Whether you know him as the single dad from one of the most popular sitcoms of all time, “Full House,” or as a comedian famous for his raunchy style, Bob Saget has become an indelible part of American pop culture.
The Badger Herald got a chance to talk to the prolific performer coming to Madison this weekend. Saget spoke on his wide-spanning entertainment career and life as a father of three daughters.
Saget proved his chops at directing at an early age. He won the Student Academy Award at 22 and went on to direct “Dirty Work,” which has since gained a cult following.
“One of my favorite things is directing,” Saget said. “But it takes like a year to direct something. It’s something I love, but – believe it or not – it’s something I would like to do more as I get older. The more I start to decay, the more I’d want to direct. But I love acting a lot, and I love stand-up a whole lot.”
Although his work spans from hosting game shows to playing a single dad, Saget sees his current calling to be where he started his career: stand-up comedy.
“Whatever I do, I give 1,000 percent to it, so right now I’m working on a new hour of stand-up. And I love that a lot,” Saget said. “It’s got a couple of songs from my last special, but pretty much the rest of it is a new hour. And that makes it really fun for me. Especially coming to [The Orpheum] which I know is a beautiful theater, which makes my R-rated stuff that much more fun.”
He likes to keep his material fresh and rarely reuses old material. Occasionally, though, Saget brings out audience favorites to please crowds.
“I do a couple songs because people want to hear – if you can believe it – ‘My Dog Licked My Balls’ because people tend to like it,” Saget said. “And they like ‘Danny Tanner Was Not Gay,’ which was to the tune of the Backstreet Boys’ ‘I Want it That Way.’ So those are things that I kind of have to do because it’s expected.”
The comedian appreciates his start on “Full House” even though it is now tough for him to watch.
“One time one of my daughters was watching [‘Full House’], and I was in a dinosaur outfit. And I was like, ‘Holy crap, turn this thing off.’ I can’t believe the things I did on there,” Saget said. “But, you know, it’s a part of pop culture. It’s a cool thing to be part of.”
He gives the show due credit for his current success.
“It’s really nice that I have – I guess you’d say ‘fan base’ would be the word for it,” Saget said. “So people already come to the theater knowing they saw me wherever they’ve seen me do something that made them laugh. And then they know that I did that, so that’s an extra joke.”
Saget said he enjoys stand-up because of the variety it offers and because his established notoriety provides a helpful foundation.
“For me, it’s more fun to do [stand-up] because it’s an opposite day thing. Everybody who is 20 years old was eight when [‘Full House’] was on,” Saget said. “People say once people know you then it’s easier to do comedy. And people know me from many things, you know? They know me from [‘Full House’], they know me from the video thing, (‘America’s Funniest Home Videos’). And then I’ve done a lot of different stuff since then.”
The comedian manages to make time for his three daughters even with his busy schedule, going as far as helping to organize their senior parties in high school.
“On their grad night, [the school] takes the seniors somewhere and they wouldn’t tell them where they were taking them. And I would always set up the show,” he said. “One year they were saying all my friends – Jeff Ross, B.J. Novak and Dane Cook – would come up and do a set for them. And I would host it and be pretty R-rated and embarrass their friends. … I’m just really lucky. [My daughters] are three really amazing people. And I’m hoping to have more as soon as we hang up.”
Bob Saget is performing at the Orpheum Theater Friday. Doors open at 7 p.m., and the performance begins at 8 p.m. Tickets are $30 for general admission. For more information, contact the Orpheum Theater directly at 608-355-8755.
