David Spade Was Told He Wouldn't Make It Without Chris Farley
If you were around in the 1990s and of the age to watch comedy films, you've probably come across the films "Tommy Boy" and "Black Sheep" starring comedians David Space and the late Chris Farley. The two were a dynamic duo on "Saturday Night Live," with Spade often playing the straight man to Farley's wild and goofy antics. Farley died of a combination of a drug overdose and heart disease in December 1997, but while they were together, they were fabulously funny.
/Film's own Joe Garza did a list of Farley's top sketches from SNL, including Lunch Lady Land, the Chippendale's sketch with Patrick Swayze, and of course, Matt Foley, motivational speaker. That final one is one of the most ridiculously weird things I've seen on TV, and watching Spade try not to break as Farley's Foley talks about living in a van down by the river and throwing himself onto a table is pure joy.
Farley's untimely passing was devastating for comedy fans, and he and Spade were close. On top of mourning his friend, he had to deal with the talk that said his career was going to suffer without his comedy partner. Spade appeared on Howard Stern in 2013, where he recalled how it made him feel to hear that, and what it was like working with one of the best of all time.
'I do think that it was a big waste'
In the interview, Spade spoke about how SNL creator Lorne Michaels hooked them up with their first film by telling writers to "write a movie about these guys, the way they act around the office." I highly recommend watching the clip for some of the stories he tells about them, but they're definitely NSFW.
Stern mentioned the talking point about Spade's career. He said, "I remember early in your career after Chris Farley died, the rap always was, 'Well, Spade's not gonna be able to do anything without Chris Farley; he needs Farley.'" Spade responded that he still hears that on Twitter. When Stern asked if he still thinks about what a great team they were, Spade said:
"Overall, I do think that it was a big waste, of course. I mean, I could've — we could've done ... At least I had a career doing horrible movies with him when we were both done, you know? I mean, we just keep coming back like, 'Hey, we gotta get together again.'"
Excuse me a moment while I go wipe my eyes.
In the end, Spade's career didn't suffer. He went on to do projects like the sitcoms "Just Shoot Me!" and "8 Simple Rules" and films like "The Emperor's New Groove" and "Joe Dirt." He also did a few talk shows like "The Showbiz Show with David Spade" and "Lights Out with David Spade. Of course, it's best not to linger on what could have been, but ah, it would likely have been a whole lot of fun.
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