What Happened to Rob Schneider? On Tour and in Politics in 2026

“You can do it!” If you were watching comedies in the late ’90s and early 2000s, you heard Rob Schneider deliver that line — usually in a bit part designed to steal a scene from Adam Sandler. Before that, he was the “makin’ copies” guy on “Saturday Night Live,” and later the unlikely leading man of “Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo.” These days you’re less likely to see him in a studio comedy and more likely to see him on a comedy-club tour or in a political headline. So what happened to Rob Schneider? Here’s where he is in 2026.

01Profile

Full name

Robert Michael Schneider

Born

October 31, 1963 (62 years old)

Birthplace

San Francisco, California, USA

Occupation

Comedian, actor, director, writer

Best known for

"Saturday Night Live," "Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo" (1999)

Family

Father of singer Elle King

One detail people forget: Schneider started at “SNL” as a writer, not a performer. He wrote his way onto the cast, into a golden-era lineup with Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, David Spade, and Chris Farley.

02The Rise: From SNL to Deuce Bigalow

The SNL breakout

Schneider grew up in the San Francisco area and worked the local stand-up and radio scene before landing a writing job at “Saturday Night Live” in 1988. He quickly moved from writer to featured player to full cast member, creating recurring characters — most famously the office “Richmeister” who narrated everyone’s trip to the copy machine (“Makin’ copies!”). It made him a national name.

The Sandler pipeline

After “SNL,” Schneider became a fixture in Adam Sandler’s comedy universe, popping up in “The Waterboy” (1998), “Big Daddy” (1999), and later the “Grown Ups” films (2010 and 2013). His scene-stealing cameos — often delivering the earnest “You can do it!” catchphrase — became a running gag that fans still quote decades later. The bond with Sandler, forged in the trenches of late-’80s “SNL,” turned into one of the most durable working relationships in comedy: whenever Sandler made a movie, there was a good chance Schneider would turn up in it, however briefly.

That reliability cut both ways. It kept Schneider working steadily through the 2000s, but it also typecast him as the sidekick — the guy who showed up for a laugh and left. Building a career of his own, separate from the Sandler machine, would prove to be the harder task.

Leading man status

Then came his own franchise. “Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo” (1999) put Schneider front and center as a hapless fish-tank cleaner turned escort, and it was a box-office hit that spawned a 2005 sequel, “Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo.” He also headlined “The Animal” (2001) and “The Hot Chick” (2002), cementing a run as a broad-comedy leading man.

03Leaving the Studio Comedy Machine

As the studio-comedy era that made him a star faded in the 2010s, Schneider shifted his focus — toward stand-up, streaming, and directing his own projects.

• 2005"Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo" is his last major studio-franchise lead.
• 2010Marries Patricia Azarcoya; appears in "Grown Ups" with the old Sandler crew.
• 2015–2017Creates and stars in the Netflix semi-scripted sitcom "Real Rob."
• 2019Releases the Netflix stand-up special "Asian Momma, Mexican Kids."
• 2020sLeans into a full-time touring stand-up career and increasingly public political commentary.
• December 2025His wife Patricia files for divorce, according to reporting from early 2026.

The move from studio comedies to the road is a common one for comedians of his generation — but in Schneider’s case it came alongside a very public shift in his public persona.

04A Second Act in Controversy

From broad comedy to political commentary

Over the past several years, Schneider has become known less for movie roles and more for outspoken political and cultural commentary. He has been openly critical of “Saturday Night Live” for what he calls its anti-Trump slant, and he has framed himself as a comedian pushing back against “cancel culture,” giving interviews to conservative-leaning outlets.

That turn has made him a polarizing figure. In June 2024, according to CBC and other outlets, Schneider’s set at a charity gala in Regina, Canada was reportedly cut short by organizers who felt his material — which touched on gender, vaccines and politics — didn’t fit the event; Schneider pushed back publicly, framing the reaction as the kind of “woke” pushback he says he’s tired of. (A separately reported 2023 set at a California Republican fundraiser drew similar coverage, though Schneider has disputed accounts that he was removed from that stage.) Either way, coverage of his shows now frequently frames him through this political lens rather than his film career.

“I love comedy, and I’m going to keep doing it my way.” — Rob Schneider, paraphrasing his stance on cancel culture in interviews, 2024–2025

Directing and voicing

Away from the controversy, Schneider has kept working behind and in front of the camera. In recent years he directed the faith-based comedy “Pledge Trip” and has done voice work, including animated projects. He remains connected to the Sandler world, with a role teased in the “Happy Gilmore” sequel released on Netflix.

05What He Is Doing Now

On the road

As of 2026, Schneider’s primary work is touring stand-up. His 2026 comedy tour runs from spring through fall across the U.S. and Canada, hitting comedy clubs, casinos, and theaters with a roughly 70-to-90-minute headlining set. For a performer who spent decades in ensemble films, the solo stage has become his main creative outlet.

A quieter side of the news

On the personal front, Schneider’s marriage to Patricia Azarcoya reportedly came to an end, with reports in January 2026 indicating she filed for divorce in December 2025. The couple has kept most details private, and Schneider has not made the split a major part of his public commentary.

Still connected to his roots

Schneider remains proud of his family, including his daughter, the Grammy-nominated singer Elle King, whose mother is Schneider’s first wife, London King. He continues to reference his multicultural upbringing — his father was Jewish, his mother had Filipina roots — as a recurring theme in his act, which is where the title of his special “Asian Momma, Mexican Kids” comes from. It’s a reminder that beneath the political headlines, the core of his comedy has always been personal and observational.

Whether audiences come for nostalgia, for the “Deuce Bigalow” one-liners, or for his current commentary, he’s still selling tickets across two countries — and still, unmistakably, Rob Schneider. For better or worse, he has never been the type to fade quietly, and at 62 he shows no sign of slowing down or softening his voice.

06Summary

Rob Schneider went from “makin’ copies” to leading man to touring comedian and cultural lightning rod. Depending on who you ask, he’s either a comedy veteran doing his own thing or a star who leaned into controversy — but he’s very much still working.

The scene-stealer who told Adam Sandler “You can do it!” has spent his later career doing it his own way — for better and for controversy. At 62, Rob Schneider is still on the road, still telling jokes, and still impossible to ignore.