”Norm Macdonald Has a Show” launching September 14, 2018 on Netflix

Yeah lots of untapped comedy from the Third Reich.

The thing is, when he's aware of restrictions he doubles down instead of backing off, so how long this will last I don't have too much confidence.

 

"That Hitler guy? I mean, what a jerk!"

 

Glad Adam Eget won't have to go back to je****g - off punks under the bridge!

 

Better than Ezra.

 

Have you seen the Nixon impression with Seinfeld? I find it incredibly funny and I have no idea why, like it's another level of subtle I'm not smart enough for. Nobody makes that funny but Macdonald.

 

Yes, I have. The few impressions he does, he's surprisingly good at.

 

Norm Macdonald On New Show, Burt Reynolds, Dirty Work 2? And Louis C.K.

 

Interview with Norm Macdonald | The Hollywood Reporter

 

His appearance on Jimmy Fallon tonight was canceled because of his controversial interview https://news.avclub.com/the-tonight...ok&utm_campaign=SF&utm_medium=SocialMarketing

 

Good lord. The "pearl clutching" is officially off the rails.

 

Great news.

 

When I think of Twitter, and I try hard not to, I imagine 6 year-old Billy Mumy in the The Twilight Zone episode "It's a Good Life".

Only in 2018 it's not a TV show. It's reality. The price of entry is free, you don't need any credentials or bona fides just simply express whatever outrage your little heart desires at what someone says or thinks and that person is effectively done.

And like so many bad ideas, the dialed up outrage tends to highly contagious.

This is Twitter, writ large –

 

Why? Because you disagree? Don't like somebody or their stances on something? Just don't watch that episode.

Or is it yet another instance of wanting to see somebody go down in flames? Something which I don't ascribed to nor understand.

 

One of the very best thorough articles I've ever read. It covers a whole year's history of petty things people got outraged about en masse via social media.

2014: The Year of Outrage

It's a loooong read, especially if one looks through the 365 outrages but boy, does it shine a light on one of the worst qualities of our specie ; mob mentality. Couple that with the anonymous nature of the Internet and you have what we see now.

 

Who knew that publicly defending an admitted sexual predator and an obvious racist would create backlash?

 

I think what Norm was getting at with CK is that did the punishment fit the crime? Are there not degrees of lecherous behavior? I mean, his behavior didn't involve an a physical assault. It most certainly was not acceptable, but, did he deserve to lose his career overnight? Is he no longer allowed to work? I'm sure some would say "YES!" but I just cannot deal in those kinds of absolutes.

And with Roseanne, I think Norm is coming from the angle of having known this person privately for many, many years. He's saying 'that's not the person I know', in essence. Not saying I agree or disagree, but I think that's all he was getting at.

 

I won't say much about Norm's controversial (and unfortunate) comments, but this deep dive piece by the NYT published last week is seriously fascinating.
Norm Macdonald, Still in Search of the Perfect Joke

dan c

 

He really is one of the finest comedians working. His wit is impeccable. I really do marvel at his comic ability. I hate to make it sound like he's "precious" because he's not; he's got an earnestness about him works with his mostly sheepish delivery. It's a powerful combination.

 

I always liked MacDonald on SNL. The compilations online of his deadpan, relentless teardowns of OJ Simpson and Michael Jackson back in the 90s were entertaining and appropriately biting.

But this latest interview indicates one of two things: He's either being purposely super obtuse about pretty much everything, or he's really genuinely out of touch and really a markedly unintelligent person with zero interest in even a modicum of intellectual thought.

Considering his deftness with his style of humor, which I often have enjoyed in the past, I don't lean heavily on the latter explanation. Which leaves a purposeful and fake level of being obtuse, which I would guess is meant to mask that he just holds certain views (politically, socially, etc.), and (ironically considering this latest backlash) usually recognizes that he's going to catch grief for some of those views, and thus tries to simply remove any social/political/societal issues from his comedy and even his interviews.

Some of his thoughts in this recent interview about celebrities dealing with misdeeds/scandals were insightful, especially his point about how contrition and owning up to everything doesn't allow celebrities to be given a "second chance" anymore, and this leads to them just denying everything up and down. MacDonald acknowledges just denying everything all the time is unhealthy.

But most everything else indicates he's living in a bubble and should rightly be taken to task for having zero motivation/interest in engaging in any deep thought or introspection. There's something in between, say, Jimmy Fallon and Bill Maher. One can get into their personal/social/political beliefs a bit without letting it rule their comedy (or whatever it is they're doing).

And objectively, if someone gives an interview that essentially asserts literally that Louis CK and Roseanne have it worse than their "victims" (let's remember both Louis CK and Roseanne are still wealthy and can live a full, luxurious life and could even continue to do their comedy and sell it themselves, etc.), that's a bad move and deserving of scorn.

It's telling that MacDonalds has apologized rather than doubled down on his assertions. To be honest, and again I like his work in the past, I don't believe his apology. I'd rather he just state plainly what he believes and deal with the result.

 

Norm was on The Howard Stern Show this morning..here's the interview.

 

That seems like an appropriate venue for his thoughts

 

For those who would like to read the interview for themselves: Norm Macdonald Won’t Go Pundit on His Netflix Talk Show

 

And sometimes he says stupid stuff.

 

Yep... like pretty much everybody in the world. But he's known and people online are generally out to get somebody at all times of the day and night so the consequences are what they are.

 

I think Fallon/The Tonight Show was gutless by canceling Norm's appearance. They should have had him on and asked him about the controversy, and if the audience wants to boo him off the stage, so be it.