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RIP Norm MacDonald


Captain Caveman

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Norm was my favorite comedian.

I saw him do live standup several times, and he was always great.

He was definitely not everyone's cup of tea. At every show of his I attended, there would be a few walkouts. People who likely just knew him from SNL and then, upon seeing the type of comedy he did in his act, decided he wasn't for them. More than any other comedian I can think of, he had a very specific type of humor. If it resonated with you, it REALLY resonated. That was me. I feel that he had the most brilliant comedic mind I've ever seen. He worked on a completely different level. He was, thought its cliched, and for lack of a better term, "a comedian's comedian".

Great examples of Norm being Norm often came from his appearances on talk shows. There was "the moth joke" on Conan. There was the time he ruined Courtney Thorne Smith's interview back in the 90s, I think also from Conan. There was his statement "the perfect joke, to me, would be the punch line being the same as the setup", which was typified by his Weekend Update joke: "Julia Roberts divorced Lyle Lovett today. According to Julia, the turning point in the marriage came when she realized that she was Julia Roberts, and he was Lyle Lovett". There was his book "Based on a True Story: a Memoir", which was neither a true story NOR a memoir, but which pretended to be both. The publishing industry (unsurprisingly) seemed to miss the joke, and still continues to place his book in the "biography" category.

He also seemed like a kind and decent man. He once stated that he always tries to make time to talk to the homeless. Not only that, but he always tries to make physical contact with them in some way -- a handshake, a hand on the shoulder, something -- because no one ever touches them and people can go kind of crazy if they go too long without physical contact.

He made me laugh. A lot. I will miss his mind, his smile, and his jokes. So long, Norm.

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I was supposed to be giving a half-assed effort to read up on the California governor situation before voting.  Bleeeck!!!

 

Then, I read the sad news about Norm.

 

Then, my day went from bad to worse to bad again.

 

Then, I started rewatching some of Norm’s old performances.   Now, I am laughing again!

 

Thanks Norm!

 

Norm’s last Letterman performance:

 

 

 

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