Tribute To Norm Macdonald

View fullsize

So I had mentioned earlier in an email that I was going to be doing this. I’m sorry it took so long to get out, but I just didn’t want to rush it. Most people may not know that I am a huge fan of Norm Macdonald. He was in my opinion, the funniest man in modern history. If you did not hear the news, Norm recently passed away on September 14th, 2021. He had cancer for over nine years and did not tell anyone, not even his own family. I have never once in my entire life cried about the death of a celebrity. Usually I just think it’s very sad and move on with my day. But this case was very different. Unfortunately the entire comedy world appears to be sharing the same consensus.

Norms comedy got me through the darkest and most miserable periods of my life. Whenever I was desperate for a laugh I would look up his stuff and it gave me the motivation to get through the day. I would always go to his videos. It was a blessing to have, even though I didn’t fully appreciate it at the time.

It makes me sad knowing that there is still a great number people out there who have not followed his comedy or have never heard of him. He was by all means a true comedic genius. I do not expect everyone to fully understand his comedy. There are many many people who just didn’t get it. They failed to understand what made him funny.

I feel very bad for those people.

So to pay tribute and honor Norm, we’ll be going through a brief history of his career and some highlights. Take note, there is so much content out there that this barely scratches the surface. So I encourage you to go do a deep Norm dive, and learn about the funniest man ever.

CONTENT WARNING!!!

Warning! The following content contains crude language, inappropriate jokes, and some controversial topics. Continue only if you are 18 years or older.

Norm In Animation

Now considering my audience which consist of mostly cartoon and animation enthusiast, it would be wrong of me to not first bring up his voice over work. Most of my audience probably will only recognize him as characters such as Norm the genie in Fairly Odd Parents, Pigeon from Mike Tyson Mysteries, or even Lucky the talking dog in the Eddie Murphy Doctor Dolittle. He also voiced death in one episode of family guy before Adam Carolla took over. His most recent role was the fisherman in the Netflix Christmas movie Klaus. He had an absolutely unique voice that made him perfect for voice overs. In fact, most people you run into have some sort of Norm Macdonald impression. Although they often over emphasize or exaggerate it.

“You guessed it, Frank Stallone.”

Now while he did have a unique voice, his voice acting is not what made him famous or funny. He was born in Canada where he started out doing standup in the smokey night clubs and eventually wound up on Saturday Night Live. This is where he became famous for doing the weekend update. In fact, he was the first person to coin the term “fake news.”

“I think Billy and his girlfriend are playing water polo or something.”

Norms Time On SNL

His time on weekend update was some of the most controversial yet hilarious stuff that could never be done in today’s world. It couldn’t even be done at the time that he did it. This is what made him such a pivotal character. He did things that nobody in their right mind would have. This is why he was such an important person in comedy. He went there. He was well known for pushing the limits of what he was allowed to do. He would often times bomb on purpose and would keep pushing jokes the audience didn’t like or understand until they became funny.

“Hey, Hey! Easy with that. That’s my lucky stabbing hat!”

My all time personal favorite skit on SNL was the Polar Bear sketch. Not only does it feature Norm Macdonald, along with Chris Farley, Adam Sandler, Tim Meadows and Jay Mohr, But it is widely speculated that Norm wrote this sketch. It just screams his type of humor. It was also the final skit before Adam and Farley ended up leaving the show. I remember watching this as a child and balling out laughing. I still do, even after all these years. Even if Norm didn’t write it, his presence and delivery makes it one of the best.

“Holy Lord!”

My other favorite sketch was one that spoofed West Side Story. If I had to guess I would say that Norm wrote this one also. The sketch itself is ok, but would not be the funniest in the world if it weren’t for Norms reaction. He makes this sketch come together, His dead pan, straight man comedy often collided with the different personalities and he was such a unique breath of fresh air who was so different from other comedians. His ability to write was also unparalleled.

“I mean, this guy was a real jerk.”

Some of you might also be a fan of the celebrity jeopardy skits where Norm played 1970’s Burt Reynolds (Turd Ferguson). There are many of them, but this one is probably one of the funnier ones.

If you are wondering, Norm wrote all of these.

“Or so the Germans would have us believe.”

His departure and return to SNL was the stuff of legends. After being fired, he was invited back to host only a few years later. He preceded to roast NBC and SNL in his opening monologue, where he stated he couldn’t understand how he was fired for being “not funny enough”, to all of a sudden being so funny that he could host the show. He ended it by stating that SNL had become a very bad show. People were stunned that he did that. NBC deserved this roast because they didn’t stand up for Norm. Granted we all know why he was fired. One of the NBC head executives Don Ohlmeyer was best friends with OJ Simpson, which Norm refused to stop doing jokes on even after he was told not to. Norm was well known for doing the exact opposite of what people told him to do. So instead of just letting him roll with it they fired him. “He wouldn’t know funny if it bit him on the ass.” As stated by David Letterman referring to Don Ohlmeyer. Which is true because SNL is a sad shell of its former self and is virtually unwatchable nowadays. They had a gem with Norm, and they couldn’t even see it.

“Ya know, with Hitler, the more I learn about that guy, the more I don’t care for him.”

After SNL

After he left SNL he went on to make his first movie called Dirty Work. If you’ve never seen it before, I highly recommend it. This movie is an anomaly and by all accounts should not have been possible to make. The cast includes people like, Norm, Artie Lange, Chris Farley, Chevey Chase, Mr. Wonderful (Don Rickles), and a whole bunch of other cameos that just make it amazing. It’s impossible to image a cast like this in a single movie. But that’s not only what makes it great. It’s the dry Norm dead pan humor and his tenacity to make jokes nobody had ever done before. It is also sadly the final movie Chris Farley ever made an appearance in. He played a man who had his nose bitten off by a Saigon whore. Making it one of his funniest characters ever.

The movie itself did horrible in the box office and critics gave it terrible reviews, but it lives on as a massively underrated cult classic beloved by many.

Norm went on to have multiple sitcoms, and appeared in a variety of other movies including many different Sandler films. His brief cameos and appearances were always the highlight of any movie.

“I have to go uh, lift weights…What?”

Norm On Late Night

Even more memorable than his stand up and movies were his late night appearances on talk shows. He was so well known for stealing the show. Beloved by host like David Letterman and Conan O’Brien, he became famous for telling long exaggerated jokes as if they were tales from his daily life. One of the most infamous being his moth joke. Which he actually heard from Collin Quinn. Though he told it in a way that immortalized him forever.

“I’m not gay! I said I’m deeply closeted!”

His timing and ability to cheer people up were outstanding. When Conan lost the tonight show, Norm showed up on his final broadcast with a hilarious gag that not only cheered Conan up, but is a perfect example of his ability to come up with jokes that lightened the mood of any situation.

“What the H?!”

Somewhere along the line Norm transitioned from young edgy norm, to Old Chunk Of Coal Norm. He aged like a fine wine. His humor became more refined. It was beautiful to watch. Unfortunately we were all unaware of how sick he was during this time. One of his most famous moments that will often be brought up, is the Comedy Central roast of Bob Saget. During which, Norm can be seen reading the sports section of a newspaper, until he went up to the mic and preceded to read jokes out of a 1940’s joke book. People in the audience were so confused at first, until it became apparent that he was doing this as a joke for the other comedians. He was often referred to as the comics, comic. The roast edited it down to a few minutes, but everyone who was there that night talks about how he did this for at least 20 minutes. He was essentially bombing on purpose, doing the exact opposite of what they told him to do, but did what he would often do and kept running with it until it became funny and the entire audience was balling.

“Note to self…”

In 2011 he managed to get a show on comedy central called Sports Show With Norm Macdonald. Personally in my opinion some of his funniest work. It only ran for one season. It’s upsetting that it never got renewed because it was vastly superior to any of the other garbage that Comedy Central was pumping out. I’ll never understand why they up and cancelled it. What a shame.

“Wait, What?”

For a while he had an online show/podcast. Which he hosted along with the manager of The Comedy Store, Adam Eget, who Norm first discovered under the Queensboro bridge rendering his services for 15 dollars a pop. (That’s a running joke BTW) It is some of the funniest material you will ever get to see, because it was just comedians truly relaxed and in an environment where they could let loose in ways you usually don’t get to see. I really encourage you to go watch it all.

“I’d be afraid of falling under the spell of his beautiful eyes.”

In 2015, when David Letterman had his final show, Norm was chosen to be the final stand up comedian. A great honor and a rare moment of him showcasing his emotions. It will make you laugh and cry.

He was a gift to this world for a time such as this. I pray that his kind of comedy would inspire more people to push the boundaries of a culture that has since given up on its ability to think and speak freely. Hopefully it will inspire more people to fight back and be funny again. He was the last true pillar of comedy and will never be forgotten.

“Is it any coincidence that the rope store, and rickety stool store are right next to each other?”

Final Goodbyes

Now I could spend hours and hours just posting my favorite Norm Clips, but I have to draw the line somewhere. I really do hope if you’ve never really watched any of his stuff that these clips help get you started. Go on youtube, starting watching all of his stand up, his late night appearances, SNL and more. There’s a great youtube channel for this called I’m Not Norm. Go follow them. Oh and go read his book Based On a True Story. It’s hilarious.

If you are a fan of Norms, leave a comment below and let me know what you think his best moments were. I’d love to hear your favorite norm jokes.

And with that, I give my final goodbye. I really hope I get to see you at a live show in the afterlife. Until then, thank you for getting me through the hardest times of my life. You were a huge influence on me and will continue to be for the years to come.

God Bless,

Light Lux Collie