Dana Carvey is responsible for many beloved characters on “Saturday Night Live,” from Church Lady to his impersonation of President Bush. But there’s one sketch that stands out for him as his favorite of all time.
In “SNL”‘s new short-form series “The Rundown,” hosted by Weekend Update anchor Colin Jost, Carvey has revealed which of his iconic sketches made it to his number one.
Party On, Garth: Dana Carvey Recalls His #1 Sketch
GettyCarvey, 70, revealed his favorite sketch featured his popular “Wayne’s World” character Garth, who appeared on “SNL” alongside Mike Myers’ Wayne.
“With Garth, he didn’t have a lot of lines, but Mike told me that Garth worshipped Wayne. So I started really enjoying his little jokes,” he recalled.
“Mike Myers is ‘Wayne’s World.’ He built the house. He let me rent a room.”
He narrowed his favorite “SNL” moment down to a “Wayne’s World” sketch featuring rock superstars Aerosmith.
“We knew Aerosmith was going to be the musical guest, and they [Wayne and Garth] worshipped that era of rock and worshiped Aerosmith,” he shared.
A particular highlight for Carvey was the opportunity to play the “Wayne’s World” theme song with the band.
“I was allowed to play drums on the theme song. And the first time I rehearsed it, Steven Tyler looked around and he laughed so hard,” he reminisced.
GettySpeaking about the iconic characters of Wayne and Garth, Carvey said, “They are party on. They are just joy, fun.
“To me, the secret sauce was the so-called two losers in town, they live with their parents, they have no money, they have an AMC Pacer, and they’re by far the happiest people in the town.”
“You always want to get in a really big, funny sketch with your friends, where everything just flows and is landing,” Carvey said.
Carvey Also Revealed The Origin Of Lorne Michaels Impression
During the episode, Carvey also discussed his infamous Lorne Michaels impersonation.
“The way I learned to do Lorne Michaels, would be after the read-through on Wednesday, and we had a ton of sketches we just read, 50 of them,” he recalled.
“And then, Lorne would try to put them on the rundown for the show, very frustrated. And he said, ‘Um, I still have no f*cking first act.'”
Carvey and Myers had previously fallen out over the impression, which Carvey claims Myers “stole” for his Dr. Evil character in the popular “Austin Powers” films.
When he appeared on “The Howard Stern Show,” Carvey told the host, “When I saw Mike do it, I did kind of go, ‘Hmmm…’,” People reported.
Howvever, the pair have since made amends. “It’s a long time ago and look, it’s a really funny affectation because it’s so specific,” he said.
“We were like siblings a little bit and we were never meant to be a comedy team. Mike just invited me into the [‘Wayne’s World’] sketch. I’m really grateful that he did and he’s brilliant at creating these constructs and he did it with ‘Austin Powers.'”
“We’ve become very, very close friends,” he continued. “And we just have too much history. We have an unbelievable amount of stuff in common.”
Carvey appeared on “SNL” from 1986 to 1993, earning five Emmy nominations during his run as a cast member. His most recent appearance was in 2024, starring as Joe Biden.
That’s fantastic, the ‘Church Lady’ sketch is truly iconic. It’s amazing to hear him still appreciate that one so fondly.