USA TODAY International Edition
Saget talks ...
... 2M Twitter followers listen,
BEVERLY HILLS CALIF. Comedian Bob Saget has come a long way from showcasing funny videos of animals and pratfalls to the world. The host of ABC’s America’s
Funniest Home Videos from 1988 to ’ 97, Saget has nearly 2 million Twitter followers and posts comedy clips on YouTube seen more than 3.5 million times. He serves as an adviser for the new website Expertory, which offers one- on- one tutorials on everything from Spanish and guitar lessons to fitness coaching. We met with Saget recently at his manager’s office.
EXPERTORY
“It’s very cool. It’s experts that will teach one- on- one, anybody anything, about something they want to learn. There’s nothing else on the Earth that exists like it.” He advises the team — which includes nephew Adam Saget — on the viral aspect of finding an audience. But don’t look for Saget to start teaching. “I can’t … because I don’t really have any skills.”
‘ HOME VIDEOS’ TO YOUTUBE
“I was the beginning of YouTube, I guess. I feel responsible. It was the first time to get into people’s homes, without breaking in. Now you can Vine something ( a popular video app) and be in somebody’s house and watch them doing anything.”
FAVORITE APPS
Square ready. ( free; Apple) Lets you post photos to Instagram
without having to crop drastically. “It changed my life. It takes your picture and you can adjust it so you’re not blown out of proportion.”
Pimple Eraser Lite. ( free; Apple) Lets you remove pimples and moles from photos with Photoshoplike precision. “If you take a picture of yourself and hate the way you look, and have a big honking zit in the middle of your head, you can save yourself.”
Flashlight. ( free; Apple) “It’s really important” for those moments when you need lighting assistance. “It gives you a little kicker.”
COMEDY AND TECH
“I just did a new special; it could have been edited on iPhones,” Saget says. With smartphones so prevalent in comedy clubs, “I could have said, ‘ Hey, everybody, send me your iPhone footage.’ If someone is texting while I’m doing stand- up, I’ll call them out on it. I’ve taken their phones, looked up their last call. ... One time on stage, I picked up a guy’s phone and called his last girlfriend — and he was with his current girlfriend. That wasn’t a good idea.”
“I love promoting my friends, and I like making people laugh.” He quotes comedy legend Groucho Marx often (“Marriage is a wonderful institution — but who wants to live in an institution?”) and offers short musings on life (“The squirrel in my yard really knows his way around the neighborhood”) when he’s not making off- color jokes. Here’s a semi- clean one: “You’ve got to love yourself. But not in public places.” Twitter is “a poetic billboard. But I can’t follow that many people ( only 149). I can’t take that amount of input.”