01:00 AM EDT on Thursday, July 6, 2006

BY ANDY SMITH
Journal Television Writer

Bob Saget became famous playing Danny Tanner, the father on the popular ABC sitcom Full House, which aired from 1987 to 1995. Or perhaps you remember him as the genial host of America's Funniest Home Videos, also on ABC.

But if you think you know Saget, think again.

He describes his stand-up comedy, which he'll bring to the Newport Yachting Center tomorrow as "dirtyish" -- in other words, don't bring the kids.

He's also working on an R-rated parody of March of the Penguins, called Farce of the Penguins.

More? Well, there's the Jamie Kennedy rap video, Rollin' with Saget, celebrating you-know-who as a master of the thug life.

Or Saget's extended, lurid version of the ancient dirty joke at the heart of the documentary film The Aristocrats. It's a performance that has won him considerable acclaim in comedy circles.

Making Saget's appearance in The Aristocrats even funnier was his own realization of just how over-the-top his version of the joke had become.

At one point he laid his head on the table in front of him and laughed. "What the [expletive] am I doing?" he said.

Glee at his own expense

Then there's Saget's appearance in an episode of the HBO comedy Entourage, in which he took considerable glee in poking fun at his own image.

There's Saget, playing himself, ogling the babes and smoking pot out of a big yellow bong at a Hollywood mansion, which turns out to be a high-priced bordello.

Johnny Drama (Kevin Dillon) tells Saget that he once had a guest role on Full House. Saget cheerfully replies that he was so wacked out on Vicodin and Halcion in the '90s, he can't remember a thing.

"I feel like I'm in a giant second chapter in my career," Saget said in a recent phone interview. "It's a do-over, on terms that I find funny. As a performer, I feel invigorated . . . At 50, to do shows and have 22-year olds yelling 'You da man!' is a lot of fun."

Saget said audiences who grew up on Full House probably get a charge out of seeing him in a different light. After that, though, he still has to be funny.

"If it were just the Full House dad talking dirty, that would just be a moment of shock value and that's it. A lot of my comedy is just about my life -- having kids, being divorced, trying to date."

(Saget joked that he is looking for the perfect woman -- attractive, accomplished, intelligent. Then he'll try to date her daughter.)

For all the fun he has at the expense of his Full House image, Saget spoke fondly of the show, and said he still stays in touch with cast members.

"Full House was a family TV fantasy," he said. "Three straight guys raising three girls in San Francisco -- yeah, like that's gonna happen. You had the normal guy, the cool guy, the funny guy . . . and then it was the Olsen twins, who were just incredibly lovable."

The parody of penguins

Last season, Saget could be heard -- although not seen -- on TV as the narrator on CBS's sitcom How I Met Your Mother.

His current project, Farce of the Penguins, is due in theaters this fall. Saget said he was watching March of the Penguins when his friend David Permut, a producer, decided the idea was ripe for a parody.

Saget said he tried to use the same footage as March, but couldn't the rights.

So he took 150 hours of other penguin footage and did a lot of editing. Set at the breeding grounds -- yes, there is penguin sex -- it's about a penguin who's been left by his three wives and is looking for a good female.

Besides Saget, voices include Lewis Black, Tracy Morgan, Samuel L. Jackson, Dane Cook and lots more.

Meanwhile, Saget said he's having fun with his stand-up act, which has begun migrating out of comedy clubs and into colleges and theaters.

"I've been playing some gorgeous venues," Saget said. "To get up and curse in a gorgeous place -- it's a blessing."

Bob Saget performs tommorrow at 7:30 p.m. at the Newport Yachting Center, 4 Commercial Wharf, off America's Cup Avenue. Admission is $36. To purchase tickets, call 849-3299.

asmith@projo.com / (401) 277-7262