Out of everyone who’s been able to call themselves a cast member of Saturday Night Live, nobody’s been snarkier in its 40-year history than David Spade. Spade was part of that early ’90s SNL brat pack era that launched the careers of Adam Sandler, Chris Farley, and Chris Rock. On the show, he quickly established his razor-sharp tongue in segments like “The Hollywood Minute.”
Spade wasn’t the most versatile of the ’90s bad boy cast and often found himself as a supporting player in sketches, but man, does the guy ever know how to make the most of a particular skill. Since leaving Saturday Night Live in 1996, much of Spade’s work has seen him try variations on the sarcastic jerk character type that he’s best at. Whether it be Richard in Tommy Boy, Dennis Finch in Just Shoot Me, or Russel Dunbar in Rules of Engagement, Spade can always be counted to deliver a bit of biting humor at the expense of his costars. Even Joe Dirt gets out a few quick-witted zingers in-between unfortunate mishaps.
Being that today is David Spade’s 51st birthday, it’s a prime opportunity to look back at some of the comedian’s standout SNL moments.
Hollywood Minute
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Nowhere on SNL was Spade’s snark more prominent and more cutting than in his Weekend Update “Hollywood Minute” segments. No celebrity was safe, and it became pretty obvious that Spade enjoyed taking them down with his barbed one-liners. Post-SNL, Spade even tried turning the segment into a series on Comedy Central back in 2005 with The Showbiz Show, but the celebrity cut-down-fest didn’t last more than 16 episodes. Proving again that when it comes to stretching out SNL jokes, more often than not, it’s a bad idea.
Spade in America
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Much like it’s predecessor, “Hollywood Minute”, “Spade in America” gave the comedian a chance to rip on celebrities, but he also got to take it a step further and interact with his targets. One of the highlight sketches found Spade attempting to crack jokes about Sean Penn while finding himself in the tattoo chair with Sean Penn manning the tattoo gun. The sketch is also responsible for the “falling star” joke that would keep Eddie Murphy away from Saturday Night Live for 20 years.
Karl’s Video
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Besides this probably being the only time somebody has referred to Bob Saget as a “superstar” it works as a bit of a preview to the annoying receptionist Spade would play in Just Shoot Me. The sarcasm isn’t there yet, but the constant badgering certainly is. Also, any sketch that makes use of the word “gonards” is okay in my book.
Dick Clark Productions’ Receptionist
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In this sketch Spade plays a clueless, snobbish receptionist to Dick Clark, following on a trend that would find him playing a**holes that you want to punch in the face. The sketch could have quickly started to lag with celebrity after celebrity coming in, but avoids the pitfall by going the absurd route with an alien also approaching and being shooed away.
Gap Girls
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Spade is at his best when he has equally strong actors to play off of and the “Gap Girls” sketch would become one of the early ’90s definitive sketches. It would be Chris Farley that would land the loudest laugh of the sketch with the “Lay off, man, I’m starving” line, but it was Spade who kept the sketch moving along. The sketch was successful enough to make another appearance, but the spectacle of the three men as Valley girls didn’t quite carry the same comedic weight as the original.
Total Bastard Airlines
This would become David Spade’s most well-known SNL sketch. Not even the threat of bodily harm can deter him from sending off each customer with a rude parting word. Jack Black would utilize the line in High Fidelity and to this day there’s no better way to deliver a sarcastic farewell than “buh bye.”
