Norm Macdonald’s final comedy special is coming to Netflix

The late Norm Macdonald’s final comedy special, titled Nothing Special, will premiere on Netflix at the end of this month.

According to Netflix, as reported by Variety, Macdonald recorded the special in the summer of 2020 during the pandemic lockdown. Macdonald self-taped the hour-long set alone in his own living room, shooting it in a single take. The self-deprecating title was the late comedian’s own idea.

Macdonald died in September 2021 at the age of 61 after battling leukemia for nearly a decade. Lori Jo Hoekstra, Macdonald’s longtime producing partner, tells The Hollywood Reporter that Macdonald wanted to record one final special in the event he would become too sick to continue performing.

“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.”

“He looks great and the material’s fantastic,” Hoekstra adds.

In addition to the special, Netflix will also share footage from the memorial event held at Netflix Is A Joke Festival, where fellow comedians including Adam Sandler, Conan O’Brien, Dave Chappelle, David Letterman, David Spade, and Molly Shannon discussed Macdonald’s life and legacy.

Notably, the stand-up set will debut the day before the 2022 Emmy deadline on May 31. Nothing Special will be submitted by Netflix for consideration in the outstanding variety special (pre-recorded) category, meaning Macdonald may be in the running for a posthumous Emmy.

Nothing Special will be Macdonald’s second set for the streamer, following 2017's Hitler’s Dog, Gossip & Trickery. In 2018, he hosted a Netflix series simply titled Norm Macdonald Has a Show.