Dana Carvey Gives Honest Update on His Healing Journey After Son Dex’s Death
AUSTIN, TEXAS - APRIL 19: Comedians David Spade (L) and Dana Carvey record an episode of "Fly on the Wall" onstage during Moontower Just For Laughs at the Long Center on April 19, 2022 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Rick Kern/Getty Images)
Dana Carvey thinks it’ll be “very healthy” for him to start joking around again with friends as his family continues on their grief journey following the death of Carvey’s son, Dex.
Carvey, 68, returned this week to Fly on the Wall, the podcast he co-hosts with fellow Saturday Night Live alum David Spade, 59. In a new episode released on Wednesday, Carvey launched the conversation by speaking about his grieving process and the support he’s received from friends and fans since sharing the news of Dex’s death a couple of months ago.
“I just want to say that the amount of outpouring online and emailing and people I still haven’t been able to call back is incredible,” Carvey said. After weighing whether he wanted to return to the podcast at all, Carvey said he ultimately decided to dive back in because it can be “a long day” without work and other distractions. “I think it’s going to be a great break, and I think it’s really cool to laugh,” Carvey said.
The Wayne’s World actor said his family has been spending a lot of time together as they muddle through their shared grief. “You just want to make sure that you keep moving,” Carvey told Spade. “Doing this and riffing with you, I think, is going to be very healthy for me as I recover.”
In the days after Dex’s death, Carvey said he and his wife, Paula, “received so many beautiful messages” that “touched us more than we could ever express in words.” In Wednesday’s podcast episode, Spade said he too had received messages of support that he was asked to pass along, including a letter from the mother of their late comedian friend, Chris Farley.
While Carvey described himself as being “on the pain train,” he recognized that “millions of other people” around the world are also confronting the sadness that comes with losing a loved one.
“You don’t know how long you’re going to be on it, or when it’ll stop, or when it will get better,” he said. “But in the meantime, all this kind of stuff is very healthy.”
Carvey shared last November that the oldest of his two sons had died of an accidental drug overdose at age 32. He paid tribute to Dex at the time in a moving post on Instagram.
“It’s not an exaggeration to say that Dex loved life,” Carvey’s post said in part. “And when you were with him, you loved life too. He made everything fun.”