David Spade has enjoyed a variety of creative successes, including six years on Saturday Night Live, a long list of film and TV credits, and a pair of long-running podcasts.
He’s also an extremely funny standup comic, and will perform at Fantasy Springs on Saturday, March 15. Spade will be co-headlining with the co-host of both of his podcasts, fellow SNL alum Dana Carvey.
During a recent phone interview, the Los Angeles-based comic talked about January’s devastating fires. Spade made the news after personally offering a $5,000 reward to anyone who identified an arsonist.
“We were shooting this movie, and it really was just scary at first, and then the movie got pushed back, and then … you’re just dealing with the air and everything else,” Spade said. “It’s not ideal for anyone living here, but everyone just keeps moving forward.”
The comedian starred in the hilarious Funny or Die video David Spade Hates Coachella, in which he roasts the crap out of our local music festival. That said, Spade said he’s looking forward to performing in Indio.
“I do like to golf when I can get out there,” Spade said. “It’s just hard to take that little jaunt out there. People like to lowball and go, ‘If you go at the right time, (the drive takes) about 14 minutes.’ I’m like, ‘Well, when I go, it seems to be three hours.’ I’ve played (the Coachella Valley) a lot. It’s gone well, and I like it. The crowds are good, so I’m all for coming back.”
Spade said this is the first time he and Carvey will be co-headlining an evening of comedy together. Spade said they are still deciding how the night will go.
“This is sort of an anomaly,” he said. “We’ve gotten offers before, but haven’t done them together. … It’s a great venue, and I think we’ll pull in a nice crowd and see how it goes. We haven’t figured out the logistics. We might have each of us go on and then do a little Q&A at the end. We’ll figure it out, but it should be a good time.”
Spade and Carvey have been producing a pair of podcasts over the past few years. Fly on the Wall started as interviews with other former SNL cast members, and has since evolved to include interviews with other celebrities, while Superfly features the friends having a laugh together.
“(Doing podcasts) sounds easier than it is, and that’s why there are over 3 million of them right now,” Spade said. “I read that recently on Google, and that sounds high, but it sounds about right. It’s a very tough thing to keep doing and crack the code of how to do it. I’m with Dana, who’s easy to bounce off of, and always is interesting and funny. Between the two of us, we have one we do just ourselves on video, Superfly, and we riff about stuff, and the other one, Fly on the Wall, where we interview people … the interviewing is harder, because you have to stay on themes, stay on track with their life, and keep getting them to talk, which is harder than it seems. An hour is a long time if you’re trying to keep it interesting … but we’ve gotten into a groove. It’s been a couple of years now, and we have a good time doing it.”
Spade said they feel an obligation to the podcasts, despite other things going on in their careers.
“It kind of blew up, so we’re like, ‘Hey, this is worth putting some time and effort into,’” Spade said. “When you do something else, that’s when it gets hard. I had a day off from the movie and did two Fly on the Wall interviews, and then flew home from a show yesterday in upstate California and did another Superfly. I don’t have many days off from the movie, so it’s very complicated.”
That movie is Busboys, a comedy film he’s self-funding, producing and starring in alongside Theo Von. He said the experience has been different from his other Hollywood movies, because it’s a personal project.
“We’re just trying to (make a movie) in town, just to get the ball rolling, like, ‘Hey, everybody. L.A. is cool. It’s beautiful. Let’s do things here. This is Tinseltown, don’t forget.’”
David Spade
“It’s a little harder, because this one, we did from the ground up, got some financing and put in money,” Spade said. “Theo Von and I wrote it and didn’t try to sell it. We just said, ‘Let’s just do it,’ so that was a backwards way to do it. It’s kind of fun, because it’s our little thing, and then you have something that might be worth something one day … At least we got to film in L.A. I asked for L.A., and we did it, and I’m really glad, because there are crews and great people who work here who love working in town.”
Spade explained that production companies haven’t been utilizing Los Angeles as much as they did several years ago.
“I think with those strikes and with COVID and stuff, movie companies lost money, and then they have to pay everyone more—which was fair—but sometimes they start shooting overseas during a strike, and then they get in the habit of that,” he said. “We’re just trying to do one in town, just to get the ball rolling, like, ‘Hey, everybody. L.A. is cool. It’s beautiful. Let’s do things here. This is Tinseltown, don’t forget.’”
Even though it’s been almost 30 years since Spade was a Saturday Night Live cast member, he still talks about and reflects upon his time on SNL every day—because he made such an impression during his stint on the show.
“I have to say that I get asked about it every day,” Spade said. “That just shows you the impact. I haven’t been on it forever, but I’m just a piece of the whole history of it. Being an alumnus, I’m proud I did it. I’m happy it gave me so much. … It’s fun to hear everyone’s different stories on the podcast, and everyone’s different (answers to): What happened after? What was it like before? How did it feel? There are just so many crazy parts, and everyone agrees it’s stressful.”
David Spade and Dana Carvey will perform at 8 p.m., Saturday, March 15, at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, 84245 Indio Springs Parkway, in Indio. Tickets start at $82. For tickets or more information, visit fantasyspringsresort.com.
