Bob Saget May 26, Brooklyn Bowl.
Guys, I’m angry. I’m frustrated. I need to vent.
There’s a growing trend in stand-up comedy, and it needs to stop. While there are a number of stars still doing good work—in the past few weeks I’ve seen Dave Chappelle, Trevor Noah and Tig Notaro and was impressed by all three—it feels like more and more big-time comics simply aren’t trying anymore.
Such was the case when Bob Saget played Brooklyn Bowl Saturday night, the venue’s first-ever comedy show. While the room was set up for comedic success—chairs in the pit, bleachers by the bowling area, standing room by the bars and in the upper level, Saget’s face on every screen—the performer didn’t deliver.
Saget, who stormed back into the comedy scene as a raunchy shockmeister after years of playing wholesome TV dad Danny Tanner on Full House, has seen his cred swell since he played a lecherous version of himself on HBO’s Entourage.
I saw him perform at the Orleans at the height of his “dirty” period, and while there were lots of dick jokes, it felt like he was attempting more than just that. At Brooklyn Bowl, the dick jokes were punctuated with poop jokes and rape jokes, which can work if they’re funny. For the most part, these were not. Male genitals ended up in his mouth. His genitals ended up in other people’s mouths. He said a hot millennial chick approached him one day and said, “I grew up watching you.” He responded, “Now you’re gonna go down watching me.” How many different versions of this premise can be told?
Brooklyn Bowl is longer than it is wide (insert Saget penis joke here) and has the potential for rolling laughter when the enthusiasm of spectators in the back could add to those up front. But this night, though the show was well-attended, the crowd mostly generated quiet, polite giggles.
Saget, who has some four decades in comedy under his belt, countered by referencing a few hecklers repeatedly. There was “f*ck you guy” and the “guy who runs a Walgreens guy” and “single mom Marissa,” but beyond surface references, he never went deeper with any of it. He even called Marissa’s 10-year-old daughter on the phone for a conversation that amounted to “Do you watch Fuller House?” Guess what? She does!
The larger point here is that a celebrity of Saget’s level of fame has two choices: coast on familiarity or continue to work and refine and evolve his act. Too often, it’s the former—the material has become so watered down that we’re now often getting a lesser version of what made us fans to begin with.
Saget, who is amiable and pleasant and clearly enjoys being onstage, says he spends his days writing dick jokes, but I wonder if he even does that anymore.
