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Life Lessons from Richard Kind …
the Annoying Cousin on
‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’
n Oct. 13, just minutes aft er
Richard Kind strolled onto
the stage at Pennsbury High
School’s Orange Auditorium, he took a
question from the student co-presidents
of the school’s Th espian Troupe 830.

But before launching into his answer,
the “Curb Your Enthusiasm” actor (he
plays Larry David’s cousin, Andy) futilely
tried to stop himself from sounding like
a 65-year-old father of three.

“If my children were here, they would
sue me, because everything is going to
sound like advice, and they are tired of
hearing advice,” Kind said to the audi-
ence of between 50 and 100 students,
parents and staff members.

Over the next hour, as Kind took ques-
tions from interested students, every-
thing sounded like advice. But unlike
the actor’s children, the Pennsbury kids
were sitting on the edges of their seats,
ready to hear every word.

Addison Blumberg, a senior and one
of the troupe co-presidents who hosted
the interview, got to greet Kind when he
got out of his car before the event.

“He’s such a genuine person,”
Blumberg said. “He was willing to laugh
with us and talk to us.”
Kind is, as he described himself, “a
working actor.” He has been in a Coen
brothers’ movie, “A Serious Man,” that
was nominated for Best Picture; he
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was nominated for a Tony Award; he
played supporting roles in two network
sitcoms, “Mad About You” and “Spin
City,” that lasted several seasons; he was
in several Pixar movies; he has played
annoying but hilarious characters in
both “Curb” and Nick Kroll’s hit Netfl ix
series “Big Mouth.”
Th e Jewish actor graduated from
Pennsbury in 1974. He was returning
to Fairless Hills to be inducted into the
school’s new hall of fame alongside for-
mer Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Troy
Vincent and others. He agreed to do a
second appearance aft er Jason Kaplan, a
theater troupe member, reached out to his
social media director on Instagram.

His appearance raised enough money
from ticket sales to help the troupe pay for
its upcoming shows and send members to
a national event for theater students. But
for the students, it was also an hour of life
lessons from a man who’s made it.

“Doing the extracurricular activities is
so important”
As a student, Kind got good grades
and prominent roles in school plays. He
ascribed both to his ability to suck up
to teachers. But it’s also similar to the
role — smart actor who plays interesting
parts — he ended up taking on in real life.

“Go and expand your life,” he said.

“I wanted to be an actor”
Growing up in Bucks County, Kind
would take the train from Trenton to
New York City to see Broadway double-
headers. But by his upperclassman years,
he was supposed to go to law school.

One Sunday aft ernoon, though, his
father’s friend was over to watch football.

Th e man told Kind to give acting a shot.

“He said, ‘Defer for a year,’” Kind
recalled. “'When you’re 40, you’ll kick
yourself that you didn’t try.'”
“You’re only being sustained by your
love of the work”
Kind spent four years in New York
and then four more with the well-known
Second City improvisational troupe in
Richard Kind interacts with the
audience on Oct. 13 at Pennsbury
High School.

Chicago. By the time he got his fi rst
television role, he was already in his 30s.

“I was very lucky,” Kind said. “But I
had sort of paid my dues already.”
“Th e people behind the table who are
hiring couldn’t care less”
Th e working actor acknowledged
during the conversation that he is not
a star. So for his entire career, he has
had to audition ... the acting version of
interviewing for a job. And when he
walks into those rooms, he knows that
the people listening want one thing:
“Seinfeld money,” as Kind put it.

Th erefore, it’s on the actor, or the
applicant, to sell himself.

“Go in there and say, ‘You need some-
body who can play this role; I can help
you; I can make this role great,’” Kind
said. “'Watch this.’”
“Go up and do what you love to do”
During the talk, Kind told a story about
an acting student who was not putting
enough spirit into his role that day in class.

Th e professor responded with a mono-
logue that seemed straight out of a play.

“Th ere may be nobody else for the rest
of your life who’s going to give you the
opportunity to act!” Kind shouted. “And
I’m saying get up there and do what God
put you on the planet to do.” JE
jsaff ren@midatlanticmedia.com
Photos by Jarrad Saff ren
O JARRAD SAFFREN | STAFF WRITER