'Black Sheep' a shear bet for loads of laughs

Published: Thursday, February 1, 1996

Comedian Spade wishes you to just 'be a lamb' and flock to see his latest flick

By Sona Stepanian

Daily Bruin Contributor

"Black Sheep" is not "Tommy Boy Part 2."

At least according to actors Chris Farley and David Spade, who starred in the comedy "Tommy Boy," and reunite in "Black Sheep."

Spade, who started his career with Farley on "Saturday Night Live," understands why people may see "Black Sheep" as a sequel to "Tommy Boy." Both films feature Farley as an unlucky victim, and are full of his physical comedy coupled with Spade's sarcastic humor.

However, the two tried to make "Black Sheep" unique.

"We don't want to rehash it," says Spade. "I feel like I owe the people that rented it and went and got a baby sitter and saw it."

"I don't want to burn people 'cause I think they'll show up a few times," continues Spade. "I admittedly semi gave up on Eddie Murphy after a few (movies) in a row.

"You like someone so much and you want him to do so well and after a couple (of films) you kind of go 'maybe this isn't so much for me anymore,'" he adds.

Currently, Spade's collaboration with Farley seems to be working well for the comedy duo. "Tommy Boy's" success sparked studio interest in the team and the offers for more buddy roles started coming in.

"They would send us a movie like 'Waiting to Exhale' and be like 'OK, it's not four girls it's two, but they're guys and it's you two,'" says Spade with a laugh.

Farley and Spade met in 1990 while working on "Saturday Night Live."

"We moved to New York together and kind of clung together there," says Farley, smoking a cigarette.

While working on the show, Farley displayed an exuberant comedic nature, highlighted by his original characters and celebrity impersonations, including Jerry Garcia and House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

Spade also created a long list of memorable characters on the show. The comedian is best known for his "Buh-byes" as the flight attendant who can't wait to get rid of his passengers.

The two made their feature film debut in 1995 as a comedy team in "Tommy Boy."

"Being able to do it with Chris was safety in numbers," says Spade. "It was like 'Look, let's both go down or both try to do well in this. If it doesn't work, we'll just blame each other and stop being friends' and he's like 'OK.'"

Their partnership has also sparked comparisons between the two of them and Mike Myers and Dana Carvey because "Saturday Night Live" also helped start their movie careers as a comedic duo in "Wayne's World."

Director Penelope Spheeris, who also directed "Wayne's World," says "Farley and Spade got along much better than Carvey and Myers. There was a little more competition with those two. David would come in and help write Chris' stuff and vice-versa. They would give each other lines rather than fighting each other for them."

"I think that it's more that Chris and I have legitimate chemistry. I think we were tighter friends going into it," says Spade. "Mike and Dana were friends, but there was a working relationship also, and I don't think that there was as much chemistry with the two of them as there was with Wayne and Garth.''

In "Black Sheep," the duo has another opportunity to display this "legitimate chemistry." Farley plays Mike Donnelly, the younger brother of a gubernatorial candidate, who only wants to help his brother's campaign yet only seems to hurt his chances of winning. Spade, who plays campaign worker Steve Dodds, is hired to baby-sit Farley and keep him out of the picture until the campaign is over.

Along the way, the audience follows Farley through a number of unlucky and painful series of events, complete with a sequence in which Farley tumbles down the side of a mountain.

"He always wants me to be mean to him and I go 'You always get to be the nice guy and I get to be the asshole,'" says Spade. "But I gotta watch out for myself so I just can't be mean. I want to be funny just to be funny."

In "Black Sheep," both get the opportunity to display their comedic talents without overshadowing each other.

"I don't know what it is that makes us work together so well. We don't step on each other's comedy," says Farley. "Maybe we're opposites, the age old secret of fatty and skinny."

Spade adds, "Physically we're different. His type of comedy is big and broad and loud and mine is smaller and more subtle."

"Black Sheep" may open this Friday, but no plans have been made yet about a future collaboration between the two. "(After 'Black Sheep') we're gonna break up and start seeing other actors," says Spade.

Actors David Spade and Chris Farley strutting their stuff in "Black Sheep" comedy.

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