Dana Carvey
A human soundboard who boils famous people down to physical tics.
2 specials · 1995–2016
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Dana Carvey treats a standup stage like a television that only broadcasts weird, hypothetical conversations. He moves constantly. He doesn’t just deploy impressions; he boils public figures down to a handful of microscopic tics. He will isolate the way a politician waves an index finger, build a voice around it, and then imagine how that person talks when they are tired and ordering a sandwich. He builds a rhythm out of sudden volume changes and a nervous energy that never quite settles down.
Specials
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An SNL veteran leans on impressions and generational gripes.
Netflix · 64 min
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Rapid presidential impressions, celebrity voices, and an acoustic guitar detour.
HBO · 60 min
On stage
Carvey took a massive detour during what should have been his peak standup years. After his run on sketch television in the nineties, he essentially vanished from the stage for over a decade to raise his kids and recover from a botched heart surgery. Today, comedy fans know him mostly as a storyteller, swapping memories on the Fly on the Wall podcast with David Spade. He tours infrequently, and when he gets on stage, he wins the crowd through sheer amiability and vocal control.
His act relies entirely on his throat. When he strings together rapid-fire, bizarre scenarios—like Paul McCartney explaining how a toaster works—the absurdity lands perfectly. He is less successful when he attempts traditional standup premises. If he shifts into complaining about smartphones or younger generations, the material can feel dated. But the crowd rarely minds. They are there to watch him work his vocal cords, waiting for him to slip into a familiar cadence and twist it into something ridiculous.
Turning points
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Breakthrough on Saturday Night Live
Joining the cast alongside Phil Hartman and Kevin Nealon, Carvey revitalized the struggling show with standout original characters like the Church Lady and Garth Algar.
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Definitive Political Impressions of 1992
Carvey anchored SNL's political satire by impersonating both President George H. W. Bush and independent candidate Ross Perot during the 1992 election, winning an Emmy Award in 1993.
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Launch of The Dana Carvey Show
Carvey created and starred in an unconventional prime-time ABC variety show that launched the early careers of Steve Carell, Stephen Colbert, and Robert Smigel.
At a glance
- Born
- , Missoula, Montana
- On stage
- since 1978
- Style
- sketch comedy, impressions, character comedy, satire, improvisational comedy, surrealhumor
- Breakout
- Saturday Night Live (notably the debut and run of Church Lady and Garth Algar)
- Influences
- Richard Pryor, Jackie Mason, Jackie Gleason, Jonathan Winters, Danny Kaye, Rich Little, Carol Burnett, Flip Wilson, Sonny and Cher, Smothers Brothers, George Carlin, Steve Martin, Robin Williams, Robert Klein
- Topics
- Elsewhere
- Website, Wikipedia
Fans also like
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David SpadeCarvey's longtime comedic partner and co-host of Fly on the Wall, sharing a parallel history as defining stars of late-1980s and early-1990s Saturday Night Live.
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Kevin Nealon
A fellow member of the pivotal 1986 Saturday Night Live cast who regularly performs alongside Carvey on joint multi-city comedy tours.
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Dennis MillerAn SNL contemporary from the same era who teamed up with Carvey and Nealon for arena stand-up dates.
Podcasts
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Fly on the Wall with Dana Carvey and David Spade · co-host
David Spade and Dana Carvey take listeners behind the scenes of show business, interviewing fellow entertainers, sharing stories from their comedy careers, and bantering about pop culture.
Also on screen
- One of the Boys
- This Is Spinal Tap
- 1986–1993, 2024
- Saturday Night Live
- Tough Guys
- Opportunity Knocks
A clip to start with
A clip of Dana Carvey