What Bob Saget's Final Stand-Up Comedy Performance Was Like
Actor and comedian Bob Saget died on January 9, 2022, according to Rolling Stone. Saget was in his Orlando hotel room when he somehow suffered a head injury – it remains unclear how — and declined to seek medical care. He was found dead the next day by hotel staff, after his family raised concerns that they couldn't reach him, and he'd missed his checkout time. "[The authorities] have concluded that he accidentally hit the back of his head on something, thought nothing of it, and went to sleep," his family would later say, via Buzzfeed News.
Most Americans of a certain age may remember Saget only for his TV work, particularly on "Full House" and "America's Funniest Home Videos," but Saget was a standup comedian before, during, and after his TV career, according to NPR News. His final show was at Ponte Vedra Concert Hall in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, a short drive away from the hotel where he died. And people who were in the audience that night say that Saget, in his typical fashion, brought the house down.
Saget's standup comedy was a bit of a mixed bag
Many Saget fans who remember him mostly (or only) from his TV days may associate him with the comically-quaint wholesomeness of his two biggest shows: "Full House" and "America's Funniest Home Videos." His TV work may have been G-rated, but his standup work, oddly juxtaposed with his squeaky-clean TV image, was downright R-rated, and that may be putting it mildly. One of his most famous bits is his take on a century-old joke where the humor lies not in the punchline, but in how filthy the teller can make the setup (the joke varies with each teller). The consensus in the comedy industry seems to be that Saget has won the joke, and everyone else can just give up.
Of course, Saget wasn't just about "working blue" in his standup. Like PG-rated comedians like Jim Gaffigan or Bill Engvall, he would also dish out mild humor about his family, his career, etc., doing so with an unexpected warmth.
In fact, reports from people who were there that night seem to suggest that Saget kept it clean in his final performance.
Saget's final show was described as 'warm' 'heartfelt'
"He did what he does." That's the description of Saget's final set, provided to E! Online by Doug Nickles, a member of the audience that night. Nickels also added that Saget, who "rocked the house," seemed genuinely humbled to have sold out the theater.
Another attendee, Synaca Harkness, told People that he tugged at the heartstrings during his final act. "He talked about his health, he talked about his life, he talked about his wife," she said, adding that she was a little taken aback by his age (65) which he talked about in his bit. She said she always remembered him as Danny Tanner (his character on "Full House") and couldn't think of him as being old enough to be a grandfather.
Speaking of Danny Tanner, he told the audience "you all think I'm Danny Tanner. And that's fine, but I'm not," before launching into a bit about his personal life.
Saget, for his part, was also impressed by his final show. In a tweet, he suggested that the show went by so fast, he had no idea he'd done a two-hour set (an extremely long time for a standup act). "I'm happily addicted to this sh*t," he wrote, literally hours before he was found dead.
Another comedian was there, too
It's one thing to have your work evaluated by the general public, and it's another to have it evaluated by your peers. As it turns out, one of Bob Saget's peers in the standup comedy industry was also at Saget's final show, owing to the fact that he was on tour with him at the time.
Tom Wilson, pictured above, may be more familiar to you as Biff Tannen from the "Back to the Future" franchise, but he's also been doing standup for his entire career. And according to ET Online, he was there for Saget's final show. Like the audience, Wilson described his colleague's final set as being "on top of his game."
"He seemed in great health and he seemed really happy with the persona that he was creating onstage and the different delivery.He was in great spirits and really, really on top of his game for 65... He was happy doing what he loved," Wilson said.
Wilson also predicted the audience's reaction to Saget's final set. As Saget was taking the stage, Wilson told him the audience was going to love him.