Like many a millenial, I grew up watching “Full House” and “America’s Funniest Home Videos,” and having Bob Saget as a cultural touchstone, America’s Dad. As time went on and we grew up, the other side began to be more prevalent, namely his stand-up. A combination of dark and raunchy humor was the foundation for his comedy, which has grown into a form of keen observational and story-based discussion onstage. Currently, between his multitude of projects, Saget is also touring, with a set of shows in New Mexico coming up on Friday, Jan. 24 and Saturday, Jan. 25 at the Santa Ana Star Center. Weekly Alibi had the pleasure of getting to chat with him about all that’s going on with him and about his upcoming show. Weekly Alibi: Bob, it’s a pleasure to chat with you. How are you doing? Bob Saget: Really good, thank you. Actually, it’s so funny. I’ve been watching this show. God. What the hell is it called? It’s on HBO, it’s the one with the family that’s all about money. “Succession,” and they’re in Santa Fe right now so I was excited about that. Santa Fe is fun. It’s a little weird. But, you know, everywhere has a place like that. It’s a good weird. I have friends who lived there for years that used to live in Houston. They saw me do stand-up when I was like 24 so I’ve known them my whole adult life and so they live in Santa Fe. So they’re gonna come to the first show, I think. But I’m excited. I’ve been working on all new stuff.That’s good to hear. You’ve been doing stand-up for quite a while now, right? Forty years now, since I was 17. When I started, I just fell into it accidentally and I’ve been doing it ever since. I won a radio contest that was all music. I did all parodies and original comedy songs. I still kind of kept it in the world of my—I don’t call it an act. Because it’s not really an accurate term. It’s an art, it’s an entertainment.Your whole persona is kind of an “every man,” you can do a little bit of all of it. You’ve got these two dichotomies of America’s dad while also having the comedy side. I like that.Do you find it hard? Is there a struggle for you, balancing your stage and TV personas?Well, no, because they’re not divided anymore. It’s different. My next special, which is kind of why I’m going voraciously on tour right now—that’s why I like going to places like Santa Ana Star and doing four shows and getting it out. I’ve got lots of theater tour stuff I’m doing in the next couple months. Sometimes people will say, ‘Well, that sounds like Danny Tanner,’ or ‘That sounds like the guy from “Entourage”’ or whatever. When I first did a special, I always had an irreverent sense of humor, always, even when I was 17. I won a radio contest singing a song about bondage. My dad thought it was very funny and my mom said, ‘Don’t talk like that.’ I love working, no matter what it is. I could do a G-rated thing or an R-rated thing. People profile everybody, which is societally disastrous but that’s how the world works. For a long time, I was a family guy to a lot of people, and that’s all good. I would go do stand-up at that time and it was surprising that nobody walked out—one lady in Vancouver did. A couple years later, she came back to the same place I was working and wanted to talk to me to tell me how much funnier I got. So there’s that. You said in an interview that you don’t like talking politics during your sets. Is that a reprieve for the audience or one for you? I’m pretty much a person who stays away from politics because I’ve seen people want to have outbursts without politics being mentioned. They just want to do things to mess it up for everybody. That’s not what it’s about. That’s not what humor is about. There’s plenty of great political people. There are comedians that are doing a great job of what they do. My stand-up is more evergreen. I do jokes about my lower regions, but everything has changed. It’s more story-related jokes, but it’s what I want to do. I want my show to be a joyous celebration. For making people laugh. There’s a lot of music in it. You have a lot of versatility. I noticed you’re doing, currently, a ton of different projects. This will probably be my busiest decade I’ve ever done. I’ve got a bunch I’m about to do. There’s a podcast, which the whole world has done and I’m not supposed to talk about it, but I am saying it because it’s already in motion. It’ll be a conversation with the audience. It’ll be almost like improv or jazz. You start with a concept, and end up bringing it around so it makes sense, and if it doesn’t, then that’ll be how it goes. That’s why this upcoming show is important to me. This show will be a lot of stuff I never had the bravery to talk about. My point is people should be kind to each other. I agree. We need to reach across and work together, cause we’re all in this as one. Yeah, that is everything. I believe in that. Most people, I think, believe that because there’s nothing more inspiring than people that disagree on something and are able to have a sophisticated—maybe not sophisticated but just dignified—discussion about it.Editors Note: We had to cut the interview short, but if you want to check the full version out, we’ll have it hosted online.
Bob SagetSanta Ana Star Center (3001 Civic Center Cir. NE)Friday Jan. 24: 7pm and 9:30pmSaturday Jan 25: 7pm and 9:30pmTickets starting at $30
