The sudden passing of Bob Saget came as a shock, especially considering he was currently in the midst of the national “I Don’t Do Negative” Tour, but thankfully the stand-up comic, actor, television host, recording artist and author left an iconic body of work behind.

For many, he’s one of the world’s all-time favorite fathers on “Full House,” to others, the longtime host of “America’s Funniest Home Videos” or perhaps the narrator behind “How I Met Your Mother.”

Yet that’s only scratching the surface of a career that includes a fleet of movies (“The Aristocrats,” “Farce Of The Penguins”), numerous guest appearances (“Entourage,” “The Masked Singer”), plus a live performance personality that was definitely for adults, but just as drop dead hilarious as his all-ages episodes.

In fact, here’s a Chicago Concert Reviews recall of a conversation centered around a prior residency at Schaumburg’s rebooted Improv, which dives into the yin and yang of the ways he earned such enormous fame, while providing several insightful reminders of why he’ll always be remembered.

When you’re on the road, how surprising is your stand-up act to audiences who might only know you from TV and what should they expect?

Bob Saget: I used to come to Chicago a lot. There was an Improv there years ago and I was one of the main acts there…What’s funny is it’s not like a shocking change, but for a lot of people it is. [“Full House” and “America’s Funniest Home Videos”] is all they knew me from. Even when I did the two shows, I had an HBO Special, I was out touring and my comedy was always somewhere in my pants…I still have the vitality of a nine-year-old except, I’ve got an ex-wife, three daughters and two old parents, so I don’t how that doesn’t supply you with comedy material.

It’s not X-rated. Some people say that, which really pisses me off. X-rated is like people doing it and stuff. I’m R-rated. I’m like watching a “South Park” movie. I’ll drop the f-bomb and I’ll talk silly. I like to riff, but I’m not as dirty as what I did in “The Aristocrats.” Some people yell out, “do ‘The Aristocrats.’” They don’t understand it just doesn’t work in a large group of people. Some people hated it, but for the people it worked for, it was like jazz. I like to do that with my stand-up, but not in areas of what that joke’s about. So when people yell out, I just say, “slow down on the booze.” I try to get people to time their drugs appropriate when they come see me.

Do you have a lot of people yelling at you throughout a show?

Saget: Yeah, and if it’s crazy, I have a little more stepped up security than a lot of people, especially in theatres and colleges. A lot of theatres that I do are near colleges and the kids are uncontrollable, so I actually have guys on the sides of the stage, like you would if you were anybody that has a lot of people, cause that’s like a couple thousand people. You’ve gotta police it or you’re gonna have danger [laughs].

What’s a crazy fan moment?

Saget: One time a fan rushed the stage and got me in a headlock. And I took the mic and shoved it up his a–. Not up it, but I goosed him with it, and he got scared and ran away.

Did you provoke him? How exactly did that happen?

Saget: I was making fun of him, but not in a bad way…I was saying that Danny Tanner was gay, and used a DustBuster and whatever. He lived in San Francisco and apparently this guy was from San Francisco and started heckling me a lot. He told me people tell him he looks like me and then he got weird. When you get up and get physical with somebody, that’s just weird. I’m just doing it in fun. I literally don’t have any harm in my mind at all, but I’ve had all kinds of stuff. Now I have people that prevent that. I’m already prepared.

How else do you make fun of yourself?

Saget: It’s very hard to not be self-effacing about “Full House” and “America’s Funniest Home Videos.” With “America’s Funniest Home Videos,” people always ask me, “who wrote your jokes?” I always say, “I don’t know, your mother!” I wrote the jokes with two Canadian guys. I’m guilty of everything I get trashed for, and meanwhile, the damn thing traveled around the world. It was number one, off and on, and was on for eight years with me on it, which was like Hanukkah. It just didn’t end. I was very happy to have done it. I would’ve liked to have done it differently and they didn’t want it differently. They didn’t want it to be edgy. They didn’t want me adlibbing the way I do in my stand-up.

They wanted it traffic cop, narrate, “here’s some clips, here’s some kids.” “You wanna do a joke in between? Fine.” I think about five percent I did on there was funny and then 95 percent was just working for the man, feeding the beast. The whole idea of it was to set up those clips cause that was the show, but I tried to approach as a comedy show and I’m proud of that. I think we did really good work in that regard…I love having my own voice now. That’s the nicest thing about having had success and to get known. People are ready to hear what you have to say. There have been enough little things that have happened, maybe “The Aristocrats,” maybe an “Entourage” appearance or “Half Baked.” I directed “Dirty Work,” which a lot of people loved, and the “Rollin’ With Saget” video.

Do you find your fans have been able to stick with you or do some on each end have a hard time adapting?

Saget: I don’t know. I don’t even think about it. It’s the farthest thing from my mind. I just do what comes to me. When I did “America’s Funniest Home Videos” and “Full House,” I was thinking about my fans and I really appreciate what my fans mean. I used to make fun of like Liza Minnelli and all these people who would get out and say “I wouldn’t be alive it was wasn’t for my fans.”

[On tour], I really felt this affection back from an audience. They actually get me. They’re getting my humor. They’re going, “I really like you. You’re like my favorite comedian…” I just feel an appreciation that the people are digging it and I’m very, very appreciative. It’s funny, when I do stand-up, I’m not into Liza Minnelli [mode] and start crying or saying, “I’m nothing without you” and then go take a Percocet. I look at them and think, “this is really nice” and just “thank you.” It’s really cool they’re digging what I think is funny, which is crazy s—. I have a five-minute bit of “don’t have sex with animals.” I go specifically through the kinds of animals and what might happen to you. That’s not normal material. You can’t do that on [Jay] Leno. I was on [David] Letterman a ton. I was on [Johnny] Carson a lot. I was on Conan [O’Brien] a lot. I never did stand-up comedy on those shows. I always just did sit down and talk. My stand-up was on HBO whenever I would do it.

What does the continued visibility of “Full House” being back on DVD and basically everywhere do in terms of your audience?

Saget: There’s more people. All the people that were on “Full House,” [who also include John Stamos, Candace Cameron Bure, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen], there’s been a little more of an iconic classifying of us. We’re all more and it raises your visibility as a celebrity, period, just cause you’re on that. And everybody from the cast looks good still. Remember when “Gilligan’s Island” decayed? They all started rotting. God rest Bob Denver’s soul! It is what it is. It became a very, very popular show. Crazy, crazy, crazy popular.

What are your all-time favorite career moments?

Saget: One of them was probably hosting “Saturday Night Live.” That was probably one of my most fun experiences I’ve ever had because I live for live and that’s the reason why I never stopped doing stand-up. “Saturday Night Live” was great because it was the year that Chris Farley was there, Tim Meadows, David Spade, Norm Macdonald, Jay Mohr, Chris Elliott, Molly Shannon, Laura Kightlinger, Adam Sandler and Kevin Nealon. It was like everybody was on the show that year, just all the people I started with and a lot of friends. I really had a hell of a fun time.

[I also] did a play in New York called “Privilege,” written by Paul Weitz, [“About A Boy,” “American Pie,” “In Good Company”], about this guy who was accused of insider trading. He offered me the part and waited for me to become available. I did 70 performances in New York at the Second Stage Theater and it was just a great experience. I really love things when they’re real and they’re live. It’s just something I live for. You strap on your armor, you go out and entertain people by telling them a story.

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For additional information on Bob Saget, visit BobSaget.com.