R.I.P. Norm MacDonald

[Sabin]

This one is very sad for me. Just yesterday, I was watching some of old clips of him yesterday. Apparently, he was battling cancer privately for the last decade.

At the time, nobody considered the mid-to-late 1990s a high-water mark of the series but in retrospect that five year chapter was instrumental in the she's revitalization. Lorne Michaels had previously relied heavily on stand-up comics but it was during this five year window that he shifted his hiring to improv stars who could elevate a sketch that laid the groundwork for what the show would become, which is to say generally beloved. It was also my era.

And it during this window that Norm MacDonald was the Update Host. ​A good way of describing his style would be "prankish." His punchlines were often desperately inappropriate, which appealed to my sensibilities at the time. It's been said that there's nothing cooler in comedy than not caring. NOBODY in SNL history cared less what anyone thought that Norm MacDonald. I don't think that's a controversial statement. It didn't even feel like he was the Update host. It was more like he took the audience hostage for ten minutes a week.

He gave off the impression of someone who didn't know how to be a normal person but really cared about making jokes.

The best example of his comedy can be found in this remarkable Conan O'Brien interview with poor Courtney Thorne-Smith where Norm MacDonald (from one chair away) voiced his disbelief that she left Melrose Place to do a movie with Carrot Top.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqhrPa_7LV

For me as a high schooler? Hilarious stuff.

He was a true rarity. I think the reason why he never came across as a bully was because he was always laughing at the absurdity of whatever person or institution he was mocking.

When he was fired, it was shocking. He was allegedly fired from Saturday Night Live for making constant jokes about O.J. Simpson being a murderer. Like, years after the trial. NBC President Don Ohlmeyer was a close friend of O.J. Simpson but claimed it was because he never thought O.J. Simpson was funny.

For a few years, Norm MacDonald had a brief run of it in sitcoms and movies. None of them were that successful. He ended up returning to host SNL in 1999 giving an incredible monologue:

"I was fired for not being funny and now they're asking me to come back to host. Which means one of two things: either I've gotten funnier or the show has gotten worse. And I promise you, I have not gotten funnier. So, stick around, the show's, y'know..."

For the last twenty years, it never seemed like he had much to do. He had a couple of sitcoms, a couple of talk shows... Nothing seemed to last. He would just show up on talk shows or comedy roasts and just do the most unexpected things, bordering on performance art like Andy Kaufman. He started doing terrible jokes on Conan O'Brien that would last five minutes only to arrive at meaningless punchlines. He also became something of a folk hero of comedy. He would go on Twitter and give these remarkable backstage accounts of Saturday Night Live anniversary specials that were so genuine and sweet, like how Eddie Murphy refused to do a Bill Cosby impersonation during the anniversary special. He became more emotional. During David Letterman's last show, Norm did standup and, in tears, told him that he loved him. Everybody who worked with Norm MacDonald seemed to love telling stories about what a cosmic weirdo he was.

Norm MacDonald occupies a very special place in my heart. I'm very sad to see him pass away.