Comedian Rob Schneider calls his longtime friend David Spade the funniest guy he knows, which is saying a lot coming from a guy whose “Saturday Night Live” copy machine guy character is legendary.
“Just his ability to take whatever’s happening and put a spin on it. I’ve said this before: David Spade would be funny during the plague in the Middle Ages,” Schneider said during a phone call from his home in Los Angeles in early January. “He just doesn’t look at the world like everybody else, which is good. Norm McDonald is the same way, but I think David is more relatable. Norm is a little more ethereal.”
On Feb. 15, the two comedians who have been friends for decades and former 1990s “Saturday Night Live” castmates, will share the Casino del Sol Event Center stage for a one-night-only concert. In a tweet he sent out when the show was announced in late December, Schneider said it might be the only time the duo co-headlines a comedy show.
“This show will never happen again because I will probably bring up something to piss @DavidSpade off! It’ll be fun! COME ON OUT!!” he tweeted on Dec. 28.
Schneider said he and Spade, 53, are actually using Tucson as a testing ground. If the show is a hit, they might take it to other cities.
During our conversation, we asked Schneider, the 54-year-old father of three and star of the Netflix series “Real Rob,” about the show, his relationship with Spade and how his second round at fatherhood — he has an adult daughter and two young children, ages 1 and 3 — has impacted his comedy.
‘Good, friendly love affair’: “I made fun of (Spade) before in his hometown and I will make fun of him again. We have a good, friendly love affair, David and I. We’ve known each other for 30 years. It will be fun. I love David. I just want to see him in his home state with all his friends there and have a good time and have a good laugh.”
Friends long before “Saturday Night Live”: “We were in an acting class before that. I remember the first night I met him. We were in this acting class and there were a lot of really, really pretty girls there. So I was kinda nervous. It was my first time ever in an acting class and he was there. We became friends that night. He was just the funniest guy in the room. He still is.”
Nothing to hide: “It’s going to be fun to do the show together. We both started out as standups and I don’t think we’ve ever been better than we are right now. If you’re 50 and you haven’t gotten to some place in show business, you know, by now, it’s too late. What is there to worry about or fight over? This is it. In that sense, I think it’s really cool to come see us at this point. There’s nothing to hide.”
Tucson, you’re their guinea pigs: “Pretty much, yes. We’ll start out with you and see if this will work somewhere else. … We’re going to do this and make it fun. Hopefully, we’ll be able to do this and we’ll say it started right there in Tucson.”
Here’s what you can expect he’ll talk about: “I talk about sexual harassment. I talk about what’s happening in the world. I talk about Democrats and Republicans. Political identification. I talk about free speech. Everything that’s happening in the world.”
The family factor vs. the funny factor: Having a family has “mellowed me. It’s made me realize that I don’t need approval from anybody. I don’t need The New York Times to tell me my standup is great. I don’t need any stupid awards show. … All these awards shows, it’s complete and utter nonsense. The prize I want to win: the love of my family — my three kids and my wife.”
Experiencing Arizona through Phoenix resident Spade’s eyes: “I want him to show me around, show me where he grew up. Somebody gave me some pictures of David Spade when he was young. I want him to take me to a couple places.”
