Final Norm MacDonald special [split topic]

[Old Nehamkin]

More info/confirmation on the upcoming Netflix special:

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/norm-macdonald-netflix-special-1235145692/

Norm Macdonald, who died last September at the age of 61, privately shot an unreleased one-hour stand-up special.

The acclaimed Saturday Night Live actor-comedian known for his deadpan delivery was diagnosed with cancer in 2012 but kept his illness private from the public. He was working on new material for a Netflix special when he had to go into the hospital in the summer of 2020.

"His test results were not good, so during the heart of COVID-19 pandemic and literally the night before going in for a procedure, he wanted to get this on tape just in case – as he put it – things went south," Lori Jo Hoekstra, Macdonald's long-time producing partner, tells The Hollywood Reporter. "It was his intention to have a special to share if something happened."

The result was a stand-up special shot in Macdonald's living room. The actor filmed the entire hour in a single take. "He looks great and it's fantastic," Hoekstra says.

As it turned out, Macdonald made it through the medical procedure just fine and the footage was literally tossed in a closet. But Macdonald became very ill a year later before his special could be properly filmed before an audience. "He ended up getting sicker last August and September and he remembered he had shot this and asked me to find it so he could watch it," Hoekstra says. "He ended up watching it before he passed away." Macdonald even suggested a title for the hour: Nothing Special.

Netflix will release the surprise program — Norm Macdonald: Nothing Special, on May 30.

The stand-up hour is likely a first in the world of comedy – a postmortem last joke and testament from a comic who relished defying contention. "From the various conversations I've had within our circle of friends in comedy and producing, no one has heard of any comparison to this [situation] — not even close," says Hoekstra, who in addition to Nothing Special also produced Macdonald's ABC sitcom Norm and his Netflix talk show Norm Macdonald Has a Show

The program will include clips of Adam Sandler, Conan O'Brien, Dave Chappelle, David Letterman, David Spade and Molly Shannon discussing Macdonald during the recent Netflix Is a Joke Fest.

"It makes me so happy that I can share it, but also so sad that we can't share it with him," Hoekstra says. "He didn't do this for the shock that it exists. He shot it because he loved his material and was so proud of his material. He worked so hard and it really would've bothered him to have done all that work and not been able to show everybody. He did it for the stand-up. I just hope people appreciate that he did this."

[up_the_hampipe]

Reminder: The new special will be on Netflix tomorrow. Excited and intrigued.

[Rich Uncle Skeleton]

ooo nice cheers for the reminder

[Mr Faineant]

I hope it's not a bit grim. It was filmed in his assistant's apartment, lit with a desk lamp, the night before he went in for a stem cell transplant.

Sounds like it might be a bit grim.

Poor Norm, the world is a less funny place without him. This year, it even seems humorless.

[lankyguy95]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/celebrity/norm-macdonald-had-one-last-secret/ar-AAXQEwZ

The rounds of chemotherapy in 2013 led to neuropathy that left him with constant pain in his feet, so bad that he described it as walking on shards of glass or through fire. It's why Macdonald, who loved to play tennis and golf, went through long bouts of inactivity. It's also why he wasn't always just being flaky when he bailed on social commitments.

Then there was his physical appearance. Just over 6 foot 1, with blue eyes and dimples, the 1990s Macdonald had leading man looks and briefly dated supermodel Elle Macpherson. But after his cancer diagnosis, he had to go on dexamethasone, a powerful steroid that caused his face to swell.

"He pretended, 'I'm a fat slob and I'm here eating fried chicken,' during his [YouTube talk show], but it was complete bulls---," says his brother, Neil, a journalist with the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. "He was doing it to come up with a reason for having put on weight."

In June 2020, Neil Macdonald had flown in from Canada to donate blood for his brother's transplant. At first, things went well. Macdonald seemed to gain weight and strength; he punched out a rough screenplay for a movie adaptation of his critically acclaimed, best-selling comic novel, "Based on a True Story: A Memoir." He began to book stand-up gigs. Then, in early 2021, doctors told him he needed another stem cell transplant. Neil donated again, and, in March 2021, Macdonald, checking in as always under his pseudonym, Stan Hooper, underwent the procedure.

He rented a place in Newport Beach and walked along the water. His health had plateaued, but there were hopeful days. He booked his normal run at Carolines on Broadway for November 2021. In June, he texted Gardner.

"Do you want to open for me for a private gig in Puerto Rico," he wrote. "Nov. 5, baby."

"Speaking of secretive," says comedian Colin Quinn, "he booked a gig with me in August to do some casinos and we texted each other. 'Hey, I can't wait to do the gig.' 'Yeah, me neither.' "

Quinn could never quite figure Macdonald out. But he knew he loved being around him.

"I would have loved to have just filmed him and just interviewed him and not about anything personal, because he didn't like that," says Quinn, who replaced Macdonald as "Weekend Update" anchor. "When you watch little segments with him, he's just one of those guys you want to hear talk."

In July, Macdonald went in for what would normally be an outpatient round of chemotherapy. But because of the pandemic, the doctors wanted him to stay overnight. That's when he somehow got an infection. He would not leave the City of Hope again, spending his last six weeks there.

He never talked of dying. He thought he would recover. Late in July, Macdonald did a voice-over for Seth MacFarlane's show "The Orville" while at the hospital — not that anybody on the other side knew. Hoekstra found a private room and turned off the beeping monitors and hospital intercom so that nobody could tell where he was Zooming from.

And a month before he died, Macdonald told Hoekstra he wanted to watch the special they had shot. So she raced home and searched through a box with about 50 unlabeled video memory cards, eventually finding the June 28 footage and hustling back to the hospital. Macdonald watched it from his bed and gave her notes.

No one else knew. It was left to Hoekstra, after Macdonald's death, to tell Gurvitz and Netflix. Everyone had the same initial concern: How does Norm look? Nobody wanted to see a gaunt cancer patient out of breath, trying to tell jokes. But that's not the Macdonald on "Nothing Special."

[Pdine]

This is available now...

[Twit 2]

Have to say, even though he was a dick to women (to what extent still not sure, though enough for it to be a shame), his stoicism and commitment to making people laugh through years and years of suffering is pretty admirable and something he deserves respect for.

[Mr Faineant]

he was a dick to women

The worst part about that is the hypocrisy.

[Mr Faineant]

Not sure what to make of this. I'm both happy to have it but sad that it exists in this format.

It's a shame that it is filmed on an iPad, 6 inches from his face, and he makes the mistake of looking at the screen rather than the camera.

He must have been gutted that covid fucked up his plan for this, at such a precarious time in his life.

While watching this it's impossible not to be acutely aware of the upsetting conditions surrounding it...it exists in this unprofessional form for one reason only, this was not an artistic choice. His delivery doesn't work like this either...this needs an audience.

[mr. logic]

Not sure I will be able to watch this. I still miss him.

[thelittlemango]

Reading that article and knowing all the pain he was in it makes me feel bad for the frustration I felt everytime I saw him slurring his words on podcasts or appearances. I had assumed he had some kind of reliance on prescription drugs, either through addiction or from anxiety and it made me sad that the person with the twinkle in his eye and vibrant personality was now in thrall to this and couldn't shake it. Knowing that a lot of this would be down to the pain from his cancer and that he was ploughing on in the name of enjoying making people (and himself) laugh is quite heartbreaking.

[Twit 2]

Yeah absolutely. Also thought he had a prescription drug problem (although still fine cos I totally understand the need to self-medicate). It all made sense when the info came out.

[Twit 2]

This doesn't work at all. Shit. He can do monologues in chat show form and this material with an audience, but him just talking at the screen and pretending it's stand-up with an audience is a futile conceit.

[up_the_hampipe]

The format is a really rough sell, but I thought there were bits that worked. I did laugh a few times. Through sheer tyranny of will, he made it work.

The discussion at the end was lovely. It was fascinating to see that group of people interact, first of all, and I feel like they mostly did Norm justice where others have completely misunderstood him. As disappointing as Chappelle has been in recent years, he's still can be intelligent and perceptive (which only adds to the disappointment, if anything), and it was nice to hear his insight, especially the story about working with Norm on 'Screwed'.

[darby o chill]

Re: Stan Hooper
All the episodes of 'A minute with.. ' are on an unlisted Youtube playlist. Not his finest work but worth a look if you're a Norm fiend.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvNMXpv92E5D8YCEUdywB7Wmjd6OZAssm

[Old Nehamkin]

The format is a really rough sell, but I thought there were bits that worked. I did laugh a few times. Through sheer tyranny of will, he made it work.

I feel about the same. I was a bit unsure about the whole thing at the start and it felt like it took Norm some time to really warm up and get his bearings, but I do think he managed to doggedly outshine the limitations of the set-up. A few big laughs for me and some nice additions to the canon. I'm glad this material found an outlet.

This had a similar vibe to those "Quarantined" videos he was putting out at the start of lockdown - scrappy, super low-tech and slightly awkward but also intimate and endearing. There's something so naturally generous and empathetic in the way he performs that even in this incredibly restrictive format his classic twinkle-eyed complicity with the audience was still just about able to reach through.

[gotmilk]

I did not enjoy the new special - the material was thin, and his delivery was slightly feeble and accompanied by somewhat desperate wide-eyed expressions. I did find it very moving however, and it got me thinking about the trajectory of Norm's later career. I feel as though he got a real second wind around 2011, with the first 2 seasons of the podcast, his talk show appearances (Oscar Pistorius, Real Battle-axe etc), and random things like that YouTube premiere event being the highlights. For my money, this period contains the best material of his career, and I would say it culminated around 2016 with his book and the promotional tour surrounding it.

I think things started to turn around that point, with season 3 of his podcast (not counting the great Stephen Merchant and decent Bill Hader episodes which debuted a year earlier) featuring a much shakier and inconsistent interviewing style from Norm, with his moments of brilliance being a bit fewer and farther between. His Netflix standup set was full of good material, but his delivery was a little weaker than expected. Talk show appearances were sometimes a bit disappointing from this point, and the Netflix version of his show wound up being a pale imitation of the original setup, and was unfortunately overshadowed by some controversial interview statements at the time.

Looking back, I think that Norm was determined to do his greatest work following his cancer diagnosis, and for five years he succeeded. The next five years represented something of an inevitable decline, but it was still punctuated by these flashes of greatness. He was one of the funniest people of all time, and he was committed to entertaining people until the end.

[Mr Faineant]

somewhat desperate wide-eyed expressions.

Yeah, that and the little nods. I guess this was just what he did on stage, but it doesn't work at all when you know there is no audience to direct it to. It's a more subtle version of crowd work, but with no crowd. Maybe he was aiming them at the interrupting dog.

I hate to say this, because Norm is my absolute favorite, but this felt a bit like a make a wish thing. After all of Norm's great work, this feels like an ending that has not done him justice.

[Pdine]

I ended up listening to it while travelling and felt it worked well audio only.

[thelittlemango]

Did anyone notice the sad callback in this to his 2011 Comedy Central set where he was saying his uncle was battling cancer by watching Matlock & using a Temper Pedic pillow?

[PlanktonSideburns]

Should have called his penultimate special

This isn't even my final norm

[Video Game Fan 2000]

 whatever I read about this makes me not want to see it

[Smeraldina Rima]

somewhat desperate wide-eyed expressions

This and Conan O'Brien commenting about his eyes reminded me of when he talked about Bob Hope being his favourite stand-up on the podcast. He didn't finish his sentence so it's difficult to tell if he was going to say he always wanted to do something similar with his eyes or to emulate Hope in general:

"Between the jokes - that you know Carson would do a savour/saver (?) or something - but Bob Hope would do a great thing where he'd do the joke, stare in the camera and there'd be fear in his eyes as if he'd been found out or something. I remember as a child like really always wanting..."

I guess Carson doing a savour is savouring the joke by licking or wiping a finger across his lips.

Before Macdonald's death, Steve O'Donnell mentioned in a podcast that they had recorded a lot of unused sketches for Norm Macdonald Live which he thought were good and hoped would be put out somewhere one day. I was wondering if any of them would be included with this or in another show released at the same time. It seems more unlikely that they would be shown on Netflix now. Not expecting them to be fantastic, but like this special I'd like to see them.

[Mr Faineant]

Did anyone notice the sad callback in this to his 2011 Comedy Central set where he was saying his uncle was battling cancer by watching Matlock & using a Temper Pedic pillow?

Oh man, that's really sad. Good catch.

[Oh, Nobody]

A saver is when you get a laugh back from a joke that flops- "Ladies and Gentlemen, the writer of that joke has just been shot" that kinda thing.

There's a Frasier episode where Martin Crane talks about Carson being the master of the saver (he may not use that term)

[Smeraldina Rima]

A saver is when you get a laugh back from a joke that flops- "Ladies and Gentlemen, the writer of that joke has just been shot" that kinda thing.

There's a Frasier episode where Martin Crane talks about Carson being the master of the saver (he may not use that term)

Ah, thanks.

[Rolf Lundgren]

There's a Frasier episode where Martin Crane talks about Carson being the master of the saver (he may not use that term)

Hmmm Bomb-o!

[Cold Meat Platter]

Normie, Normie, Normie...

[JoeyJoeJoeJnrShabadoo]

Of all the urgent comedic offerings prioritised by cherished legends while staring imminent death in the face, this was certainly one.  Oh, the only one, innit??

Ye gods, what do some people want??  This is a man who believed he was facing imminent demise yet wanted to leave something in his possible wake.  It wasn't stand-up.  It couldn't be.  It wasn't a sitcom because, ah who cares?  It was a man anticipating that he might not exist shortly after he would bother to make time to leave something for us to enjoy.

We know he was amazing (though not without flaw).  Those nerdy enough amongst us will already be familiar with most of the material and have heard it in more natural, fitting, and flattering forums.  (Yes, of course I am aware that the plural of forum is forerr.)  So what?  This is a man who believed he was dying.  And so committed to the premise was he that he shortly went and did.  Yet beforehand he determined to leave us with something as an imperative, critical, last hurrah.  That is fucking extraordinary.  In a class of 1.  Take what joy and pleasure you will and can from it and beyond that find something better to do with your thinking than take even the slightest suggestion of a critical thought towards something so incredible and unique.

I wanted to laugh my arse off at something fresh and unknown. I didn't.  I found bits amusing.  And cherished the remarkable rest.  For big laughs I can seek out the vast body of extraordinary work he produced while he wasn't (so acutely) aware that he might have only moments to produce it before he bombed.

I'm sure much of any criticism is borne of disappointment and frustration given the pleasure we've had and the hope that this might have been a last offering of fresh belly-laughs.  It wasn't.  The bloke was dying.  He had a bit on his mind and some unforgiving circumstances.  Save any criticism for the pestery.  (Now THAT is disappointing...)

Goodbye Norman Gene.

[mr. logic]

This was a very difficult watch. I read the Guardian review which said that it ends on a fizzled out and punchline absent tribute to his mam. Which I didn't understand, as there's a quite obvious punchline there. Possibly the strongest one of the entire thing.

Cried my eyes out during the entire thing.