Cut it out - Dave Coulier speaks out

By NICK POWILLS

We all grow up with certain TV shows in our lives. Some of them even become role models through the tube. For me, Full House was a big part of my early TV life, as it was for many people in our generation. When it was on T.G.I.F. my family and I would watch it while eating diner. It was a great show.

So, when I found myself drinking a beer with Dave Couiler, a.k.a Uncle Joey, it was a little weird. It was extremely surreal because he was that visible actor that was everywhere growing up. He was practically my Uncle Joey.

"Full House has become a little slice of Americana," Couiler says as he downs a Vanilla beer from Prairie Rock Brewery in Schaumburg. "At our peek we had 25 million viewers and now through syndication, there are millions of people watching it. You realize that you come into someone’s home three times a day, they begin to think they know you, but they don’t know you at all. You are just a picture on a box. You just have to kind of be prepared that those kinds of people exist as well as the people who just want to shake your hand and say good work."

Coulier’s life took many twists and turns before he got his break as an actor. He auditioned for a spot on Saturday Night Live, and after executives gave him the role, NBC switched upper management, who felt Coulier was too similar to Dana Carvey to be on SNL.

"I auditioned. I fit the role. It was one of those things the harder you worked the luckier you got," Coulier said. "I was supposed to go to New York and be on SNL, and in the eleventh hour I ended up not going because they thought Dana Carvey and I were too similar. I told everyone in my family that I was going to New York to be on SNL, so I was crushed when they told me that I was no longer going. But then six months later I got the role on Full House, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise."

Before TV

Just like the majority of successful comedians on television or in the movies, Coulier got his start as a stand-up comedian, something he enjoyed.

"The nice thing about stand up, from my prospective, is it is something you can always come back it," Coulier says. "It’s the place where I started. If things get slow, I can always put my energy into that. Show business is a rollercoaster ride. It’s fun, it’s exciting, so it’s a great base to work from. It’s something that just keeps you sharp, its keeps your mind very quick."

Coulier broke into the biz at the tender age of 19 at the Comedy Shop in Los Angeles, where he worked alongside the likes of Jay Leno, David Letterman, Jerry Seinfeld and Robin Williams. At that point in his life, he says he was too naïve to see that the odds were stacked up against him in the very tough business to break into.

"It’s a really hard business," Coulier says. "I don’t want to sugar coat it at all. It’s a tough business. It takes a lot of drive and inner strength. There is a lot of heartbreak. It’s hard to sustain it. There is always someone coming up behind you. That’s life. I was too naive to know how badly the odds were stacked against me, but I didn’t care.

"If you are going to go into the business, don’t expect to make a million bucks, just expect to be happy. If you are happy, then you might make that million bucks. If you are in it just for the money, then you are not going to make it. You won’t be driven.

"I was 19 when I moved to L.A. It went by so fast, there are a lot of comedians who are entertaining and they ask me for advice, and Ill say you need to work clean, and a lot of them work with profanity. I want to see someone who is genuinely funny, who doesn’t have to use words."

Working without profanity is a type of comedy Coulier has held very close to his heart throughout this career. He never swears on stage, because he doesn’t have to to be funny.

"I see comedians who grow up in the suburbs, and I want to know why they are so angry," Coulier says. "Cause your father was a general motors executive. Its like, come on guys; just get back to the basics of just being funny. If you can do your act with out using one swear word, then you are a funny guy. I’m not above swearing. When I drop a toaster on my foot I swear, but for me the challenge is being able to do an hour and ten minutes without swearing. And if I can do that, then I feel like I am funny. That is my comfort level."

The not swearing routine has also allowed Coulier the opportunity to stay close to his inner child. He never wants to grow up, because acting goofy and wild and crazy is a part of who he is, and he won’t compromise for anyone.

"I don’t want to grow up because I would feel so defeated. I have so many friends who were so funny and vibrant and somewhere along the road of their lives they lost that. They lost that sense of humor and fun. And I never want to lose that because I am having a blast. My job is a blast, I love what I do. That just fuels my life."

And being labeled as that crazy Uncle Joey for the rest of his life is also OK with him, because that is also who he is.

"If I am, then that’s great, because it was an amazing experience in my life. I am still close with all those people. I could be remembered for a lot worse things than Joey on full house. I am pleased. I have to constantly make new goals for myself because everything I dreamt about came true," Coulier says as he takes down the last sip of his beer.