His Weekend Update didn't work well for me - I was pretty young and it was so dry. I find that the funniest part of his jokes is in the build up to the punchline which is quite backwards to the traditional joke delivery. That type of humour doesn't work quite as well in the Weekend Update format which requires rapid fire jokes and is really punchline focused.
I'm back down the rabbit hole again, listening to Norm in the background while I work. Thank god there is so much material online of his performances. I think in a few years he will be talked about in the way comics talk about Pryor and Carlin. He was that important in my opinion.
While I don't think he's near their level as they are the two greatest of all time, what separates Norm is that he always stayed true to his stand up roots. Carlin branched out but still toured until right before his death. He never abandoned the craft.
That's the thing about most of these modern stand up guys. As soon as they can, they want a tv show, movies etc. They almost all become sellouts as soon as they hit it big and go mainstream.
Norm never did this. He was like #### the establishment and told jokes his way for his whole career. He never, ever caved to studio or executive pressure. He even got fired from SNL over it. He doubled down on it whenever he was threatened.
Most of his SNL contemporaries and other comedians respect him so much IMO because Norm said #### the money and the fame, I want to do comedy my way. All those other guys took the paycheck instead of the credibility.
I've always believed that's what makes him a comedian's comedian. He doesn't have some unique never before experienced take on comedy. It's that he's unrelentingly himself and never wavered.
The Bob Saget roast is the perfect example. It reminded me of something Andy Kaufman would do, where the joke is almost entirely based on the fact that a lot of people won't get it. He never, ever went for the lowest common denominator humour. In fact, I think he'd hate it if his comedy was ever that broad.
This was never more apparent than during what I consider the highlight of his career outside of Dirty Work: his legendary performance at the Comedy Central Roast of Bob Saget. The impulse when roasting someone is to go as hard and as dirty and as aggressive as you possibly can, to “win” by out-grossing everyone else, or, alternately, being super-clever.
So there’s something brilliantly counter-intuitive about Macdonald traveling in the opposite direction. The audience expects, even demands, profanity and nastiness and gutter scatology. Then Macdonald shambles over genially and begins delivering dad jokes so exquisitely hokey and unfunny that they cross over and become devastatingly funny. You can watch it here.
And let's not forget he spent the entire roast reading the newspaper!
Last edited by Cecil Terwilliger; 09-17-2021 at 11:51 AM.
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It really speaks volumes how many comedians clearly considered Norm to be one of their all-time favourites. He was just so damn funny and was obviously a really great friend to so many.
God, the heartbreak in Sagat's voice is just so hard to listen to. I got weepy as he spoke about his last few texts with norm.
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While I don't think he's near their level as they are the two greatest of all time, what separates Norm is that he always stayed true to his stand up roots. Carlin branched out but still toured until right before his death. He never abandoned the craft.
That's the thing about most of these modern stand up guys. As soon as they can, they want a tv show, movies etc. They almost all become sellouts as soon as they hit it big and go mainstream.
Norm never did this. He was like #### the establishment and told jokes his way for his whole career. He never, ever caved to studio or executive pressure. He even got fired from SNL over it. He doubled down on it whenever he was threatened.
Most of his SNL contemporaries and other comedians respect him so much IMO because Norm said #### the money and the fame, I want to do comedy my way. All those other guys took the paycheck instead of the credibility.
I've always believed that's what makes him a comedian's comedian. He doesn't have some unique never before experienced take on comedy. It's that he's unrelentingly himself and never wavered.
The Bob Saget roast is the perfect example. It reminded me of something Andy Kaufman would do, where the joke is almost entirely based on the fact that a lot of people won't get it. He never, ever went for the lowest common denominator humour. In fact, I think he'd hate it if his comedy was ever that broad.
And let's not forget he spent the entire roast reading the newspaper!
Keep in mind too that part of what made that roast so beautiful is that Norm later alluded to the fact that he was reading jokes from a joke book his dad had bought for him when his dad knew he was interested in comedy.
As awesome as the "they want dirty, I'll give them the opposite" was, it was two other factors that made it so great - Not wanting to say anything mean to Bob Saget because Bob didn't say mean things about others, regardless of what the audience wanted, and more importantly it doubled as a thank you to his dad for supporting him with that gesture.
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Andy Richter summed it up best to Conan O'brian when they first encountered Norm "That guy doesn't care in a way that scared me".
But Andy also mentioned that his sister was at a taping. Norm sat down and introduced himself and then ended up talking to her for an hour, making her laugh the whole time, just because she was there backstage. A true genuine human being. And wow, Andy really hammers home the Canadian thing with Norm. He truly believes that Canada radiates through Norm's cadence and personality. I think I see it too.
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His Weekend Update didn't work well for me - I was pretty young and it was so dry. I find that the funniest part of his jokes is in the build up to the punchline which is quite backwards to the traditional joke delivery. That type of humour doesn't work quite as well in the Weekend Update format which requires rapid fire jokes and is really punchline focused.
Well I think he was the best they ever had, if there was a poll he would win IMO
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Andy Richter summed it up best to Conan O'brian when they first encountered Norm "That guy doesn't care in a way that scared me".
But Andy also mentioned that his sister was at a taping. Norm sat down and introduced himself and then ended up talking to her for an hour, making her laugh the whole time, just because she was there backstage. A true genuine human being. And wow, Andy really hammers home the Canadian thing with Norm. He truly believes that Canada radiates through Norm's cadence and personality. I think I see it too.
In a lot of ways he reminds me of my other all-time favourite comedian, Phil Hartman, but with a completely different comedic style and delivery.
They're always been revered in a similar fashion I believe within the comedy world.
His Weekend Update didn't work well for me - I was pretty young and it was so dry. I find that the funniest part of his jokes is in the build up to the punchline which is quite backwards to the traditional joke delivery. That type of humour doesn't work quite as well in the Weekend Update format which requires rapid fire jokes and is really punchline focused.
Man, usually when a celeb I love passes I'm bummed out for a bit, check out some vids, and move on. But this one is really sticking with me. Just such a comedic genius. I've been binge-watching every single clip and interview with him I can find for the last few days and it just sucks that there won't be anything new. So much joy this man has brought me over the years.
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Man, usually when a celeb I love passes I'm bummed out for a bit, check out some vids, and move on. But this one is really sticking with me. Just such a comedic genius. I've been binge-watching every single clip and interview with him I can find for the last few days and it just sucks that there won't be anything new. So much joy this man has brought me over the years.
1000% this.
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This is my favorite Norm bit, which he did 10 days after Steve Irwin died. The way Jon Stewart says "Please don't make me laugh at this" makes it so much better
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The driver we sent for you told you a joke? Why don't we just have him on next time?
"Ahh that guy.....no....that guy.....wait til you hear me tell it".
The fact that all of this was done on the spot with no time whatsoever to prepare makes it completely unfathomable. I don't think anyone else could have done anything even remotely comparable in that situation.
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