Over 1,000 students packed into GWU's Lisner Auditorium Tuesday night to see Bob Saget, the man who played America's favorite dad on television for eight years. Instead, they got a man that seemed more like the dirty joke-telling uncle who doesn't get invited to Thanksgiving dinner.
The show started off with a performance by the Bicycle Thieves, a local band. Although they were billed as an up-and-coming part of D.C.'s music scene, the crowd viewed them as a roadblock between them and comedy. When the lead singer announced that the title of their next song was "Encore," one loud member of the audience yelled out, "Don't worry, we won't be asking you for one. We want Saget."
After a 45-minute set that dragged on about 40 minutes too long, the Bicycle Thieves left the stage to the night's host, local comedian Justin Schlegel. Schlegel won the crowd over by immediately insulting the band. In his short time on the stage, Schlegel impressed with his sexually charged brand of comedy. At first his material seemed slightly inappropriate for the show, but after seeing Saget perform, it was clear that Schlegel's job was to desensitize the crowd a bit.
After his act, Schlegel teased the crowd by claiming that the next comedian was "someone that we all knew." However, he was talking about Big Al Goodwin, not Saget. Although Goodwin was introduced as a man who had performed on Comedy Central and opened for comedians like Dave Chappelle, the crowd was unfamiliar with him. Goodwin's comedy was mostly based around his life as a married man, a poor choice of topic to perform in front of a roomful of college students. Despite this, Goodwin had a strong set, even offending the crowd at one point with a particularly tasteless joke about Hurricane Katrina.
After Goodwin left the stage, Schlegel came back on the stage and introduced yet another "man that we are all familiar with." The crowd was again disappointed when it was a DJ from a local radio station. However, his only job was to introduce Saget.
"You all came here tonight to see Danny Tanner from 'Full House'," the DJ said. "That man is not here tonight."
When Saget came on stage, he immediately proved that statement by going on a profanity-laced tirade that had the crowd rolling in the aisles. Although attnedees may have seen Saget's cameo in "Half Baked," no one was prepared for Saget to be so vulgar.
"This is great, all I have to say is f**k and you all laugh. I did a lot of family television, it's like I have Tourette's now," Saget said.
Saget captivated the audience with a strong performance. It didn't really matter what topic he was talking about, as it was shocking and funny to see Saget curse and talk about sex (occasionally sex with members of the "Full House" cast).
Some of Saget's best material involved his past life as the host of "America's Funniest Home Videos" and star of "Full House." Especially funny was a story of how Saget and John Stamos occasionally slip into character when they are in public in order to confuse teenage fans.
Near the end of the show, Saget brought out a guitar and showed off some musical talent that would have made Uncle Jesse proud. He closed the show with a song entitled "Danny Tanner was not gay, like Dave Couiler," which was set to the tune of "I Want It That Way" by the Backstreet Boys. Saget pleased the crowd with lyrics like, "So the show wasn't always funny/At least I made a ton of money."
Saget left the stage to a standing ovation, and seemed genuinely moved by the reaction that he got from the crowd. He came out a few minutes later and told his own version of the Aristocrats joke, which is generally considered the most offensive one featured in the film "The Aristocrats."
Overall, Saget's performance was outstanding. Unlike comedians, like Dustin Diamond (Screech from "Saved by the Bell"), Saget isn't trying to run away from his past life. He has embraced the fact that a generation of children was raised watching him on television, and he uses it to make his act funnier. One of Saget's best running gags was to stop in the middle of a particularly vulgar joke and say, "Seriously kids, don't do this. Stay in school. I'm Bob Saget, bitch."
An evening of stand-up with Bob Saget may have taken away the innocence of watching reruns of "Full House," but the GWU crowd lucky enough to see him perform would admit that it was worth it.
