Dana Carvey is opening up about his grieving process two months after the death of his son Dex.
Carvey, 68, returned to his “Fly on the Wall” podcast on Wednesday, January 17, joining cohost David Spade for the first time since November 2023. “If you’re listening to our podcast, you probably know about my family’s loss,” Carvey began. “I just wanted to say that the amount of outpouring online and emailing and people I still haven’t been able to call back is incredible.”
Carvey explained why he wanted to get back to work, noting, “I thought about this over the holidays and decided to come back to the podcast because I think, you know, it’s a long day when you’re not working and you get in your head. And I think it’s going to be a great break, and I think it’s really cool to laugh.”
Spade, 59, told Carvey that “there was so much goodwill out there” for Carvey and his wife, Paula Zwagerman. “Even Mrs. Farley, Chris’ mom, wrote a letter for me to give to you,” Spade said, referring to late Saturday Night Live alum Chris Farley.
Carvey called the public showing of support “very sweet,” but he emphasized that he and his family will continue to be working through their grief behind closed doors. “It’s me and my wife and our son [Thomas’] private journey. We’re all together. We do a lot of fun things,” he said. “We hike, go to church. You just want to be sure that you keep moving.”
Dex Carvey Al Pereira/Getty Images
As the episode continued, Carvey confessed that “riffing” with Spade again will be a “healthy” thing for him. “I’m kind of on the pain train,” he said. “You don’t know how long you’re going to be on it or when it will stop or when it will get better. In the meantime, all this kind of stuff is very healthy.”
Carvey announced via Instagram in November 2023 that Dex died of an accidental drug overdose at age 32. “Dex packed a lot into those 32 years. He was extremely talented at so many things — music, art, film making, comedy — and pursued them passionately,” she said. “It’s not an exaggeration to say that Dex loved life. And when you were with him, you loved life too. He made everything fun. But most of all, he loved his family, his friends and his girlfriend Kaylee.”
In his tribute, Carvey said Dex would be missed “every day,” concluding, “To anyone struggling with addiction or who loves someone with addiction, you are in our hearts and prayers.”
Fellow comedians and SNL icons sent their condolences to Carvey and his family. “Such devastating news. I’m beyond sorry for your loss. ❤️❤️,” Chris Kattan wrote in the comments section of a subsequent Instagram post, while Kenan Thompson added, “Oh my God!!! I’m so so sorry!!!! 🙏🏾❤️.”
Jim Gaffigan encouraged Carvey to share more about Dex when he was ready. “What a great picture. Love the focus you are putting on telling us about Dex,” he wrote. “Such a lovely tribute to your boy. Please tell us more.”
Soon after revealing his loss, Carvey told his Instagram followers that he would be “taking a break” from his podcast and from social media. “We will heal the best we can and carry on. … Our darling Dex would have wanted it that way,” he wrote in November 2023, adding that he would be “trying to figure out what life looks like” with Zwagerman and Thomas as “a family of three.”
Like his father, Dex had a talent for making people laugh. He appeared in Carvey’s 2013 miniseries The Funster and in 2015’s Joe Dirt 2: Beautiful Loser, later serving as the opening act for Carvey’s 2016 Netflix special, Straight White Male. Ahead of his death, Dex teamed up with his dad to launch Third Wheel Comedy, a live performance venue in Hollywood, and was working on a project with B-Sides Comic.
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
