Bob Sagetâs opening act pays tribute to his comedy hero with a little help from Netflix

Comedian Bob Saget had major success in living a life filled with positivity, kindness and dick jokes. His unexpected death last January sent shockwaves through the comedy community. Six months later, a tribute stage was set by a group of Sagetâs closest friends.
On June 10, âDirty Daddy: The Bob Saget Tributeâ premieres on Netflix, showing one magical night when the somber turned joyous while reminiscing about Saget at the Comedy Store in West Hollywood, the same place Bobâs career began more than 40 years prior.
John Stamos, Jeff Ross, Chris Rock, John Mayer, Jim Carrey, Dave Chappelle, Mike Young, Seth Green, Bobâs wife Kelly Rizzo and others took to the stage to celebrate and honor a piece of their heart for the tribute special.
Comedian Mike Young had the privilege of touring with Saget for 12 years and spoke with The Times about trying to figure out an organic way to talk about his comedy hero in his own stand-up set. âPeople know me from Bob. Iâve been in front of a half a million people because of Bob,â Young told The Times. âHe took me out there and I have to give tribute. Itâs just going to take time to figure out how to cultivate the act and do him justice.â
It feels like such a gift that this tribute show is coming out. Many mixed emotions, but itâll be great for fans who want to celebrate the life of a superstar who made strangers feel like family.
Mike Young: Itâs so good to hear that because Bob was like, first and foremost, âI want to be good to people.â I mean, whenâs the last time you saw a tribute going on like this? Bob was a special dude. Everyone says that when someone passes, but he was the greatest. John Mayer said it the best at the tribute, âI canât believe somebody that was so here, is gone.â To me that meant Bob was just so damn present. Was he neurotic sometimes? Of course. Did he try to get me to tell him what I wanted for dinner two weeks ahead of going to West Palm Beach? He was beyond. But he did all of that because he wanted to take care of people.
How was the energy in the room the night of Bobâs tribute?
The vibe in the Comedy Store was all love for Bob. We had just had the funeral, and then had a small tribute privately. So, the mood was like, letâs give one more major goodbye. In one fell swoop, the world lost so much comedy. So much joy. The irony is, a lot of comics are negative and pick apart the angry, but thatâs not what Bob was. Thatâs not what Gilbert, Louie or Norm were. Itâs just a tragedy anyway you cut it. They werenât negative dudes that rant about what they hate. Love was Bobâs thing. He was going through this thing the last couple of years where he was like, âI not doing negative anymore. Iâm only doing positive stuff.â That was his whole theme.

Obviously we know you guys were out on tour, but were you working on anything on the side?
Bob was working on putting together his special, and he was so excited about it. He was starting to crack open so much new material for himself and all he was thinking about was his special. Thatâs a real crazy part of this whole thing, how excited he was about stand-up comedy again. I also directed a movie, so I wanted Bob in my movie. I remember going back and forth with him like, âBob I got a great part for you!â He was like, âHow many pages is it?â He wanted to be a lead, and my cast is in their early 30s.
Well, he was definitely young at heart and in spirit! What would you say to younger fans who are just stumbling across Bob Saget?
I would say, youâre welcome! Bob is a seasoned, 45-year-in-the-game pro who youâre going to love. We actually started selling more and more tickets in the last couple of years because, well, things go through phases. When Bob came off âEntourage,â boom! Weâre playing theaters. Then thereâs a little lull where youâre playing clubs, but youâre still selling out clubs. Bob always sold out clubs even though he was always nervous he wouldnât. Then the fans started to become a younger base of hip, smart comedy lovers. I think they liked Bob because they could see through the BS that was an image. Heâs crazy witty and always has a comeback, so heâs got to be one of us! Bob was a hyper-intelligent nerd. He was like a nerd-stud. He didnât come from cool. He was a deli clerk that became cool.
I hope reading this gets more deli clerks laid. Have you heard of any plans to memorialize Bob around the L.A. clubs?
Iâll bet you there will be a one-year anniversary. Other than that, I havenât heard of anything just yet. I just heard about the Netflix tribute a month ago when Mike Binder called me to say, âNetflix is picking this up and please sign the release!â
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