There are comedians who make you laugh. And then there is Jerry Seinfeld, who makes you laugh at things you have thought about a thousand times but never quite found the words for. Born in Brooklyn on April 29, 1954, Seinfeld spent decades honing an observational comedy style so precise and so relentlessly human that it changed the way an entire generation understood everyday life. The sitcom he created with Larry David ran for nine seasons and was still the highest-rated show in America when it ended in 1998 — watched by 76 million people for its final episode. He turned down $110 million to keep going, walked away at the top, and went straight back to doing stand-up in small clubs. Because for Jerry Seinfeld, the jokes were always the point. He turns 72 on Tuesday. Here are five of his finest to mark the occasion. What’s the deal with getting older? Apparently, it suits him.
“Sometimes the road less travelled, is less travelled for a reason.”
A bookstore is one of the only pieces of evidence we have that people are still thinking.
We want to do a lot of stuff; we’re not in great shape. We didn’t get a good night’s sleep. We’re a little depressed. Coffee solves all of these problems in one delightful little cup.
Who buys an umbrella anyway? You can get them for free at the coffee shop in those metal cans.
Dating is tension and pressure. What is a date, really, but a job interview that lasts all night?