‘One Step Beyond Richard Pryor’: Friends Remember Bob Saget’s Unexpectedly Dirty Sense Of Humor

Most fans think of the late comedian Bob Saget as being everyone’s favorite dorky TV dad. The actor was best known for his role as a single father on the hit sitcom “Full House” in the early 90s, plus his turn hosting the popular clip show “America’s Funniest Home Videos.” Saget’s brand of humor always seemed benign, silly, and wholesome.

But those who knew the comedian best understood that Saget’s true self was a bit raunchier and edgier than his Danny Tanner persona. For anyone listening hard enough, the actor revealed his true thoughts plenty of times.

Actress Suzanne Sommers told Page Six that there were “two sides” to Saget. 

“One was the dad good guy always doing [the right thing], and the other was one step beyond Richard Pryor,” the “Three’s Company” star revealed. Like the rest of Hollywood, Somers expressed shock and sorrow to learn of Saget’s untimely death. “He was so young,” the 75-year-old star mused.

Lifelong fans were surprised when Saget played a “washed-up, hooker-loving womanizer living in a one-bedroom apartment” during a 2004 appearance on the HBO comedy “Entourage.” The show’s creator Doug Ellin told the New York Post even he was surprised with how far Saget was willing to take the character. 

“We had lunch and he said, ‘I’ll do anything you say except for play broke. Hookers or drugs? Yeah, that’s fine. But I don’t want to be broke.’ There was no sensitivity to anything else, but being successful was important to him,” Ellin told the Post. He also called the actor, “gracious, sweet and incredibly smart.”

The most telling example of Saget’s dirty sense of humor was immortalized in the 2005 documentary film, “The Aristocrats.” The movie includes a slew of famous comedians telling the popular joke by the same name. Though the details vary, the joke always starts with a father walking into a talent agent studio and pitching his family’s act. Then the comedian ad libs the details, which always include lewd, macabre details from incest to murder. The punchline is, “The Aristocrats,” in response to the question, “What do you call your act?”

Saget’s version of The Aristocrats joke has been making the rounds on social media. It includes diarrhea, pedophilia, fisting, and the whole family singing “Make ‘Em Laugh” at the end. While telling it for the documentary, the comedian keeps losing composure and laughing.

At one point he says, “What the f*** am I doing?” and then says, “Can I get a copy of this? I’d like to send it to the kids on Full House.” For some followers, hearing Saget tell such an off-color joke is jarring. But apparently this version of the comedian is closer to his true self than they realized. 

“I remember when ‘The Aristocrats’ came out — people couldn’t believe Bob Saget was talking that way,” Saget’s friend Gilbert Gottfried told the Post. “But for the people who knew him, you can’t believe he talked any other way.”

Saget was discovered dead in his Florida hotel room on January 9. The entire Hollywood community has been mourning his loss ever since. 

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