Bob Saget Joins John Stamos to Entertain Full House During Birdie Delay

A set malfunction stopped the show during Act One of the final preview of Bye Bye Birdie on October 14, and leading man John Stamos called on some famous friends in the audience to help him fill a 20-minute gap in the proceedings: former Full House co-star Bob Saget and legendary comedian Don Rickles.

The snafu occurred after the fourth scene, when a plexiglass panel in the back of the set at Roundabout’s new Henry Miler’s Theatre came loose from its frame. The show went on for about a minute, with a stagehand visible, but then the MacAfee living room set appeared stuck center stage. The Fan Club Girls gamely entered to sing “We love you Conrad” in what was supposed to be Penn Station, then the curtain went down. Soon Stamos appeared, and the time-killing (and pretty darn entertaining) jokes began.

A smiling Stamos introduced Rickles and his close pal Saget, and when it became clear the delay would be more than a minute or two, he invited Saget to join him onstage. It took an awkward climb over the orchestra pit to get there, but Saget made it, then discovered that in order to be heard, he would have to speak into a microphone on the (shorter) Stamos' head. “I’m glad your crotch isn’t miked,” he joked.

Rickles wisely declined Stamos’ offer to come onstage but landed a few zingers from his seat, first urging Stamos to “get a haircut” and then heckling, “Are they going to fix this or is it going to be a weekend?” As the minutes ticked by, Rickles called out, “I’m too old for this” and later suggested that Stamos should “get the Beach Boys up there and play the drums.” Stamos has done guest-star gigs with the 60s pop group, and he replied, “They were here this afternoon,” referring to matineegoer Al Jardine.

Gina Gershon, who co-stars as Rosie opposite Stamos as Albert, soon popped out to help, greeting Rickles and Saget, who urged her to “Do something from Showgirls.” Gershon quickly quipped, “I just saw my first episode of Full House at the dentist’s office,” citing a show in which Saget apparently rode a dolphin. He replied, “Which hurt more?”

Bill Irwin (who plays Harry MacAfee) briefly showed off the clowning skills he hasn’t used very often since taking on starring roles in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and Waiting for Godot. Silently, Irwin walked through the curtain and then executed a perfect pratfall as if an unseen person was pulling him back. He rose and did the same move two more times.

Gershon came and went, reporting on the progress (or lack thereof) in fixing the set. Saget offered the two stars a mint, and Stamos joked that he only wanted one if it would put him to sleep. Some 20 minutes later, the problem was solved, and the Fan Club Girls sang their chorus of “We love you Conrad” again. Stepping onto the Penn Station set, Stamos cracked himself up when he delivered his first line: “Hi girls. Sorry I’m late!”