Final Norm MacDonald special [split topic]

[Ted-Maul]

I watched this on the evening of my birthday and after having drank a bottle of wine, i told myself i would enjoy Norm's last show as a happy celebration of his career/life and that there would be nothing to get upset about. Lasted about ten seconds before i welled up - the idea of getting paid with just one big chip (no, not THAT big chip) because, ultimately, we can't go against our own natures... or Nature itself... the futility of it all...

But I cried laughing at the doctor/hammer/hypochondria part which i havent done in years. Maybe that's all that matters about this.

[Rolf Lundgren]

Watched 10 minutes then skipped through to the discussion to watch the rest later. Letterman's right when he says it's not really stand-up but more like an enjoyable audio book. I would have liked to seen have more of their discussion, perhaps with somebody chairing it as it felt a little aimless at times. It is a remarkable accomplishment though and a fitting way for Norm to go out with jokes on his mind right up until the end.

[lankyguy95]

He did all of that material as stand-up over the years so I think I'd heard pretty much everything before on various bootlegs. Really enjoyed it though. The cadence differs a bit between the forms but he still attacks some of the punchlines the same.

Mainly I just enjoyed seeing him one last time, and to watch something new with the knowledge of what he's going through as he's doing it. Would have liked to see Lori Jo Hoekstra but she plainly has no interest in taking anything but a background role in his legacy.

[up_the_hampipe]

He did all of that material as stand-up over the years so I think I'd heard pretty much everything before on various bootlegs.

I wish someone had told him that, as he only made this special so he could get the material out there. There's so many of his performances available on YouTube in the form they can be best appreciated. I guess comics don't like the bootleg game though.

[rude soil]

I wish someone had told him that, as he only made this special so he could get the material out there.

It leaves his son some Netflix money he hasn't gambled away.

[Old Nehamkin]

I dunno, I think it makes sense that having curated and assembled this set for the proper live special that was planned, Norm would want to get it put on record in its complete form rather than having the material just floating around in bits and pieces via bootlegs. I know the set doesn't have much of an explicit through-line or anything, but I think that the structure and flow of the whole thing was probably something that he took a lot of care to work out.

[Mr Faineant]

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.

I didn't see that review, but I agree with you.

In the discussion afterwards someone mentioned that he wanted us to know how much he loved his mum, too. Maybe, but in my opinion all that was simply to be as distracting as possible for a better landing of the punchline, and it worked. I knew it was coming, I've seen enough Norm to know his tricks, but it still worked on me.

Not to imply that I think he doesn't love his mum, but rather that Norm doesn't strike me as someone who would trade sentimentality for comedy in the last words of his career.

[The Ombudsman]

I watched this a few days ago. I'm not sure what could have made this any better. Given the constraints of the situation, I think he did a good job and I can't think of many other comedians out there who's first thought when being told they were going in for an emergency op the next day would be to get material down purely for the fans. I know Dave Chappelle has gone all wonky of late but I can only think of him doing something similar.

To me, this was a thank you to the fans and nothing else. Maybe one of the after crew said the same thing, it's all a bit of a teary blur.

The after commentary was a bit aimless however I'm not sure having a chair would have been appropriate for that sort of moment, even though Letterman sort of took on that role. You can tell they were all fairly devastated and didn't want to perform as such, just talk about their friend.

I did wonder why Adam Eget wasn't there, perhaps it would have been to hard going, which I totally understand. I thought he was excellent with Norm on podcast thing they did and would have been interesting to hear his thoughts on the matter. He was the perfect stooge for Norm in so many ways.

 

[mr. logic]

I watched this a few days ago. I'm not sure what could have made this any better. Given the constraints of the situation, I think he did a good job and I can't think of many other comedians out there who's first thought when being told they were going in for an emergency op the next day would be to get material down purely for the fans. I know Dave Chappelle has gone all wonky of late but I can only think of him doing something similar.

To me, this was a thank you to the fans and nothing else. Maybe one of the after crew said the same thing, it's all a bit of a teary blur.

The after commentary was a bit aimless however I'm not sure having a chair would have been appropriate for that sort of moment, even though Letterman sort of took on that role. You can tell they were all fairly devastated and didn't want to perform as such, just talk about their friend.

I did wonder why Adam Eget wasn't there, perhaps it would have been to hard going, which I totally understand. I thought he was excellent with Norm on podcast thing they did and would have been interesting to hear his thoughts on the matter. He was the perfect stooge for Norm in so many ways.

 

Not convinced the after show discussion- as patchy as it was- would have been improved by an impassioned and sustained bout of holocaust denial.

[The Ombudsman]

Not convinced the after show discussion- as patchy as it was- would have been improved by an impassioned and sustained bout of holocaust denial.

He could have asked everyone where they thought Norm got his ideas from.

[Cold Meat Platter]

"This guy says your face looks like a cunt."

[shoulders]

The worst part about that is the hypocrisy.

He was also a dick in women ahaha

[wrec]

Took me a while to acclimatise to the presentation but eventually forgot about that and got caught up in the material. A "fans only" thing really but glad to have gotten to see it.

[Mr Faineant]

Look how quickly this turned into the Norm Reddit thread.

All joking aside, I assume Eget wasn't invited because Spade still owes him $15 for services rendered.

[The Ombudsman]

That Queensboro bridge sounds a hoot.

[clemfandango]

I think this bootleg is the best way to enjoy the last special's material. How it should be heard with a crowd, timed naturally to the laughing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0qYRojVpdw