For many people Dave Coulier is a part of their childhood. And the actor who played Uncle Joey on the wholesome family TV show “Full House” from 1987-1995 still enjoys performing for his fans.
“I get to experience the Full House fans every time I perform,” Coulier said. “I know it is exciting to see someone you grew up with and it is exciting for me.”
Coulier will get that experience once again with fans in Kirkland when he plays Laugh Comedy Spot on June 26-28 for the second time in a year. And he knows “Full House” is always the “900-pound gorilla in the room.”
“It signals to me that we did quality work if it is frozen in time like that,” Coulier said. “It has never been off the air since 1987.”
Coulier knows what it is like to meet someone who is part of one’s childhood. He has spent most of the past two decades in Hollywood as a voice actor and has gotten to work with some of the titans in the industry, such as Jim Henson, creator of The Muppets, and Mel Blanc.
“It is fun to be professionally immature,” joked Coulier. “I have gotten to work with a lot of my heroes. I got to work with Mel Blanc and with him you are never meeting one guy because he does so many characters. He is bigger than life. I mean it was like ‘that is Bugs Bunny sitting there.’ It was just awe inspiring.
“Jim Henson was so kind and to be such a genius. He just had a sharp focus.”
Coulier himself has contributed to the pantheon of great animated Hollywood character voices. He is the voice of Kellog’s Raisin Bran and has worked on “Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo,” the “Muppet Babies” and “The Real Ghost Busters” cartoons. He currently does voice work for the Cartoon Network’s “China, Il.”
“When you do voices you don’t have to look good,” Coulier joked. “You can even work in your underwear.”
He brings those voices to the stage and said that many people are surprised when they see him doing stand-up.
“I came up in the ranks as a stand-up,” he said. “I got my start on [The Tonight Show with Johnny] Carson.”
And while his friend Bob Saget, who played the lead role of Danny Tanner on “Full House,” currently does stand-up work, Coulier said their shows are nothing alike.
“I always say that Bob is my filthy Jewish sister,” Coulier joked. “He goes over the edge.”
The multi-talented Coulier has a family-friendly act, using his impersonation skills, his various voices and even plays harmonica on stage.
He has begun working on his first hour long stand-up special “Glorified Birthday Clown.” Coulier is also featured in a new line of Geico commercials.
The comedian is also proud of his new website, where he said fans can find a lot of nostalgic “Full House” items such as “Gladstones” and “Cut-it-out” t-shirts.
So, where did that famous “Full House” catch phrase come from? Coulier admits that he stole it from his best friend Mark Cendrowski, the director of the hit TV show “The Big Bang Theory.” The two have been friends since they were eight years old and were a comedy team early in their careers. “Cut-it-out” was a line Cendrowski would use in one of their bits.
“I told him I was going to steal it. I probably owe him some royalties or something,” Coulier joked. “I started using it on the Nickelodeon show “Out of Control” and that was it.”
It became one of Coulier’s trademark sayings on Full House.
