Bob Saget earned his nice-guy persona by spending eight years as the lead on ABC’s white-bread sitcom “Full House” and the equally innocuous “America’s Funniest Home Videos.”
He jettisoned it on the 2005 comedy documentary “The Aristocrats,” revealing a longtime penchant for unspeakable, hilarious crudeness. Directing projects and appearances on HBO’s “Entourage” continue to reverse the image, even as Saget plays off the nice-guy/ foul-mouthed juxtaposition.
We spoke to Saget before tonight’s show at the Paramount Theatre about his “Full House” days, his charity work (really) and why he’s hotter than ever.
Q: If your act has always been pretty salty, why were you chosen for such family-friendly gigs at ABC?
A: One of the first things I did was open up for Rodney Dangerfield and Sam Kinison, so compared to them I was a homespun guy. I also warmed up the audience on “Bosom Buddies,” so they knew me from that. And I was clean-cut.
Q: But your sense of humor has always been this way?
A: My sense of humor was always absolutely gross. I didn’t used to be dirty. I didn’t curse as much back then and I’ll probably stop soon, as it’s a phase. But I’m just like an 11-year-old that gets to say what he wants.
Q: What question do you get asked the most? I imagine it has to do with “Full House,” which lives on in syndication.
A: The most asked is the whole ‘Do you still keep in touch with the cast?’
Q: Do you?
A: The world is incredibly superficial … when it comes to working on shows, and you hear about people that hate their shows. But, yeah, we’re stupid close. Like, ridiculously close.
Q: Even with the Olsen twins?
A: Yep, and John Stamos and I are about to go on vacation together. Seriously.
Q: Did you know your “March of the Penguins” parody, “Farce of the Penguins,” was going to be such a DVD hit?
A: That’s the freaky, hilarious thing. It’s one of the best money-making titles ThinkFilm has ever made. Stoner people and college kids went nuts over it. You can’t keep it in stock.
Q: I also hear you filmed a new special for HBO to be aired in August.
A: Yeah, it was in Skirball Theater at NYU. I was looking at it in “post” when they were editing it, and it’s in hi-def, so I was like … I have enough trouble listening to a recording of myself, and here in HD you can see my turkey neck chin flap.
Q: The “Rollin’ with Saget” hip-hop parody you filmed with Jamie Kennedy is a YouTube phenomenon. What’s the story behind that?
A: I was out one night – as silly as it sounds – with Jamie and Stu Stone, and we were trying to grab a drink in L.A., hanging out with a couple girls that looked like washed-up members of Abba. Jamie said he was “rollin’ with Saget,” and a couple years later he called me up and said they were writing a song around it. MTV put some real money behind the video, and it went from there.
Q: Why are fundraisers like Comic Relief so close to your heart, as you’ve said in the past?
A: Well, my sister passed away from scleroderma.
Q: Is that why you host a lot of nonprofit events?
A: You do something good for people, or you try to. I’ve tried to push boulders uphill for the not-for-profit sector for so long, but I’ve also seen people go into remission with cancer.
Staff writer John Wenzel can be reached at 303-954-1642 or jwenzel@denverpost.com.
Bob Saget
STAND-UP COMEDY|Paramount Theatre, 1631 Glenarm; 8 p.m., Friday|$35|Ticketmaster.com
