Obama and Larry David: Behind-the-Scenes of the Tan Suit Sketch

The cameras may have been rolling, but the best part happened between the lines. Behind the scenes with Barack Obama and Larry David, the jokes got looser, the improv got sharper, and even Larry couldn’t keep a straight face.

HBO Max just dropped a short behind-the-scenes look at the finale of Larry David and Jeff Schaffer’s Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness: An Almost History of America, and it might be better than the sketch itself.

Barack Obama, who executive produced the seven-episode series through Higher Ground alongside Michelle Obama, appears as himself in the finale’s tan suit sketch. The footage catches him walking onto a replica of his old Oval Office, admiring the crew’s work (he singled out the bowl of apples), and then immediately clocking one glaring omission.

There’s no gold sign outside announcing the room. “I can’t believe I didn’t think of that,” he says. He’s referring to the gold “The Oval Office” signage Trump had installed as part of his broader gold-heavy redecorating.

He’s Apparently a Pretty, Pretty Good Improviser

The finale rewrites the origin story of Obama’s infamous 2014 tan suit. In David’s version, his character, a presidential aide, sneaks a sip of Obama’s Mango Tango protein shake. He spills it on Obama’s suit jacket and has to talk him into wearing the tan backup instead.

One of the sketch’s best lines almost wasn’t scripted at all. When David asks for a sip of the shake, Obama turns him down because he doesn’t want the comedian’s “old lips” anywhere near his straw. That line was improvised. Schaffer has said the joke is entirely Obama’s own, not something David or the writers came up with.

Watch Larry David’s reaction in the clip. He completely loses it, which feels like the correct response to a former president casually roasting you.

Larry David Does Not Care That You Were President

The clip fits a dynamic that’s shown up in basically every piece of Life, Larry press. Obama gave David some notes during production, and David brushed them off. Obama reminded him that he used to take advice from advisors as president of the United States. David’s response, according to Schaffer: “Yeah, but I’m the president of this.”

It’s a good line, and it’s apparently true to how the set actually ran. Nobody seems to be treating a former president like a museum piece here. He gets ad-libbed at, he gets laughed at, and by the sound of it, he gives as good as he gets.

Watch the behind-the-scenes footage below: