Chris Rock Thinks Chris Farley is The Michael Jordan of Comedy
Comedy legend and Saturday Night Live alumnus Chris Rock joined Dana Carvey and David Spade’s podcast, Fly On the Wall, for their two-part tribute episode to the late great Chris Farley, which was released earlier today. Rock implied that Farley was the greatest comedian of all time by comparing him to Michael Jordan, which must make Adam Sandler the SNL Scottie Pippen.
Also among list of all-star guests who honored the late comedy legend on Fly on the Wall were Sandler himself, Conan O’Brien, Mike Myers, and members of Farley’s family who all joined in to voice their love and praise for their friend and castmate ahead of the 25th anniversary of Farley’s passing on December 18.
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No one from the illustrious guest list was more effusive in their praise than Rock, who said of his time with Farley on SNL, “He's Michael Jordan and get him the ball." No word yet on whether or not MJ will take this personally and demand Lorne Michaels give him an audition.
"No one was competing with Farley," Rock said of his fellow SNL “Bad Boy.” Farley and Rock shared the biggest stage in comedy from 1990 to 1993 and, though Saturday Night Live has a notoriously cutthroat culture, Rock’s admiration for Farley transcended any competitive atmosphere.
Rock considered Farley to be a natural talent, saying, “He had a way of stepping into funny - like it was just on his shoe, he didn't know how he got there." Beyond that, Farley’s off-stage personality and inherent affability made him beloved among his colleagues in a way that accentuated his on-camera craft. Said Rock, “"He's just always himself … he didn't have to really, you know, get into character or anything. He was just f---ing funny."
Rock called Farley “unhateable” and wondered what greater heights his career would have reached had he not tragically passed in 1997. "Wow, what would that guy have done?" Rock wondered.
Of course, no one is completely “unhateable” – Bill Murray allegedly had a “naked rage” for Farley, and we half-expect the SNL community’s resident Scrooge to come out and say that he’s always been more of a LeBron guy.
