David Spade Is ‘Almost Interesting’

October 26, 2015
Photo: The Howard Stern Show

Our first guest of the day arrived to a slew of praise from Howard for his new memoir, “Almost Interesting.” After skimming the sections about “SNL,” Howard said he thought it was so great that he went back and read the entire thing. “It’s so well written and funny,” he commended. Check out some highlights below!

‘I Was A Little Fruity …”

One hilarious story from Spade’s early years focused on the events surrounding his decision to wear a t-shirt with his face printed on it to school in the sixth grade at the behest of his mother.

“I blame it on my dad leaving,” Spade told Howard, explaining that there was no one there to really tell him to take that it off.

Needless to say, after catching a glimpse of his face under his flannel button-down, the “entire school” chased him around to try to reveal the full thing and mock him mercilessly. You can imagine the tone that set for the rest of his time at school.

The Sitcom That Could Have Been

David also recounted how, early on in his career, he could have gotten on a sitcom on Fox if it hadn’t been for his agency.

David had been making the standup comedy rounds turning over about $80 a week after dropping out of school when he got the gig to be in “Police Academy 4.” One of the casting agents for the movie saw his set at the Improv and decided to put him in the movie as a “wise-cracking skateboarding kid.” For Spade, it was a great gig as they were paying him $2,500 a week (for 10 weeks) and he didn’t even have a script to learn.

“I was like, ‘Oh my god, my two favorite things: Skateboarding and just making up jokes,'” David remembers. But there was one other thing. “I didn’t tell anyone I couldn’t act and no one asked,” he said laughing.

Overall, David said he cleared about $10K – some of which he gave to his mom and the rest of which he bought a car with. Unfortunately, after he bought the car, it was immediately stolen (presumably by the person who sold it to him), leaving Spade back at square one.

“The worst part was someone thought I was good in the movie on the set and they offered me my own show. And my new agents turned it down,” he told Howard. The show was set to be on Fox, which was a newer network at the time, and his agents were determined to make David a star on NBC – even though this was his dream gig. They told him he was too big for that now.

The kicker ended up being that after going on 30 different auditions and getting no gigs, the agency ultimately dropped him.

Competing For Glory on ‘SNL’

Chris Farley, David Spade, and Christina Applegate on "Saturday Night Live" Chris Farley, David Spade, and Christina Applegate on “Saturday Night Live” Photo: NBC

Maybe it was fate that Spade didn’t get to be on a FOX sitcom though, considering that he was destined to get a coveted spot at the writers’ table on “Saturday Night Live” later on.

Getting discovered by “SNL” head honcho Lorne Michaels on HBO’s Young Comedian’s special alongside Rob Schneider propelled his chops to another level considering the likes of who he’d soon be working with. But, it wasn’t without it’s own set of difficulties.

“I [didn’t] immediately click,” Spade remembered of his time on the show. “I was just an amusing person that doesn’t know how to write a sketch or write concept sketches.”

“They were sending you to comedy college,” Howard offered.

David did admit to being jealous of guys like Chris Farley and Adam Sandler who got that immediate respect amongst the cast and crew. But he refused to let this “blind jealousy” get in the way of their friendships.

“I have to write – really that’s my job,” he said. But that was difficult considering his “competition” were guys like Conan O’Brien, Bob Odenkirk, Jack Handy, and Robert Smigel.

“Why am I getting this f-cking golden time where everyone’s good,” Spade remembered thinking. But his time would surely come.

For more great stories from throughout his career, grab a copy of David Spade’s “Almost Interesting.”