Jerry's Standup
JERRYWent out to dinner the other night. Check came at the end of the meal, as it always does. Never liked the check at the end of the meal system, because moneys a very different thing before and after you eat. Before you eat, money has no value. And you dont care about money when youre hungry. You sit down at a restaurant, youre like the ruler of an empire. More drinks, appetizers, quickly, quickly! It will be the greatest meal of our lives. Then after the meal, you know, youve got the pants open, youve got the napkins destroyed, cigarette butt in the mashed potatoes. Then the check comes at that moment. People are always upset, you know. Theyre mystified by the check. What is this? How could this be? They start passing it around the table, Does this look right to you? Were not hungry now. Why are we buying all this food?
JERRYI think Superman probably has a very good sense of humor.
GEORGEI never heard him say anything really funny.
JERRYBut its common sense. Hes got super strength, super speed. Im sure hes got super humor.
GEORGEYou would think that, but either youre born with a sense of humor, or youre not. Its not going to change even if you go from the red sun of Krypton all the way to the yellow sun of the Earth.
JERRYWhy? Why would that one area of his mind not be affected by the yellow sun of Earth?
GEORGEI dont know. But he aint funny.
ELAINEI know, I know. Im sorry Im late.
JERRYNo problem.
ELAINEI dropped a grape.
GEORGEPardon?
ELAINEI dropped a grape in the kitchen and it disappeared. I couldnt find it. I was, I was literally on my knees for ten minutes looking for this stupid grape. I have no idea where it went.
JERRYWere you crying? I mean, its just a grape. Youll find it.
ELAINENo, Im just getting over an allergy attack. This guy Im going out with...
JERRYRobert.
ELAINERobert. Yes. Thank you. He has two cats and Im allergic to them. You know, I finally meet a normal man, and I cant even go into his apartment, you know. And, of course, my apartment is the actors studio so we cant go there. Its really causing a lot of problems, you know. He wont even go away for the weekend because of these cats.
GEORGEGuys with cats... I dont know.
JERRYIve been thinking about asking this girl Im, uh, seeing-
ELAINEVanessa.
JERRYVanessa, thank you. Ive been thinking about asking her to go away for a couple of days.
GEORGEOh, no. No no no no no. Id have to advise against that. What, do you know this woman a month? Lets see, youre going to be with her seventy-two hours. Thats a dating decathlon.
ELAINE(balancing a spoon on her nose) Hey, why dont you take her to that place in Vermont I was telling you about? You know, that really charming place with the separate faucets for the hot and cold. Shell love it.
GEORGEThats exquisite. Listen, uh, if its not too much trouble, could you pass me that paper over there?
JERRYYou better find that grape before it mutates into another life form. There was once a mutant grape that terrorized an entire town in the Texas panhandle. They brought in the army, nobody could stop it. Apparently it had a pit of steel.
GEORGEUp again?! This is incredible! Im.. Im getting it.
ELAINEYoure getting what?
GEORGEA stock.
JERRYWhat stock?
GEORGEDid you ever meet my friend, Simons?
JERRYMaybe.
GEORGEHe knows this guy, Wilkinson. He made a fortune in the stock market. Now hes got some new thing. You know, theres supposed to be a big merger. He wasnt even supposed to say anything. You guys should think about doing this too.
JERRYHow highs it suppose to go?
GEORGEI dont know. But Simons said that if I wanted to get involved, that Wilkinson would tell me the exact right minute to sell. You wanna do it?
JERRYBoy... I dont know.
ELAINEId do it but I dont have any money.
JERRYWhat kind of company is it?
GEORGEIts called Sendrax. Theyve got some new kind of technique for televising opera.
ELAINETelevising opera?
GEORGESome sort of electronic thingy.
JERRYWell, how much are you going to invest?
GEORGEFive thousand... Ten. Ten thousand. Five thousand.
JERRYBoy...
GEORGECmon. Wilkinsons got millions invested in this stock. Its gone up three points since Ive been watching it.
JERRYWhat if I lose it?
GEORGECmon, go for twenty-five hundred. Well do it together. Come on, come on. Were in it together.
JERRYAll right. Twenty-five hundred.
GEORGEThats it.
WAITRESSYeah, can I take your order?
GEORGE(Gesturing to Jerry) Check the raiser.
JERRYMy bet? All right. Ill open with a tuna sandwich.
ELAINETuna?
JERRYOh, the dolphin thing?
ELAINETheyre dying in the nets.
JERRYOhhh... You know, the whole concept of lunch is based on tuna.
ELAINEJerry, cant you incorporate one unselfish act in your daily routine?
JERRYHey, when Im driving, I let people in ahead of me all the time. Im always waving everybody in. Go ahead, go ahead, go ahead. ...All right. All right. Ill have a chicken salad.
ELAINEAnd Im going to have an English muffin with margarine on the side and a cup of coffee.
WAITRESSOkay. (To George) What about you?
GEORGEIll have the tuna.
JERRYI have to say, those people talking behind us really ruined that movie for me.
VANESSAWhy didnt you do something?
JERRYWhat do you want me to do? I gave the guy the half-turn. (acts like he did in the movie) Then I gave him the full-turn with the eye roll. (does the next look) I mean, beyond that, Im risking a punch in the mouth. (To a stock boy) Excuse me, do you have these in the puffs?
STOCK BOYNo puffs. Just flakes.
JERRYHave you thought any more about that trip?
VANESSAYeah, Ive been thinking about it.
JERRYYou know, my friend told me about this great place in Vermont.
VANESSAI dont know. I just worry about trips like this. Its a lot of pressure.
JERRYIts great! It speeds up the intimacy level. Its like putting the relationship in a time compressor. Where we would be six months from now we accomplish (snaps his fingers) three days.
VANESSAOh, so you want to move our relationship into Phase Two?
JERRYExactly. I love Phase Two. Extra toothbrushes, increased phone call frequency, walking around naked. You know, the presents get a lot better in Phase Two.
VANESSAReally? Could we go fishing up there?
JERRYYeah. We can fish. What? Blues, carp, marlin?
VANESSAThey have marlin in Vermont?
JERRYOh, big fighting marlin. (Jerry acts like he is catching a marlin)
VANESSAJerry, the stock is the same as when you checked it earlier. There are no changes after the market closes. The stock is still down.
JERRYI know. But this is a different paper. I thought maybe they have, uh, different... sources.
JERRYIs that my paper?
KRAMERBad news, my friend.
JERRYWhat? What news?
KRAMERSendrax.
JERRYOh, cmon! Its down again?!
KRAMERTwo and a half points.
JERRYOh, I cant believe it. Let me see that. (Jerry takes the paper.) Thats four and a half points in three days! Thats almost half my money!
KRAMERHey, I told you.
JERRY(sarcastic) Yeah, you told me.
KRAMERIts all manipulated with junk bonds. You cant win.
JERRYTheres one thing I dont understand. Why does it please you? (to the phone) George Costanza, please.
KRAMERHey, I dont care. Im just telling you to (yelling) get rid of that stock, now!
JERRY(to the phone) George, whats going on?!
KRAMERSell it, just say Im selling!
JERRY(to the phone) Well, where is the guy?!... Nothing?! Almost half my moneys gone... Well, call me right back. (Jerry hangs up.) Nobody can reach Wilkinson. He hasnt been home or in his office in the past three days!
KRAMERYou know, I cant believe you put your money in that Sendrax. And you couldve invested in my roll-out tie dispenser.
JERRYRoll-out tie dispenser? What was that one?
KRAMEROkay, youre in a restaurant. Youve got a very big meeting coming up...
JERRYOkay...
KRAMER(looks at his shirt as if he had a tie on) Oh man, you got mustard on your tie!
JERRY(going along with it) Oh No!
KRAMERYou just (makes the tearing sound) tear it off, and vvvvrrrpppp you got a new one right here. Then youre gone.
JERRYYoure gone all right.
KRAMER(Looking at map) Hey, where, where are you going? You gonna take a trip? The map... what...
JERRYYeah, Im going to Vermont with uh Vanessa for a few days.
KRAMERHey, can I use your place? I got a bunch of friends coming over this weekend.
JERRYWhat friends?
KRAMERWell, its just some people I met at a rock concert. (Phone rings.) Do you mind if they use your bed? (Jerry give Kramer a look.) Cause theyre really good people, Jerry. Im telling you. You know, theyre anarchists. Theyre.. theyre.. theyre.. huge.
JERRYGeorge- What?! Youre kidding... Well, whats wrong?... So, what are we gonna do?... Great!... All right, Ill speak to you later. (He hangs up.) Wilkinson, the guy whos supposed to tell us when to sell the stock, hes in the hospital.
JERRYSo you dont know whats wrong with him?
GEORGEAll Simons was able to find out is that hes in the hospital.
JERRYOkay, fine. Has Simons been in touch with him?
GEORGEOf course hes been in touch with him. Hes left two messages. He just hasnt heard back yet, thats all.
JERRYWell, this is it. Im selling.
GEORGEJust give it a little more time.
JERRYI never shouldve gotten involved in this. Im a nervous wreck. Im not cut out for investing.
GEORGEAll right, all right. Thats it. Im gonna go down there.
JERRYWhere?
GEORGETo the hospital.
JERRYThe hospital?
GEORGEIm going to find out whats going on. All right?
JERRYAre you nuts? You dont even know the guy.
GEORGESo what? Ill start talking to him, you know, casual, and Ill work my way around to it.
JERRYWhat if hes in an iron lung or something? What are you gonna do? (Jerry knocks on imaginary glass.) How you feeling, Mr. Wilkinson? (He makes a hissing sound.) By the way, whats happening with Sendrax?
GEORGEMaybe hes resting.
JERRYWho goes to the hospital to rest?
GEORGEWhat are you, a doctor?
JERRYOkay, fine, fine. When are you going down there?
GEORGEToday. Im going today. Just dont do anything until you hear from me.
JERRYAll right.
GEORGE(to the woman) Boy, I have to get to a bathroom.
DRY CLEANER(to Jerry) May I help you?
JERRYYeah. I picked up this shirt here yesterday. Its completely shrunk. Theres absolutely no way I can wear it.
DRY CLEANERWhen did you bring it in?
JERRYWhats the difference? Look at it! Do you see the size of this shirt?!
DRY CLEANERYou got a receipt?
JERRYI cant find the receipt.
DRY CLEANERYou should get the receipt.
JERRYLook, forget about the receipt, all right? Even if I had the receipt- look at it! Its a hand puppet. What am I gonna do with this?!
DRY CLEANERYes, but how do I know we did the shirt?
JERRYWhat do you think this is a little scam I have? I take this tiny shirt all over the city conning dry cleaners out of money? In fact, forget the money. I dont even want the money. I just once, I would like to hear a dry cleaner admit that something was their fault. Thats what I want. I want an admission of guilt.
DRY CLEANERMaybe you asked for it to be washed.
JERRYNo! Dry-cleaned.
DRY CLEANELet me explain to you something, okay? With certain types of fabrics, different chemicals can react, causing-
JERRYYou shrunk it! You know you shrunk it! Just tell me that you shrunk it!
DRY CLEANER(looks around making sure not too many people are listening) I shrunk it.
Jerry's Standup
JERRYI think the only reason we go to the dry cleaner is so I can say to the dry cleaner, Well, its ruined. And of course, the dry cleaner can respond, Its not our fault. Were not responsible. We just ruin the clothes. That ends our legal obligation. You see, the whole problem with dry cleaning is that we all believe that this is actually possible. Th-Right? Theyre cleaning our clothes, but theyre not getting anything wet. Its all dry. I know theres gotta be some liquids back there, some fluids that theyre using. Theres no such thing as dry cleaning. When you get something on your shirt, ever get something on your shirt and try to get it off like that (Jerry brushes off his shirt.) Thats dry cleaning. I dont think thats what theyre doing back there. They dont have eighty guys going, Come on, hurry up! Theres a lot of shirts today!
JERRYBless you.
ELAINEThank you. What evidence is there that cats are so smart, anyway? Huh? What do they do? Because theyre clean? I am sorry. My Uncle Pete showers four times a day and he cant count to ten, so dont give me hygiene.
JERRYSo what are you gonna do?
ELAINEI dont know. I cant think of any solution, unless of course they should meet with some unfortunate accident. What do you think a hit man would charge to rub out a couple of cats?
JERRYWell, it couldnt be too expensive. Thirteen, fourteen bucks a cat?
ELAINEWhat do you think, Jerry? You wanna make twenty-eight bucks?
JERRYIm no cat killer.
ELAINEHow about we go over there right now and we shave them?
JERRYId really like to go, Elaine. But, George is coming back from the hospital. I gotta wait for him. But otherwise I would definitely go.
ELAINEHe actually went to the hospital?
JERRYYeah.
ELAINEOh man, hes nuts.
JERRYYeah, hes nuts. You wanta bump off a couple of cats. (Enter Kramer, holding a paper up to Jerry.) I know, I know. Its down again.
KRAMERHow much are you down altogether?
JERRYI dont know.. fifteen hundred dollars.
KRAMERWow.
JERRYYou dont have to say Wow. I know its Wow. (Kramer smiling) And theres that smile again. Well, what is that? (Intercom buzzes.) Its George.
KRAMEROh, look at this one by the bus stop. Jerry, come here. Take a look at this.
JERRYI really dont need to look.
KRAMERWhat a body. Yeeaahh. Thats for me.
JERRYYeah, and youre just what shes looking for too a stranger leering through a pair of binoculars ten floors up.
KRAMERIm gonna go down there and try and talk to her.
JERRYWhat? What? Did you go down there? (George nods.) Did he tell you whats gonna happen? (George shakes his head.) How long were you there?
GEORGEFifteen seconds.
JERRYYou told him you knew Simons?
GEORGEYeah, I mentioned Simons. Next thing I know, Im in the parking lot. Perhaps they had some sort of a falling out. Ill tell you one thing. I dont know what hes got. But for a sick guy, hes very strong.
JERRYWell, thats it. Look, Im going to Vermont. I dont want to think about this. Im selling.
ELAINEDidnt work, huh?
GEORGE(laughs) Not quite.
ELAINEWe-Well, what are you gonna do about the stock?
GEORGEIm keeping it. Im going down with the ship.
JERRYSo I know this guy. Im getting all my sneakers at a discount now.
VANESSAI know. You mentioned it.
JERRYOh yeah, right.
JERRY(thinking) Oh God. Get me out of here. What a mistake. What made me think this would work? And Ive still got another day! Ive got nothing left to say. Wait... wait... Got one. (to Vanessa) Thats a nice watch. Do you wind it?
VANESSANo, its got a little battery.
JERRYWell, thats good.
JERRY(thinking) Well, the drive home should be a delight. Im speeding the whole way. Let them throw me in jail. I dont care. (to Vanessa) That's the manager? Do you want me to see if we can get another room?
VANESSANo, its okay.
JERRYSo, I guess you dont find the separate faucets for the hot and cold, charming?
VANESSANot especially.
JERRYWell, what do you want to do this afternoon?
VANESSAWhat can we do? Its raining.
JERRYWe cold play Sorry! We cold play Steal the Old Mans Bundle. (Vanessa not amused; Jerry thinking) Maybe I can get an extension cord and hang myself. (to Vanessa) What kind of perfume is that youre wearing?
VANESSAOh, youve never heard of it.
JERRYNo, what? What kind is it?
VANESSAI cant tell you.
JERRY(thinking) Yeah, thats normal. (to a man nearby) Excuse me, sir. Could I have a look at that business section?
VANESSAThat stock? I thought you got out of that?
JERRYI did. Im just curious. Its been almost a week. I want to check it out. (He finds the stock.) Six points? (to Vanessa) Its up six points!
VANESSAI told you not to sell.
JERRYYou did not tell me not to sell.
VANESSAI said the market fluctuates. Remember?
JERRYLook, Vanessa, of course the market fluctuates. Everybody knows that. I just got fluctuated out of four thousand dollars!
VANESSAThats probably why we're-
JERRYWhat?
VANESSAForget it.
JERRYNo, what? Thats probably why..
VANESSAThats probably why were staying here, because you lost money on the stock.
JERRY(thinking) So, what am I looking at here? Twenty-nine hours to go. Well, at least I got plenty of time to find out the name of that perfume...
GEORGE(laughing) Have something else. Cmon, have a little dessert?
JERRYIm good, thanks.
GEORGEElaine, get something! Its all taken care of.
ELAINEIm kinda full.
GEORGESo dont finish it.
JERRY(acidly) Shes full. So, Big Daddy. Im just curious. How much did you clear on your little transaction there, all told?
GEORGEI dont like to discuss figures.
JERRYHow much?
GEORGEI dont know, what? Eight thousand. Its a Hyundai. Get out of here. I told you not to sell. Simons made money, Wilkinson cleaned up.
JERRYSo, Wilkinsons out of the hospital now?
GEORGENo. Youd be surprised. You dont recover that quickly from a nose job.
ELAINEOh god.
JERRYIs that still from the cats?
ELAINENo, I just have a cold.
JERRYSo, what ever happened with that?
ELAINEI gave him an ultimatum.
GEORGEHe chose the cats?
ELAINETheyre very clean animals.
JERRYI gotta say, thats pretty sad. Losing out to a cat.
ELAINEAlmost as bad as losing out to a perfume.
GEORGEI told you those trips were relationship killers. Too bad you cant get your buddy Superman to fly around the Earth at super speed and reverse time. Youd get all the money back, you could have avoided the whole trip to Vermont...
ELAINESuperman can go back in time?
JERRYWe went over that.
GEORGEPst. (moves in close with Elaine and Jerry) Wilkinsons got a bite on a new one. Petramco Corp. Out of, uh Springfield. I think. Theyre about to introduce some sort of a robot butcher.
JERRYA robot butcher?
GEORGEShhhhh. If you want to get in, theres very little time. (calling to the waitress) Sweetheart.. (Waitress approaches and tears off a check. George stops her.) No, no, no. That ought to cover it. (He hands her some money; she turns to leave; George stops her.) Just a second. Just a... let me jus-peek... (He looks at the check, then takes some money out of her hand. George urges Jerry and Elaine to eat.) Come on, come on, come on...
Jerry's Standup
JERRYIm not an investor. People always tell me, you should have your money working for you. Ive decided Ill do the work. Im gonna let the money relax. You know what I mean? Cause you send your money out there working for you a lot of times, it gets fired. You go back there, What happened? I had my money. It was here, it was working for me. Yeah, I remember your money. Showing up late. Taking time off. We had to let him go.