scenes

Although a latecomer to Curb Your Enthusiasm, first appearing in episode 1 of season 6, Leon Black is now one of the most popular characters on the show. His rapport with Larry is second to none, and he’s a major part of some of the most memorable storylines in Curb Your Enthusiasm history.

Leon is a devil-may-care ladies’ man, played unforgettably by J.B. Smoove – but he’s always game for helping Larry out. From his sage life advice to pretending to be a Jewish guy with Groat’s disease, Leon has some of the funniest scenes in the show.

10 Leon Threatens To Beat Larry Up – Season 6, Episode 9

Larry concocts an elaborate plan to win Cheryl back, in which he stops a thief from stealing her therapist’s purse. The thief? Leon. Leon agrees to the plan wholeheartedly – but his idea of how the plan should end is a little different from Larry’s.

Larry wants to end up looking like the hero, but Leon refuses to run away when Larry stops him – instead, he wants to “f*** Larry up.” Leon insists this will make Larry look like even more of a hero – but Larry, understandably, doesn’t feel like he needs to look so heroic that it ends up with his glasses and/or teeth getting broken, as Leon suggests.

9 Leon Threatens Michael J. Fox – Season 8, Episode 10

When Larry moves into a New York apartment beneath Michael J. Fox, he and Leon are kept awake at night by their neighbor clomping around upstairs. Larry asks Leon to go up and speak to him, but Leon says if he does, he won’t be able to keep his temper.

Leon has a way with words, telling Larry that “Michael J. Fox about to be Michael J. F***** up” – an unexpectedly hilarious response to their noisy neighbor.

8 Leon Has A Thing For Susie – Season 6, Episode 2

Leon meets Susie for the first time when she bowls into the house with a suspicious-looking stain on one of Sammy’s teddy bears. When she begins one of her trademark tirades towards Larry, Leon shows his appreciation for Susie: “I like a woman with a smart-a** mouth like that.”

Susie isn’t impressed, and starts swearing at Leon instead – but this just seems to spur him on. This moment is as funny as it is unpredictable – the spark between Leon and Susie fizzles out as quickly as it begins, and is never mentioned again.

7 Leon Answers Larry’s Phone – Season 6, Episode 6

When Larry and Leon accidentally switch phones, it doesn’t work out well for either of them. Larry yells at a guy who wants to offer Leon a job, while Leon inadvertently gives Larry’s friend Hal the impression that Larry is doing a racist impression over the phone.

Larry and Hal aren’t on great terms anyway – Larry has offended Hal and his wife by unwittingly insulting them in sign language – and Leon’s phone call makes things go from bad to worse. As well as the offensive caricature, Leon also manages to imply that Larry has had an affair with Hal’s wife.

6 Leon Accepts Larry’s Interview Advice – Season 6, Episode 6

Initially eager for Leon and Loretta to find jobs and move out, Larry offers Leon some advice for his upcoming job interview. When the interviewer starts asking him questions, Leon should twist the conversation and start questioning him, so that it’s ultimately the interviewer who’s trying to impress Leon.

Leon loves the idea and starts making harebrained suggestions that worry Larry into thinking he might mess up the interview. Larry backtracks, but Leon insists that he’s going to “topsy turvy that motherf*****.”

5 Leon Calls Larry A Mopey D*** – Season 6, Episode 10

Following Larry’s separation from Cheryl, Leon and Jeff are worried about his state of mind – causing Leon to call him “mopey d***.” Jeff tries to educate him on the actual phrase – “Moby Dick’s the book, by Melville” – but Leon won’t have it, asking, “Who the f*** is Moby Dick?”

Leon eventually explains himself: “His d*** is moping.” It might be the greatest accidental pun ever put on screen.

4 Leon Tells Larry He Has Long Balls – Season 6, Episode 7

When Larry sustains an injury and has to be rushed to the hospital, his prognosis is good – and luckily Leon is there to put the doctor’s theory into layman’s terms. The injury happened, Leon says, as a result of Larry’s “long a** balls”.

The doctor agrees: “they are a bit more distended than the average testicles.” It’s just unfortunate that Larry is banned from having sex on the day he has a date with Xena the warrior princess.

3 Leon Gives Larry Advice On Dealing With Bigots – Season 6, Episode 4

After Larry receives a stream of bigoted insults from a skinhead, he goes to Leon for advice. Leon’s advice is both profound and practical: “you’ve got to immediately get in somebody’s a** when that happens to you.”

More specifically, Leon’s advice includes picking up a can of spray paint and spraying, “Larry was here” and “wash me,” as well as throwing garbage and generally trashing the place. Somehow, Larry totally gets it and vows to do just that if he sees the skinhead again.

2 Leon Brings The Ruckus To The Ladies – Season 6, Episode 2

In one of the most famous Leon/Larry scenes, Larry accuses Leon of besmirching one of Cheryl’s blankets. It’s awkward at first since Leon doesn’t quite see what Larry’s driving at – “Gravy, maybe? Something in the gravy category?” – and so eventually Larry has to spell it out for him.

When he does, Leon says it’s impossible for him to be the culprit – “I gets mine, Larry. I brings the ruckus to the ladies.” The exchange is hilarious from start to finish and sets Leon up as the serial ladies’ man Curb fans know and love.

1 Leon Pretends To Be Danny Duberstein – Season 7, Episode 9

In order to calm Michael Richards – who’s intending to reprise the role of Kramer in the Seinfeld revival, and has just been diagnosed with Groat’s disease – Leon poses as Danny Duberstein, a Jewish Groat’s survivor. Michael quizzes Leon on his faith, and Leon responds with so much confidence it’s easy to see why Michael accepts his claim that a Bar Mitzvah actually happens every 13 years.

The Groat’s disease symptoms Leon makes up are also amazing. From all food tasting like peaches to being unable to calculate how many women he’s sleeping with, the Danny Duberstein scene is the funniest Leon scene of the lot.