Fans, fellow comedians, and Frank Stallone react to the death of Norm Macdonald
Colleagues and admirers are sharing their love for Norm Macdonald through personal stories and their favorite jokes
TV Features Norm Macdonald
Today, following a nearly decade-long private battle with cancer, beloved comedian Norm Macdonald died. And we say “beloved” because that’s exactly what he was: Macdonald wasn’t the sort of stand-up who people liked, he was the sort of stand-up (and talk show guest) who people loved. People were in awe of him, whether it was because of his timing or his cleverness, even as those same traits had a habit of pushing people—and a high-profile job at Saturday Night Live—away. Part of what drew people to Norm Macdonald was that being on his wavelength felt special, like you were seeing things in a different way from everyone else, and Macdonald used that to build a career on being funny in a way that nobody else was. It’s hardly a surprise, then, that a number of people took to social media to express their appreciation for Macdonald with specific stories about what he meant to them.
Writer Brent Piaskoski has a story about seeing a then-up-and-coming Macdonald in Toronto that ends with the comedian refusing to stop saying the word “sack” just to annoy some hecklers:
Will Sloan also has fond memories of a night when Macdonald wouldn’t stop doing jokes about death, leading to an elaborate, on-the-spot gag about how he’d hang himself:
Seth Rogen noted that he consciously ripped off Norm Macdonald’s famous deadpan delivery when he first started acting, which says a lot about Macdonald’s “beloved” status given how little patience the general entertainment industry (unjustly) seemed to have for the real Macdonald:
Gravity Falls creator Alex Hirsch is compiling obscure Norm Macdonald clips, starting with a sequence from ABC’s The Norm Show in which Macdonald gets involved in a Pokémon battle that—regardless of any context—is absolutely wild. Comedy Bang Bang host Scott Aukerman has a very funny story about Macdonald shrugging off the end of a comedy set on his Instagram. Dan Ryckert, a video game streamer (among many other things) and noted Norm Macdonald fan, has also assembled his favorite memories, including the many times he met Macdonald and his love for the complete collapse of the comedian’s relationship with a sponsor on Norm Macdonald Live.
Former A.V. Club editor (but lifetime A.V. Club member, if that’s an honor we can bestow) Sean O’Neal shared a few pages from Macdonald’s gleefully fabricated memoir that “would make for a fine eulogy” (he’s not wrong, they’re very touching) and added a funny anecdote about not getting to interview Macdonald once. Questlove, over on his Twitter, went deep on one of Norm Macdonald’s most brilliant performances: his knowingly hacky routine at Comedy Central’s Roast Of Bob Saget. Questlove compares it to a “daredevil stunt.”
A couple of Norm Macdonald’s favorite punchlines also joined in on celebrating the brilliant comedian, with Bob Dole—who Macdonald played on SNL—tweeting a photo of the two of them together and saying, as a nod to Macdonald’s impression, “*Bob Dole* will miss Norm Macdonald.” But there’s one longtime but of Macdonald’s joke who deserves a special acknowledgement: You guessed it… Frank Stallone. On Instagram, Stallone expressed his sadness that he never got to do SNL with Macdonald, saying the comedian was “an original and very funny.”
51 Comments
RIP to a comedy legend, of course–but I find it very interesting and a little funny how Questlove has become, like, the one guy who always has something to say every time a celebrity dies.
I mean, working on the top celebrity grist mill for the last decade, all he has to do is just hang around and pay attention.
He’s spent so much time watching people be funnier than Jimmy Fallon that he can really appreciate the different ways that they’re funnier than Jimmy Fallon.
Never occurred to me before, but Seth Rogen’s delivery in Freaks and Geeks as a steal from Norm MacDonald definitely checks out.
It completely checks out, considering how goofy he is in every other situation.
I remember that it read a bit as intimidating, which worked for the character
The fact that he has somehow outlived Macdonald and is tweeting about is sort of the absurdity that the latter probably would have appreciated. Those were great skits.
If I’d been asked I would’ve said that surely Dole died at least 10, maybe 15 years ago.
Bob Dole doesn’t need this!
Let’s tear those aliens a third corn-shute!
Essentially unrecognizable but still with us for the moment.
Behold the ravages of age. Yikes.
“Is that your dad’s suit, young man?”
It’s interesting that the right hand side of his face still looks like him (at 98), but the left side of his face, which is the side of his body that sustained more lasting damage in WW2-including having basically no shoulder, has withered much more.
That’s the worst Dick Tracy character I ever seen! “Old Face”
You’re sure that’s not Kenneth Anger?
I would’ve taken Bob Dole in a second over TFG.
Dole endorsed him, I think…
He did, and not begrudgingly either, he was all in. This is the guy that was screaming about Bill Clinton’s character for all those years. Remember those folks? The ones that said the good economy didn’t matter, character alone is the most important quality of a president, well, if their was any doubt that they were lying at the time, there sure isn’t now. Some meant it, like George Will, he’s putting his money where his mouth was, but definitely not Bob Dole.
I guess I would have too, but he was a pretty enthusiastic Trump supporter. Well, as enthusiastic as he could be at his age, he co-signed pretty much everything. He doesn’t endorse the big lie, so there’s that I guess.
I try to give people credit for having principles within their ideological belief system, with support of Trump being the endpoint of that empathy. I would have thought of Dole as one of the quintessential guys I kind of respect despite totally disagreeing with them, but I guess not. Hard to be in your 90s maybe? I probably shouldn’t stretch that much.
Politics aside, Bob Dole is one tough MF.RIP Norm.
What kind of world do we live in where Norm Macdonald is dead and Bob Dole is still alive?
The one where TFG will outlive us all.
Who is TFG?
They probably mean the former guy, 45.
Its a way of avoiding saying the last POTUS’ name.The Former Guy
Oh wow, thanks for the clarification. I always thought it was:That Fucking Guy
I’m glad someone asked lol…
The same world that OJ Simpson is still alive? That kind of a world.
Nope. Fuck Frank Stallone and his fake ass.
Technically he is talking about people other than Norm using the joke, so… maybe?
“and was never funny” seems to indicate that, technically, he was talking about the joke itself.
Nah, fuck Frank Stallone though.
Yeah, It probably gets old when everyone in the world does it.
I’m waiting for a “Surprise, it’s me, Bob!” hoax reveal myself, but I know it’s not going to come.
Man, that might be my favorite stand-up bit by anyone, ever.
I think that was the first one of his sets that I ever saw. “Oh! Bob! You made me chop up my family and put them in a garbage bag! You got me again! (makes a tally mark in the air) Another one for you, Bob.”
The fascinating thing about watching Macdonald is that he was one of the few comedians I can recall who never seemed to care about making the audience laugh. There’s the old saw about comedians having a pathological need to make people laugh, but Macdonald always seemed like he was trying to make himself laugh, and the audience was mostly along for the ride. I can’t deny that I sometimes found it a little off-putting, but it says something about his talent and craft that he could have such a great career in comedy while taking that approach.
I’m guessing that Alan Dershowitz won’t have praise for Norm’s jokes (MacDonald had an extended bit on Weekend Update about how Dersh was the ugliest man alive)
Given Dersh’s gentle fondling of the Trump balls over the past five years, fuck him to death anyway.
I had wondered if Norm was still as known in recent years beyond the clips that are cycled around everywhere, so I was pleased to see all the many responses out there, from people who knew him well to those who just loved his comedy. I was surprised even Bob Dole’s people took the time to tweet over something that had probably left collective thought over 20 years ago, brilliant and timeless as many of those sketches are. Norm was a comedy genius – sometimes he just seemed to be mentioned for the eternal, tedious woke/PC/SNL sucks now discourse, but he was a lot more than that. A brilliant writer, performer and impressionist. His work was one of the last times SNL, or most network television, felt fearless and unpredictable. I’m glad that is how he was remembered, instead of one more pointless controversy.
No tweets from David Hasselhoff yet?
Germans love David Hasselhoff!
Anytime the subject of The Wall comes up, that’s the first thing that pops into my head. With the delivery and everything. Anyone under Gen X age has no idea what I’m talking about.
Things Germans Like:
– Good-natured folk dancing
– David Hasselhoff
…or so the Germans would have us believe.
My favorite O.J. Simpson joke from Weekend Update:“F. Lee Bailey said this week that if the defense only knew what Ron Goldman’s last words were, they might beable to find the real killer. You know, if you ask me, Goldman’s last words were probably, “Hey, you’re O. J. Simpson!””
That’s why I don’t gamble. Between Artie Lang and Norm Macdonald? I would have lost a whole bunch of money.
I bought Norm’s book based on Sean’s review. His assessment was not wrong. Brilliant. This seems as good of a place to note that I still miss Sean O’Neal.
Right. You guys accept his apology now. Fuckers.
https://www.avclub.com/norm-macdonald-apologizes-for-yesterdays-comments-mana-1829011801