Norm Macdonald: Nothing Special

Norms not the greatest stand up ever......Howeverhe is a top 20, He is however the best panel guest ever and his norm macdonald live show was the best ever......Norm's full comedic body of (Especially his book) work solidifies him as one of the most prolific and greatest comedians ever, EVER.....This special was just average for him, Considering there is no Audience, You can kind of tell he's laboring at times, And knowing what we kno now, Some of the jokes make u sad rather than Laugh...........Watch this as a memorial for the GOAT and listen to Chappelle, Sandler, Conan, Molly Shannon Letterman and Spade tell stories about Norm and Regale the people with how brilliant Norm truly was.

There's no real way to organize this so I'm just gonna spitball a few things

Norm in my opinion was always at his best when he was in a room with people who hate his guts. Many of these jokes were edgy enough to get him in trouble but not so edgy that it's hateful. I wish she had the time to perform the set live because it would be incredible with half of the audience booing him.

Norm has always been the biggest clown in the room, but there's a brief moment where you see how serious he took his craft. About halfway through the special, one of his dogs starts barking for a moment. The character he creates would make you think that he would get distracted or make a mention about it, but for a brief moment he broke character. He was completely unfazed. For a few seconds we got to see that everything he's ever done on stage has been on purpose.

I laughed a lot. It also made me sad. There are some moments he talked about things like mortality where you realize he understands his time is limited.

Like I said I don't really have a format for this. I just know that I really enjoyed this and I will be watching it again.

I personally don't think this needed an audience or a stage. Presentation doesn't matter only the material. And in my opinion the material is fantastic and had us laughing really hard.

You know it's a bad sign when people say a comedy special made them cry. Yes, this is Norm MacDonald doing a show (sort of) but it's like when I saw George Carlin perform live at the Count Basie Theater in late 2007. Carlin walked on stage looking feeble with a few papers he had which he placed on a stool, I assumed he was using that as reference. The entire show felt like a rehearsal for doing the show live as the HBO special the following March.

Here, Norm MacDonald is basically practicing to do the show that would be the real special which he hoped to film. The timing is a little off. He has no audience to gauge the quality of one joke compared to another or bounce things off of and ad lib. Performers aren't born with the gift to be perfect every time they perform, it takes A LOT of preparation and hard work and this show is an example of that work and not Norm at his best during the real specials filmed

I feel like I have to make that point since Norm MacDonald was far more popular and nearly ubiquitous 25 to 30 years ago. He was seemingly everywhere and everyone seemed to be talking about him. A generation has grown up and another is growing up since then. If you are relatively uninitiated, this is not the place to start even if it is the one getting the most press.

All that said, it is nice seeing a hopeful Norm practicing his material and yes, it is poignant knowing he was doing this material while also facing such an ordeal like cancer. The value of work is it gives you a different focus and added purpose to keep fighting; otherwise you just rest and try not to think about being sick.

However, very few fully knew Norm and those likely closest to him, Letterman, Chappelle, Shannon, Spade, Shannon, Sandler, added greatly to the appeal of this very Special show. Mostly comedy with shades of tragedy, it is a Must See for his current and new fans. The discussion afterwards is as rewarding as the at home performance itself (see if you hear David Spade's slip of the tongue). Highly recommend this Special.