Most know David Spade for his smart aleck bits on Saturday Night Live. He was the flight attendant who said, “Buh-bye.” He ticked off celebrities during Hollywood Minute. He was the squirrely sidekick to Chris Farley.
These days, the 51-year-old is busier than ever. He just released a sequel to the 2001 cult hit Joe Dirt on Sony’s streaming site Crackle. Later this year, he’ll star alongside long-time pal Adam Sandler and Paula Patton in The Do-Over.
This month, Spade will perform at L’Auberge Casino & Hotel Baton Rouge. The show kicks off Saturday, Aug. 8.
In the midst of shooting and scheduling, Spade took a break to talk with 225 about the new Joe Dirt and performing standup these days.
225: Why did you want to go back to Joe Dirt? David Spade:I love it. It came out, and it did OK. It’s one of those ones that lived on. Five years later, people are still talking about it … to me, at least. I realize it’s not Star Wars, but I know it hit a nerve with certain people. We did work hard, though, to make sure it wasn’t like just walking through the second one. We had a low budget, and that was the fear. We didn’t want to do it worse. But everyone walked in and agreed to come back.
This was your first time filming in Louisiana, correct? What did you think of it? Yeah, I’m never down there. The first [Joe Dirt] took place in Louisiana, supposedly, even though we shot it in The Valley. This time we said, ‘We should just go there.’ I stayed in New Orleans but went over the Causeway bridge every day. It was 24 miles of bumps in the morning. It turned out to be a blast.
When did you start getting back into doing standup? You know, I’ve always done standup, and I booked this gig [at L’Auberge] partially because I’m never in that part of the country. I never get to do shows down there. I get rusty when I do movies. I want to keep doing it. It’s hard to walk out there and do an hour. It’s like a play. You’ve got to keep at it. I’m just trying to find stuff to keep me moving.
I saw you opened for Dave Chappelle while you were filming in New Orleans. Was that stuff you had made up on the spot? I hadn’t done it in a while because I was shooting, but I was like, ‘Oh, I could scrape together 20 minutes.’ Some stuff you just make up on the spot. Most of it, I was just picking through my act and going with it.
At that show, he had attendants giving out these reminders about turning off your cell phones. Do you find it difficult to connect with certain audiences these days? Have you ever seen a picture of the concert, and the singer is close to the front and every person in front of him has their cell phone up? It used to not be like that. Used to be, people just watched. Now, they want to watch and film it, which takes away from watching it. I always worry about people filming bits and putting them on YouTube. It burns out your jokes. You go on tour, and immediately, people are like, ‘He’s bombing. His new stuff isn’t good.’ You think about a guy like Eddie Murphy. He used to be able to practice in this club in Long Island, and no one ever saw it. Then, he tours, and everyone’s like, ‘Wow.’ For someone who’s that big, it’s hard to go out there and start over and just practice. You don’t want to have people sitting around saying, ‘God, he sucks now.’ But you also don’t want to just do the old stuff. You can get weak easily.
When did you realize comedy was something you could do as a job? I think I was premature. I hated my job and school. I was making $20 a show. When I figured I could do four shows a week, that’s $80. I said to myself, ‘I’m there.’ I was probably 20 years old.
THE GIG:
David Spade will perform at L’Auberge Casino & Hotel Baton Rouge Saturday, Aug. 8. Doors open at 7 p.m. The show will start at 8 p.m. Tickets are $50. Patrons must be 21 or older to enter. lbatonrouge.com
