I try not to paint with too broad a brush and come up with theories based on anecdotal evidence but here’s a rule of thumb most comics know to be accurate: comics that go out of their way to market themselves as “the clean comic” are the most fucked up, horrible human beings on earth, and the dirtiest comic would give you the shirt off their back.

Simple binaries are bullshit of course and this is just a guideline. You should always apply your own sniff test. A lot of clean comics are sweethearts and a lot of dirty ones are terrible, but the biggest thing to look out for is when they tell you they’re a clean comic. This insistence and branding is a huge red flag that they’re a sociopath.

Bob Saget was a dirty comic and he wanted you to know it. He reveled in upending expectation as any good comic should. At some point this became common knowledge but there was a time when you could see Bob Saget say that he sucked dick for coke in Half Baked and have to call your friend to blow their mind. This information was potentially the biggest shock in my young entertainment consuming life; like finding out Santa Claus made hardcore porno.

He was, by most accounts, a total sweetheart. Friends and colleagues have flooded Twitter with stories about him being an amazing guy. I interviewed him a few years ago and we ended up chatting for a while after the recording wrapped. He just wanted to chat with another comic. He offered to introduce me to the booker at a club and told me to hit him up when his tour finished. His genuineness came through.

In wrestling terms, Bob was a natural babyface. He just had the demeanor of a smiley guy, kinda corny, and with the lanky frame that reads “dweeb.” And he played into that role expertly on Full House, then tweaked it just enough when he started hosting America’s Funniest Home Videos. The subtle difference was that he’s now, on paper, playing himself. The wormhole to his reality got deeper. It really seemed like, to a kid at least, that this is just the way this dude is.

He did a lot in his long career though, and I followed tons of it. I probably watched every single episode of America’s Funniest Home Videos when he was the host. He directed Dirty Work, a favorite of mine as a teen. In a way, his revelation to the world of being a filthy comic perfectly lined up with me thinking that is the coolest thing possible.

I’d understand if older or younger generations had different takes on his work, but for a perfect age of kid you could grow up watching his saccharine act on Full House, get tired of it, move on to him narrating testicle accidents, then have your mind blown by seeing him gleefully describe incest in The Aristocrats right when that kind of thing would hit the hardest.

And of course it sounds bad just writing out the word incest right there. I almost didn’t do it! Lord knows that’s not what I wanted to think about today, but here we are. A generous, kind, and thoughtful man putting a horrific thought in our brains. Just because. Complete chaos. 

He was a comic that knew his power to subvert and played it up as much as possible, completely cratering his public persona. He didn’t need it any more, and he wasn’t going to be tied down to it forever. He saw the game, played it, and when he got what he needed out of it, chucked it to the curb like… I dunno, something gross I guess. He’d be better at filling in that blank than me. I’ll take that over the guy that actually thinks he’s Danny Tanner every time. That’s the guy you’ve gotta look out for.

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