Dave Coulier Brings Nostalgia and Laughs to Homecoming

COURTESY PHOTO BY MASON MASOTTA

Homecoming weekend has come and gone along with the blast from the past visit of Dave Coulier. The much beloved Uncle Joey, of Full House fame, took a ride up to the Granite State to perform his latest stand up set. Coulier reminisced on his days with the Full House crew and his ongoing relationship with Bob Saget and John Stamos. He noted the endearing, yet at times annoying, request of excited fans to perform the shows iconic “cut it out” gesture. Thankfully, these references to the show did not take up the entirety of the performance. As fun as 90’s nostalgia and catchphrases are, they do become a bit cliché and worn out over time. 

Coulier seemed to be testing out newer material as well that Saturday night. One of the first things I noticed when he came out to perform was the large yellow notepad that he would refer back to during pauses between jokes. Some people may find this amateur since it evokes an idea of unpreparedness for a performance. While this may be true for a simple PowerPoint or Ted Talk type of show, in standup it is more common than you would think, even for veteran performers like Dave Coulier. 

He performed these newer bits flawlessly, providing a mix of classic impressions and dynamic body humor. He literally used the entire stage as a prop in his act. There is an aspect of the performance, however, that some people may not have loved as much as others. This was very much a particular kind of comedy. Full House references aside, his opinions and jokes stem from an older person’s view of millennial behavior and pop culture obsessions. So yes, jokes like “why is everyone always on their phones?” or, “what’s the deal with video games?” did make special appearances. If you don’t find that kind of genre funny, then his comedy probably wouldn’t be for you.

A surprising highlight of the night was actually the opener of the event, Kellen Erskine. It is always really hard for performers to open for established comedians (especially ones with a television following), but Erskine was able to hold his own and then some. Doing some slow building crowd humor, he was able to convince the small-town audience to give him a chance and excelled in the spotlight. What followed was a tight fifteen-minute spot, that ranged from questioning the design of milk jugs to the absurdity of penguin evolution, that warmed the crowd up for a hilarious night.

The show was completely sold out a full half hour before doors opened to the Silver Center theater, with a good mix of students, faculty, staff, and visiting family attending. It was an awesome experience to lead into Game Night and end Homecoming weekend’s Saturday night.