Dopey 599: Jeff Garlin! “I Was Going to Be Dead at Noon” — Curb Your Enthusiasm, Addiction, Bipolar Disorder and RecoveryDopey 599: Jeff Garlin! “I Was Going to Be Dead at Noon” — Curb Your Enthusiasm, Addiction, Bipolar Disorder and Recovery
Dopey: On the Dark Comedy of Drug Addiction
Timestamps 00:00:01 – Dopey song and Oro Recovery 00:02:28 – Gratitude, Patreon and DopeyCon 00:04:37 – How Dave finally landed Jeff Garlin 00:06:59 – A firefighter-paramedic writes about grief and buried emotions 00:09:30 – Mountainside and BetterHelp 00:11:52 – Cocaine, 2C-B, ketamine and boofing during psychosis 00:14:00 – Leading a meeting while hallucinating animals under the bed 00:16:23 – Suboxone, Leah and listener comments 00:18:46 – LICR, Brayburn and scab picking 00:21:07 – The “Perc 30” argument 00:23:26 – More reactions to Leah’s story 00:25:53 – Dating a man addicted to meth and crack 00:27:57 – Police raid, hidden drugs and sixty days sober 00:29:30 – Jeff Garlin joins Dopey 00:30:16 – “A human being who does the best he can” 00:32:39 – Is Jeff Greene actually a bad person? 00:35:02 – Jeff’s knee injury and the Katz’s connection 00:37:29 – Why Jeff refuses to ask, “Why me?” 00:39:53 – Self-pity, comedy and never begging an audience to laugh 00:42:14 – Sobriety, marijuana, alcohol and compulsive eating 00:44:35 – Why AA worked better for Jeff than OA 00:47:00 – Addiction, greatness, Jerry Garcia and Miles Davis 00:49:25 – Jeff’s earliest memories of being funny 00:51:52 – Comedy as his lifelong calling 00:54:12 – Drinking as a teenager and discovering stand-up 00:56:38 – Brian Regan inspires Jeff to become a comedian 00:59:07 – Jeff’s lifelong food addiction begins 01:01:31 – His mother, childhood and hiding food 01:03:55 – Sugar, unrequited love and using comedy for protection 01:06:21 – Binging, food hangovers and reaching 320 pounds 01:08:45 – Road food, marijuana and losing part of his toe 01:11:10 – Success, diabetes and surviving a stroke 01:13:31 – Finding God during COVID 01:15:56 – Clairvoyance and delivering a message from a friend’s father 01:17:00 – Undiagnosed bipolar disorder and working on The Goldbergs 01:20:50 – The Little Caesars scene and deciding to quit 01:23:16 – Diagnosis, shame and the beginning of Jeff’s bottom 01:25:18 – “I will be dead at noon” 01:27:41 – Treatment in Cincinnati and learning DBT 01:30:06 – Checking the facts and finding “wise mind” 01:32:32 – Public humiliation, suicidal thoughts and entering AA 01:34:51 – Recovery changes Jeff’s life and comedy 01:37:15 – Jeff praises Dave’s interviewing and listening 01:39:33 – Would treatment have prevented what happened on The Goldbergs? 01:42:00 – Gratitude, resentment and spiritual recovery 01:43:20 – Transcendental meditation and higher consciousness 01:45:44 – Jeff’s friendship with Larry David 01:48:03 – Directing Jon Stewart and Denis Leary 01:50:31 – The lunch that became Curb Your Enthusiasm 01:52:57 – Why Curb is a situation comedy 01:55:21 – Larry David’s genius and 121 episodes of Curb 01:57:32 – Giving Bill Buckner his redemption 01:59:48 – The Cubs, Wrigley Field and saving people through comedy 02:02:09 – Jerry Seinfeld and Jeff’s upcoming book 02:04:33 – Photography, stand-up and rapid-fire questions 02:06:59 – Belushi versus Aykroyd 02:09:18 – Jeff’s final compliment to Dave 02:11:45 – Spotify comments 02:18:35 – Dave performs “Atlantic City” 02:22:04 – A listener performs “Good So Bad” on banjo
2:24:53•11 Sept 2026
Jeff Garlin on Food Addiction, Bipolar Disorder and Choosing Life at Noon
Episode Overview
- Jeff frames his main addiction as compulsive overeating and sugar, leading to diabetes, a stroke and the loss of part of his toe.
- He describes reaching a suicidal point, telling loved ones he would be dead at noon, and being open to intervention and treatment.
- Jeff contrasts a glossy Beverly Hills facility with a more grounded centre in Cincinnati, choosing the latter as a sign he was serious about recovery.
- Dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) and AA are presented as key tools, helping him combine feelings with facts into a “wise mind” and find serenity.
- He links untreated bipolar disorder and ADHD to years of anger, resentment and chaotic behaviour, and says proper treatment has made him a better man and performer.
“They said a life beyond your wildest dreams, and in that moment I was going, no fucking way will I ever have a life beyond my wildest dreams.”
How do people find strength in their journey to sobriety? This episode of *Dopey* centres on comedian and actor Jeff Garlin, best known from *Curb Your Enthusiasm*, as he talks frankly about addiction, bipolar disorder, suicidal thinking and recovery, all wrapped in the show’s trademark dark humour. You’ll hear Jeff explain that his primary addiction wasn’t booze or hard drugs, but food and sugar: “My number one addiction is compulsive overeating of the wrong things.
I became diabetic from it.” He describes early food obsession, abusing sweets on the road, losing the tip of his toe to a diabetic ulcer, and even having a stroke in his thirties, yet still continuing to use food, alcohol and weed afterwards. It’s a brutal, honest look at how powerful compulsive behaviours can be.
The conversation turns deeply personal when Jeff recalls hitting emotional bottom on *The Goldbergs*, receiving a late diagnosis of bipolar disorder and severe ADHD, and phoning loved ones to say, “I will be dead at noon.” He outlines the intervention that followed, his decision to choose a no-frills treatment centre in Cincinnati over a glossy Beverly Hills option, and how dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) and AA became central to his recovery and new sense of serenity.
Despite the heavy themes, the tone stays conversational and often funny. Jeff talks about comedy as his “best friend”, shares stories about *Curb Your Enthusiasm*, Larry David, and his past debauchery with food and weed, while the host keeps things grounded with warmth and humour. For anyone dealing with compulsive eating, cross-addiction, bipolar disorder or late-in-life diagnosis, this episode offers relatable struggle, practical hope, and the reminder that change can start at rock bottom.
If you’ve ever wondered whether recovery can coexist with creativity, this candid chat might be the nudge you need to look at your own habits and ask what kind of life you want next.
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