1 00:00:06,715 --> 00:00:08,091 Okay, we're all set. 2 00:00:08,091 --> 00:00:10,344 1, 2, 3, look away! 3 00:00:10,344 --> 00:00:12,930 -Norm Macdonald! -Norm Macdonald. 4 00:00:12,930 --> 00:00:15,349 -I'm gonna throw up. -[Laughing] 5 00:00:15,349 --> 00:00:17,226 Norm Macdonald, everybody! 6 00:00:17,226 --> 00:00:19,519 [narrator] Norm Macdonald's blend of deadpan jokes 7 00:00:19,519 --> 00:00:21,772 and meandering humour earned him a spot 8 00:00:21,772 --> 00:00:23,315 with the comedy greats. 9 00:00:23,315 --> 00:00:25,567 Norm Macdonald was never not funny. 10 00:00:25,567 --> 00:00:27,569 He is truly the comic's comic. 11 00:00:27,569 --> 00:00:29,780 He was above the room. 12 00:00:29,780 --> 00:00:31,448 You know, I'm a very lazy guy, I just hang around 13 00:00:31,448 --> 00:00:33,700 on my coach and watch TV, that's all I do, you know? 14 00:00:33,700 --> 00:00:35,160 -[Laughing] -Lazy. 15 00:00:35,160 --> 00:00:36,203 I could get hit by a truck tomorrow, 16 00:00:36,203 --> 00:00:37,371 a big truck could hit me, 17 00:00:37,371 --> 00:00:39,414 paralyze me from the neck down... 18 00:00:39,414 --> 00:00:41,375 wouldn't affect my lifestyle a bit. 19 00:00:41,375 --> 00:00:44,795 Norm was sort of like a young old man. 20 00:00:44,795 --> 00:00:48,048 He has this everyday uncle, 21 00:00:48,048 --> 00:00:50,175 in the backyard, kind of a feel. 22 00:00:50,175 --> 00:00:53,929 Yeah, yeah, you know, this guy over here. 23 00:00:53,929 --> 00:00:55,222 Got too many teeth that's the problem. 24 00:00:55,222 --> 00:00:56,390 How many teeth do you need really, hey? 25 00:00:56,390 --> 00:00:57,516 Five? Six? 26 00:00:57,516 --> 00:01:00,686 He could say anything and it'll be funny. 27 00:01:00,686 --> 00:01:01,937 The only time you admit you look bad. 28 00:01:01,937 --> 00:01:03,021 You ever see a guy, no tooth up in 29 00:01:03,021 --> 00:01:05,107 the front there, he got no tooth... 30 00:01:05,107 --> 00:01:07,192 man, you look like a dork, boy. 31 00:01:07,192 --> 00:01:09,861 He was an SNL cast member throughout the 90s, 32 00:01:09,861 --> 00:01:12,489 pushing the limits of comedy as the anchor of 33 00:01:12,489 --> 00:01:14,992 the show's 'Weekend Update' segments. 34 00:01:14,992 --> 00:01:17,995 Thanks. I'm Norm Macdonald, and now the fake news. 35 00:01:17,995 --> 00:01:19,788 He really took big swings. 36 00:01:19,788 --> 00:01:22,708 You can't really take the culture of comedy to the 37 00:01:22,708 --> 00:01:24,751 next level if you're not taking those big swings, 38 00:01:24,751 --> 00:01:26,378 if you're not taking those big risks. 39 00:01:26,378 --> 00:01:29,506 It just seemed like he was whitewater rafting 40 00:01:29,506 --> 00:01:33,010 through his career and enjoying the... 41 00:01:33,010 --> 00:01:34,803 the turbulence. 42 00:01:34,803 --> 00:01:37,389 As Norm once said to me, "Gambling is the most 43 00:01:37,389 --> 00:01:39,057 interesting thing in the world." 44 00:01:39,057 --> 00:01:40,350 He had some troubles with gambling. 45 00:01:40,350 --> 00:01:42,811 He had a problem with gambling at times, I think. 46 00:01:42,811 --> 00:01:46,231 Uh... I've lost everything I own three times. 47 00:01:46,231 --> 00:01:49,901 His gambler's mentality is what made him 48 00:01:49,901 --> 00:01:52,821 such a risk-taking comedian. 49 00:01:52,821 --> 00:01:57,117 Norm Macdonald really did not want to be told 50 00:01:57,117 --> 00:01:58,744 what he could and couldn't do. 51 00:01:58,744 --> 00:02:00,620 Why would a comic who had everything 52 00:02:00,620 --> 00:02:04,666 risk losing it all, over and over again? 53 00:02:04,666 --> 00:02:07,669 He not only poked the bear, he was kicking the bear. 54 00:02:07,669 --> 00:02:10,756 That's a little scoop for the viewers. 55 00:02:10,756 --> 00:02:12,090 [Overlapping voices] Ladies and gentlemen! 56 00:02:12,090 --> 00:02:13,467 You are about to be entertained! 57 00:02:13,467 --> 00:02:15,761 Getting the laugh is the greatest addiction. 58 00:02:15,761 --> 00:02:16,928 They want more of it, they want more of it. 59 00:02:16,928 --> 00:02:19,181 She was getting death threats. It [beep] with your head! 60 00:02:19,181 --> 00:02:20,766 He's out of his skull! That's what took her down. 61 00:02:20,766 --> 00:02:23,101 This is a crazy story. 62 00:02:26,313 --> 00:02:28,648 -Burt Reynolds? -That's not my name. 63 00:02:28,648 --> 00:02:33,195 [Laughing] 64 00:02:33,195 --> 00:02:36,406 Okay, Turd Ferguson. 65 00:02:36,406 --> 00:02:39,326 [Laughing] 66 00:02:39,326 --> 00:02:40,827 Yeah, what do you want? 67 00:02:40,827 --> 00:02:42,537 [Laughing] 68 00:02:42,537 --> 00:02:44,206 He influenced comedy. 69 00:02:44,206 --> 00:02:46,041 I think he's one of those people where his influence 70 00:02:46,041 --> 00:02:48,710 in comedy can never really be overstated. 71 00:02:48,710 --> 00:02:53,048 Norm had a natural rhythm and a way of talking, 72 00:02:53,048 --> 00:02:57,469 and a way of thinking, like nobody else I ever hung with. 73 00:02:57,469 --> 00:02:59,346 'Cause I grew up on a farm. I had no running water. 74 00:02:59,346 --> 00:03:01,139 You had no running water, right? 75 00:03:01,139 --> 00:03:04,101 What did you think of an outhouse? 76 00:03:04,101 --> 00:03:06,061 'Cause that's what I remember as the worst thing 77 00:03:06,061 --> 00:03:07,229 about growing up on a farm. 78 00:03:07,229 --> 00:03:09,314 -Yeah, we had an outhouse. -Was the goddamn outhouse. 79 00:03:09,314 --> 00:03:12,651 It was the most terrifying place in the ----ing world. 80 00:03:12,651 --> 00:03:15,320 Norm Macdonald was born in 1959. 81 00:03:15,320 --> 00:03:18,782 The middle child of three brothers. 82 00:03:18,782 --> 00:03:20,409 Norm... 83 00:03:20,409 --> 00:03:22,828 well, like a lot of people, he absorbed television 84 00:03:22,828 --> 00:03:25,539 as a child, and the stuff that he saw as a kid 85 00:03:25,539 --> 00:03:28,333 was the stuff that had the greatest influence. 86 00:03:28,333 --> 00:03:31,336 This is the CBC television network. 87 00:03:31,336 --> 00:03:35,632 In Canada, in those days, there wasn't much television. 88 00:03:35,632 --> 00:03:37,259 'Hockey Night in Canada', 89 00:03:37,259 --> 00:03:39,511 the comedy team of Wayne and Shuster, 90 00:03:39,511 --> 00:03:42,431 which was the only comedy show on CBC 91 00:03:42,431 --> 00:03:44,266 for a generation. 92 00:03:44,266 --> 00:03:46,685 I'm Randy Dash, old friend of Norm's. 93 00:03:46,685 --> 00:03:49,604 Norm and I had a common interest 94 00:03:49,604 --> 00:03:52,190 we found right away was TV shows, 95 00:03:52,190 --> 00:03:55,026 especially classic retro stuff. 96 00:03:55,026 --> 00:04:00,240 Norm's father was almost a generation older than 97 00:04:00,240 --> 00:04:02,826 the fathers of his schoolmates. 98 00:04:02,826 --> 00:04:06,204 I understand that 'cause I have a father who is of the 99 00:04:06,204 --> 00:04:10,584 same generation, and it's a bit cold and standoffish, 100 00:04:10,584 --> 00:04:13,795 you don't display a lot of emotion and things. 101 00:04:13,795 --> 00:04:17,507 And from what I saw, that's sort of how Percy was. 102 00:04:17,507 --> 00:04:21,803 Norm was sort of like a young old man, or an old young man, 103 00:04:21,803 --> 00:04:25,348 you know, he had these elderly catchphrases and 104 00:04:25,348 --> 00:04:30,395 references and nuances, and certainly he 105 00:04:30,395 --> 00:04:32,439 acquired those from his father. 106 00:04:32,439 --> 00:04:37,569 Norm used his ease of, of creating 107 00:04:37,569 --> 00:04:43,825 comedy and levity to impress his father. 108 00:04:43,825 --> 00:04:47,204 He graduated from high school at the age of 14 in Ottawa 109 00:04:47,204 --> 00:04:50,081 and Norm went to Carlton University in Ottawa 110 00:04:50,081 --> 00:04:52,250 starting at the age of 16. 111 00:04:52,250 --> 00:04:56,379 So, in every capacity he's ahead of the class. 112 00:04:56,379 --> 00:05:01,927 Norm had just finished the year of journalism and quit. 113 00:05:01,927 --> 00:05:03,887 At loose ends after leaving college, 114 00:05:03,887 --> 00:05:06,932 Norm decides to take a shot at stand-up comedy. 115 00:05:06,932 --> 00:05:10,393 He told me that he was going to do 116 00:05:10,393 --> 00:05:14,648 amateur night open mic at Yuk Yuk's. 117 00:05:14,648 --> 00:05:18,235 He was really nervous, very nervous, 118 00:05:18,235 --> 00:05:20,779 even fidgety, couldn't focus. 119 00:05:20,779 --> 00:05:24,741 They had a giant sign right behind the comic, 120 00:05:24,741 --> 00:05:29,788 and Norm got up there and it was brilliant stuff. 121 00:05:29,788 --> 00:05:32,999 He started in Ottawa at our Ottawa Yuk Yuk's. 122 00:05:32,999 --> 00:05:34,584 We had an amateur night there, 123 00:05:34,584 --> 00:05:37,128 run by the manager, Howard Wagner. 124 00:05:37,128 --> 00:05:41,466 Norm went on, did his five minutes, and walked out. 125 00:05:41,466 --> 00:05:43,718 And as he walked out, he muttered under 126 00:05:43,718 --> 00:05:46,972 his breath to Howard, "Well, that's that. 127 00:05:46,972 --> 00:05:50,183 I'll never be doing that again. I bombed." 128 00:05:50,183 --> 00:05:52,811 So Howard ran after him into the street. 129 00:05:52,811 --> 00:05:54,938 He said, "You didn't bomb at all, and in fact, 130 00:05:54,938 --> 00:05:58,233 I want you back here every single amateur night 131 00:05:58,233 --> 00:06:02,279 until you are ready to do regular nights." 132 00:06:02,279 --> 00:06:04,489 Then sometime in the next year, 133 00:06:04,489 --> 00:06:07,242 he moved to Toronto full time. 134 00:06:07,242 --> 00:06:09,119 You ever get a present for your dog? 135 00:06:09,119 --> 00:06:11,162 My grandmother sent my dog a sweater. 136 00:06:11,162 --> 00:06:12,539 [Laughing] 137 00:06:12,539 --> 00:06:14,708 What a waste of wool that is there, boy... 138 00:06:14,708 --> 00:06:17,335 a sweater for a dog. 139 00:06:17,335 --> 00:06:18,837 I don't want to put it on the dog, 140 00:06:18,837 --> 00:06:21,923 just humiliates the dog, you know. 141 00:06:21,923 --> 00:06:24,092 What happens if the dog gets lost? 142 00:06:24,092 --> 00:06:25,594 He's wearing a sweater. 143 00:06:25,594 --> 00:06:28,305 [Laughing] 144 00:06:28,305 --> 00:06:29,806 How long is he gonna survive in the alleyways 145 00:06:29,806 --> 00:06:31,182 with that on, you know? 146 00:06:31,182 --> 00:06:34,894 [Laughing] 147 00:06:34,894 --> 00:06:36,896 Them's means streets if you're a wiener dog 148 00:06:36,896 --> 00:06:39,983 in a cardigan, you know. 149 00:06:39,983 --> 00:06:43,862 I met Norm Macdonald back in the 80s and 150 00:06:43,862 --> 00:06:45,989 he was performing at Yuk Yuk's in Toronto. 151 00:06:45,989 --> 00:06:47,157 He was sort of part of the whole group of 152 00:06:47,157 --> 00:06:49,618 young comedians that were kinda the... 153 00:06:49,618 --> 00:06:53,663 kinda the new, the new vanguard of comedy in Toronto. 154 00:06:53,663 --> 00:06:57,500 I'm Dave Foley, arguably a comedian. 155 00:06:57,500 --> 00:07:01,630 Norm, after they started hiring him locally, 156 00:07:01,630 --> 00:07:05,967 would then start to get billed in Montreal. 157 00:07:05,967 --> 00:07:09,387 In 1986, norm Macdonald gets the biggest break 158 00:07:09,387 --> 00:07:11,264 a young comedian can ask for. 159 00:07:11,264 --> 00:07:14,059 It's a stage that catapults the careers of many of 160 00:07:14,059 --> 00:07:15,685 the comedians of the day. 161 00:07:15,685 --> 00:07:18,188 Every agent and manager in comedy is at 162 00:07:18,188 --> 00:07:21,107 'Just for Laughs,' and there's a huge buzz 163 00:07:21,107 --> 00:07:22,817 around Norm Macdonald. 164 00:07:22,817 --> 00:07:27,781 I remember Norm getting sick back then. 165 00:07:27,781 --> 00:07:30,575 But before he can capitalize on the opportunity, 166 00:07:30,575 --> 00:07:33,578 Norm receives devastating news. 167 00:07:33,578 --> 00:07:35,372 He is very private, 168 00:07:35,372 --> 00:07:37,999 and he didn't speak much about it. 169 00:07:37,999 --> 00:07:40,794 He was in the hospital. 170 00:07:40,794 --> 00:07:44,798 Norm never talked about his physical stuff. 171 00:07:44,798 --> 00:07:48,802 In 1987, Norm was diagnosed with cancer, 172 00:07:48,802 --> 00:07:50,804 and I believe it was stomach cancer. 173 00:07:50,804 --> 00:07:53,390 And I think he told me because we were trying to 174 00:07:53,390 --> 00:07:55,350 book him and he kept saying, "I can't go. 175 00:07:55,350 --> 00:07:56,726 I can't go. I can't do it." 176 00:07:56,726 --> 00:07:58,186 And he told me why, 177 00:07:58,186 --> 00:08:00,146 and he asked me not to tell people. He said, 178 00:08:00,146 --> 00:08:02,607 "The only other person I told was Jeremy Hotz." 179 00:08:02,607 --> 00:08:06,361 Who was a comic out of, out of Ottawa. 180 00:08:06,361 --> 00:08:08,321 Well, at the time we thought, "Well, 181 00:08:08,321 --> 00:08:12,117 let's go visit him." So we went all the way out to 182 00:08:12,117 --> 00:08:15,370 some suburb that he was living in, in a high rise, 183 00:08:15,370 --> 00:08:19,499 and Norm came to the door, and he was in just a 184 00:08:19,499 --> 00:08:23,420 ratty bathrobe, and he had the complexion of concrete, 185 00:08:23,420 --> 00:08:28,258 and, you know, we, we spent the afternoon talking to him 186 00:08:28,258 --> 00:08:31,803 and stuff and trying to make him laugh. 187 00:08:31,803 --> 00:08:34,639 Then we took a cab back and Jeremy said to me, 188 00:08:34,639 --> 00:08:38,184 "He's gonna die, man. He's gonna die." 189 00:08:38,184 --> 00:08:39,644 And he didn't. 190 00:08:39,644 --> 00:08:41,521 Norm takes a break to recuperate, 191 00:08:41,521 --> 00:08:44,607 then a year later he returns to the stage. 192 00:08:44,607 --> 00:08:47,235 Norm was starting to get these gigs. 193 00:08:47,235 --> 00:08:50,113 There was this gristmill of just throwing stand-up comics 194 00:08:50,113 --> 00:08:52,449 on TV constantly, and so 195 00:08:52,449 --> 00:08:54,659 Norm was getting exposure that way. 196 00:08:54,659 --> 00:08:56,453 But I think to Norm personally, 197 00:08:56,453 --> 00:09:00,165 'The Pat Sajak Show' didn't really mean much to him. 198 00:09:00,165 --> 00:09:01,999 'George Schlatter's Comedy Club,' 199 00:09:01,999 --> 00:09:03,543 that appearance was something he wasn't 200 00:09:03,543 --> 00:09:05,420 proud of, and 'Star Search,' I think 201 00:09:05,420 --> 00:09:07,505 he found kind of demeaning. 202 00:09:07,505 --> 00:09:10,050 Norm borrowed a suit from somebody because 203 00:09:10,050 --> 00:09:11,676 he didn't own his own suit. 204 00:09:11,676 --> 00:09:13,303 He looked like he's in a David Byrne music video 205 00:09:13,303 --> 00:09:16,681 with these giant overside shoulders, you know. 206 00:09:16,681 --> 00:09:20,602 Norm had only one prize in mind. 207 00:09:20,602 --> 00:09:23,480 And now making his network television debut, 208 00:09:23,480 --> 00:09:26,858 ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Norm Macdonald. 209 00:09:26,858 --> 00:09:29,194 -Norm? -[Applauding] 210 00:09:29,194 --> 00:09:31,112 So I had his dream, do you ever have a dream, 211 00:09:31,112 --> 00:09:34,240 and then you wake up right in the middle of a great dream, 212 00:09:34,240 --> 00:09:36,242 and then you're back in your stinking life again? 213 00:09:36,242 --> 00:09:38,828 [Laughing] 214 00:09:38,828 --> 00:09:42,874 So then you try to fall asleep, re-dream it. 215 00:09:42,874 --> 00:09:46,628 Norm was completely elated to appear on 216 00:09:46,628 --> 00:09:49,255 'Late Night with David Letterman.' 217 00:09:49,255 --> 00:09:52,842 That was one thing he had always been working towards. 218 00:09:52,842 --> 00:09:55,637 He hadn't heard anyone else quite structure a joke 219 00:09:55,637 --> 00:09:57,430 the way Norm did. You know? 220 00:09:57,430 --> 00:10:01,351 That slow delivery, that- [Stammering] 221 00:10:01,351 --> 00:10:02,560 I tell ya. 222 00:10:02,560 --> 00:10:04,062 You ever lie for no reason at all? 223 00:10:04,062 --> 00:10:06,356 Just all of a sudden a big lie spills out of 224 00:10:06,356 --> 00:10:09,025 your evil head there? You know? 225 00:10:09,025 --> 00:10:10,777 You don't even know like a guy come up to you, go, 226 00:10:10,777 --> 00:10:13,279 "Hey, you ever see that movie with Meryl Streep 227 00:10:13,279 --> 00:10:16,491 and a horse"? And you go, "Yes." 228 00:10:16,491 --> 00:10:20,411 [Laughing] 229 00:10:20,411 --> 00:10:21,412 And in the back of your head you go, 230 00:10:21,412 --> 00:10:22,789 "What the hell am I lying about over here"? 231 00:10:22,789 --> 00:10:24,332 [Laughing] 232 00:10:24,332 --> 00:10:26,209 "I stand to gain nothing by this lie." 233 00:10:26,209 --> 00:10:28,711 [Laughing] 234 00:10:28,711 --> 00:10:30,630 "The hell am I thinking back here in my head"? 235 00:10:30,630 --> 00:10:33,049 Norm Macdonald's style of comedy was a 236 00:10:33,049 --> 00:10:36,886 brilliant mix of, sort of an, "Aw shucks. 237 00:10:36,886 --> 00:10:38,930 I'm a little naive about the world." 238 00:10:38,930 --> 00:10:40,682 I don't know, man. I gotta get in shape, 239 00:10:40,682 --> 00:10:42,725 that's what I gotta do. Work out, be a big, 240 00:10:42,725 --> 00:10:44,602 I haven't worked out for a... ever. 241 00:10:44,602 --> 00:10:46,604 -I never worked out. -[Laughing] 242 00:10:46,604 --> 00:10:48,398 I was gonna lie there again. 243 00:10:48,398 --> 00:10:53,820 Mixed in with a very smart subversive tone, 244 00:10:53,820 --> 00:10:56,155 so that the audiences weren't sure 245 00:10:56,155 --> 00:10:58,158 where this guy was coming from. 246 00:10:58,158 --> 00:10:59,033 You ever meet those old guys, 247 00:10:59,033 --> 00:11:00,743 doesn't matter what the hell they do to themselves, 248 00:11:00,743 --> 00:11:02,412 you know, they still grow old? 249 00:11:02,412 --> 00:11:03,872 [Laughing] 250 00:11:03,872 --> 00:11:05,373 Be the oldest bastard you ever met in your life, 251 00:11:05,373 --> 00:11:06,499 you know? Guy goes, 252 00:11:06,499 --> 00:11:08,459 "Every day I smoke four packs of cigarettes." 253 00:11:08,459 --> 00:11:09,627 [Laughing] 254 00:11:09,627 --> 00:11:11,754 "I drink a bottle of Jack Daniels, 255 00:11:11,754 --> 00:11:14,299 and I hit myself in the head with a shovel every day." 256 00:11:14,299 --> 00:11:16,551 [Laughing & applauding] 257 00:11:16,551 --> 00:11:19,095 "I'd like to die." 258 00:11:19,095 --> 00:11:21,890 Norm is becoming a hot ticket on the stand-up circuit, 259 00:11:21,890 --> 00:11:24,684 but just when his career looks about to explode 260 00:11:24,684 --> 00:11:26,686 he reveals an entirely different, 261 00:11:26,686 --> 00:11:28,938 darker side of himself. 262 00:11:28,938 --> 00:11:32,150 We used to go on trips, the comics and myself. 263 00:11:32,150 --> 00:11:34,819 We used to go to Vegas a lot, 264 00:11:34,819 --> 00:11:37,155 and we took Norm on one of these trips. 265 00:11:37,155 --> 00:11:40,617 It was the first time he'd ever even been in a casino. 266 00:11:40,617 --> 00:11:43,828 And the way the trip would start was we would 267 00:11:43,828 --> 00:11:46,706 go to this, sort of downscale casino. 268 00:11:46,706 --> 00:11:50,376 Not to gamble, but for the footlong hotdog, 269 00:11:50,376 --> 00:11:52,545 which was only a buck. 270 00:11:52,545 --> 00:11:55,131 And we look over, Norm's not having a hot dog, 271 00:11:55,131 --> 00:11:57,300 Norm's already gambling. 272 00:11:57,300 --> 00:12:00,845 On that trip he never even checked into his room. 273 00:12:00,845 --> 00:12:04,224 All he did was play at the tables, 274 00:12:04,224 --> 00:12:06,684 and refused to even, 275 00:12:06,684 --> 00:12:09,354 he wouldn't go for dinner with us, he wouldn't, 276 00:12:09,354 --> 00:12:12,482 we went to a couple of shows, he didn't want to go to shows. 277 00:12:12,482 --> 00:12:16,027 Well, I'd never seen anything like it. 278 00:12:16,027 --> 00:12:18,780 This was the thing that was his vice. 279 00:12:18,780 --> 00:12:21,491 Something just clicked in his brain. 280 00:12:21,491 --> 00:12:26,162 ♪ 281 00:12:33,670 --> 00:12:35,129 Ladies and gentlemen, Norm Macdonald! 282 00:12:35,129 --> 00:12:38,341 It's 1991, and now living in Los Angeles 283 00:12:38,341 --> 00:12:40,677 Norm's career hits a new peak. 284 00:12:40,677 --> 00:12:43,554 He's offered his own HBO special. 285 00:12:43,554 --> 00:12:45,431 Wow! Good to see you, good crowd here. 286 00:12:45,431 --> 00:12:46,766 How are you doing tonight? You alright? 287 00:12:46,766 --> 00:12:48,434 Yeah! 288 00:12:48,434 --> 00:12:50,186 [Sighing] Well it's good to be here, man. 289 00:12:50,186 --> 00:12:52,313 I came down here, I got a, I got a lift down here. 290 00:12:52,313 --> 00:12:54,065 We drove down, me and my two buddies there, 291 00:12:54,065 --> 00:12:56,484 and four hours it took us to drive down here. 292 00:12:56,484 --> 00:12:58,486 And I was in the backseat all the way. 293 00:12:58,486 --> 00:13:00,196 You ever be in the backseat for a long trip? 294 00:13:00,196 --> 00:13:03,157 Oh man, does that stink or what? 295 00:13:03,157 --> 00:13:06,327 Man! What a rough place that is. 296 00:13:06,327 --> 00:13:08,413 And when there's only 3 of you in the car, you know, 297 00:13:08,413 --> 00:13:10,206 and you're in the backseat, you know, 298 00:13:10,206 --> 00:13:12,292 you know you're not the most popular guy in the car. 299 00:13:12,292 --> 00:13:15,753 [Laughing] 300 00:13:15,753 --> 00:13:17,463 Nothing back there. 301 00:13:17,463 --> 00:13:18,548 You can't talk to them, you know? 302 00:13:18,548 --> 00:13:20,341 You got that class barrier, front seat, 303 00:13:20,341 --> 00:13:21,843 back seat thing there, you can't... 304 00:13:21,843 --> 00:13:23,886 you can't smash through that, you know? 305 00:13:23,886 --> 00:13:27,306 You ever try and just stick your head into the front seat? 306 00:13:27,306 --> 00:13:31,269 -You go, "Hi"! -[Laughing] 307 00:13:31,269 --> 00:13:33,771 "What are you guys talking about? 308 00:13:33,771 --> 00:13:35,898 It's me from the backseat." 309 00:13:35,898 --> 00:13:37,316 [Laughing] 310 00:13:37,316 --> 00:13:39,110 "Okay, I'll go back then." 311 00:13:39,110 --> 00:13:41,571 It was not unusual for a comedian to skyrocket, 312 00:13:41,571 --> 00:13:45,199 because the industry was just discovering stand-up as 313 00:13:45,199 --> 00:13:48,911 an art form, and they were basically giving TV deals 314 00:13:48,911 --> 00:13:51,748 and promoting anyone who they thought potentially 315 00:13:51,748 --> 00:13:54,167 could be a sitcom star. 316 00:13:54,167 --> 00:13:55,793 Norm fit the bill. 317 00:13:55,793 --> 00:13:59,130 Dennis Miller gave me my first job on his talk show 318 00:13:59,130 --> 00:14:00,631 that he had for a couple of days. 319 00:14:00,631 --> 00:14:01,758 Now, how'd you do it? 320 00:14:01,758 --> 00:14:03,301 You went in and pitched yourself? 321 00:14:03,301 --> 00:14:05,136 I mean, how do you get that first break to go on 322 00:14:05,136 --> 00:14:06,554 the Dennis Miller show? 323 00:14:06,554 --> 00:14:07,847 Well, the only way I ever got anything is 324 00:14:07,847 --> 00:14:10,224 I did stand-up, and some guys would see me. 325 00:14:10,224 --> 00:14:11,851 Like, Roseanne saw me. 326 00:14:11,851 --> 00:14:13,770 I didn't watch 'Roseanne' at the time. 327 00:14:13,770 --> 00:14:17,106 I remember hearing that Norm got hired as a writer on 328 00:14:17,106 --> 00:14:18,733 'Roseanne' and that was a big deal. 329 00:14:18,733 --> 00:14:20,318 Norm's work on Roseanne means 330 00:14:20,318 --> 00:14:22,653 he's suddenly flush with cash. 331 00:14:22,653 --> 00:14:25,782 He now has more money than ever to gamble away. 332 00:14:25,782 --> 00:14:28,451 Norm would work 12 to 14 hours a day in the writer's 333 00:14:28,451 --> 00:14:30,536 room of 'Roseanne.' They'd finish up, 334 00:14:30,536 --> 00:14:32,997 and he and another guy from there would just get in a car 335 00:14:32,997 --> 00:14:35,041 and like zip to The Commerce. 336 00:14:35,041 --> 00:14:38,628 The Commerce is a small casino on the outskirts of LA. 337 00:14:38,628 --> 00:14:41,047 Imagine being in a giant bus station, 338 00:14:41,047 --> 00:14:42,882 and if everything was gone, like all the stores and 339 00:14:42,882 --> 00:14:45,301 everything, and instead of that there were poker tables. 340 00:14:45,301 --> 00:14:49,013 Now, poker clubs in California are legal, 341 00:14:49,013 --> 00:14:51,057 so it's completely legal gambling, 342 00:14:51,057 --> 00:14:53,976 but they're pretty degenerate places. 343 00:14:53,976 --> 00:14:55,937 We'd be there, there'd be guys eating super 344 00:14:55,937 --> 00:14:57,939 greasy food, and they're not the kinds of guys who are 345 00:14:57,939 --> 00:14:59,899 gonna sit there with, like, you know, wash and dries. 346 00:14:59,899 --> 00:15:01,275 You know, cleaning up their hands 347 00:15:01,275 --> 00:15:02,527 before they touch the cards. 348 00:15:02,527 --> 00:15:04,487 They would just touch the cards with their greasy hands. 349 00:15:04,487 --> 00:15:07,073 You know, it was a pretty crazy environment. 350 00:15:07,073 --> 00:15:08,741 You could be there for days if you wanted. 351 00:15:08,741 --> 00:15:11,369 I mean if your money held out and your stamina held out and 352 00:15:11,369 --> 00:15:13,204 you wanted to keep gambling. 353 00:15:13,204 --> 00:15:15,414 You were in there to play poker, 354 00:15:15,414 --> 00:15:20,002 and Norm fit right in. He loved playing poker there. 355 00:15:20,002 --> 00:15:22,255 So, play poker all night, then they go right back to 356 00:15:22,255 --> 00:15:24,090 'Roseanne' the next day. 357 00:15:24,090 --> 00:15:26,843 Despite Norm's endless hours at the poker tables, 358 00:15:26,843 --> 00:15:28,970 his work on 'Roseanne' flourishes, 359 00:15:28,970 --> 00:15:32,640 soon attracting talent scouts from 'Saturday Night Live.' 360 00:15:32,640 --> 00:15:36,269 I didn't think Norm was gonna get big. 361 00:15:36,269 --> 00:15:37,562 I didn't. 362 00:15:37,562 --> 00:15:39,313 And then as soon as the 'Saturday Night Live' 363 00:15:39,313 --> 00:15:41,858 thing happened... 364 00:15:41,858 --> 00:15:44,402 okay, it's real. 365 00:15:44,402 --> 00:15:47,989 In October 1993, Norm makes his debut 366 00:15:47,989 --> 00:15:50,616 on 'Saturday Night Live.' 367 00:15:50,616 --> 00:15:53,119 I wasn't surprised at all that Norm landed at SNL. 368 00:15:53,119 --> 00:15:54,579 He had the perfect credentials. 369 00:15:54,579 --> 00:15:58,207 He had an original voice, he was fearless, 370 00:15:58,207 --> 00:16:00,376 and he looked really good on camera. 371 00:16:00,376 --> 00:16:02,086 But they really cleaned him up on SNL, 372 00:16:02,086 --> 00:16:04,380 you know, got him out of his plaid shirts. 373 00:16:04,380 --> 00:16:07,049 And they also saw in him as somebody who could 374 00:16:07,049 --> 00:16:09,302 really kill it on the update desk, 375 00:16:09,302 --> 00:16:11,554 which is a huge component of the show. 376 00:16:11,554 --> 00:16:14,807 He wanted to do the closest thing to stand-up that 377 00:16:14,807 --> 00:16:17,435 you could do on SNL. 378 00:16:17,435 --> 00:16:19,228 Hired as a regular cast member, 379 00:16:19,228 --> 00:16:22,231 SNL producer Lorne Michaels soon discovers the 380 00:16:22,231 --> 00:16:24,901 perfect vehicle for Norm's style. 381 00:16:24,901 --> 00:16:27,904 Hi, I'm Norm Macdonald, and now the fake news. 382 00:16:27,904 --> 00:16:29,864 He had that exquisite delivery. 383 00:16:29,864 --> 00:16:33,201 In Walnut Creek, California, anyone who turns in his gun 384 00:16:33,201 --> 00:16:36,537 can get free therapy, and anyone who doesn't 385 00:16:36,537 --> 00:16:39,332 turn in his gun can get free anything. 386 00:16:39,332 --> 00:16:42,210 [Laughing] 387 00:16:42,210 --> 00:16:45,171 Laughter is one response to comedy, 388 00:16:45,171 --> 00:16:48,424 but I don't think it's the only response to comedy, 389 00:16:48,424 --> 00:16:50,760 and Norm embodied that. 390 00:16:50,760 --> 00:16:54,514 Norm saw... bombing 391 00:16:54,514 --> 00:16:57,558 as part of the art form. 392 00:16:57,558 --> 00:16:59,310 "Wrong-Way Corrigan". 393 00:16:59,310 --> 00:17:02,647 A man who once flew all the way to Ireland by mistake, 394 00:17:02,647 --> 00:17:05,650 died this week at the age of 88. 395 00:17:05,650 --> 00:17:07,735 "It was just like him," said his wife. 396 00:17:07,735 --> 00:17:09,737 "He was trying to live." 397 00:17:09,737 --> 00:17:11,697 [Laughing] 398 00:17:11,697 --> 00:17:14,116 When the audience didn't laugh... 399 00:17:14,116 --> 00:17:15,701 He got it all wrong. 400 00:17:15,701 --> 00:17:17,828 He stared at the camera, and just 401 00:17:17,828 --> 00:17:21,249 dared you not to laugh. 402 00:17:21,249 --> 00:17:24,710 47 year old Adrienne Brown, wife of soul legend 403 00:17:24,710 --> 00:17:27,838 James Brown, died suddenly last week. 404 00:17:27,838 --> 00:17:29,632 Most shocking of all... 405 00:17:29,632 --> 00:17:32,051 she was not killed by James Brown. 406 00:17:32,051 --> 00:17:35,721 He really took big swings, that if it failed, 407 00:17:35,721 --> 00:17:38,516 he had to so boldly hold on to his commitment. 408 00:17:38,516 --> 00:17:42,937 If a joke died at dress, 409 00:17:42,937 --> 00:17:44,480 when he was doing Weekend Update, 410 00:17:44,480 --> 00:17:48,192 he would commit to the joke and do it on air because 411 00:17:48,192 --> 00:17:51,070 Norm liked the joke. 412 00:17:51,070 --> 00:17:54,073 And in Polk City, Florida, a man had his stolen car 413 00:17:54,073 --> 00:17:57,702 returned, but the cremated remains of his father, 414 00:17:57,702 --> 00:17:59,912 I say they cremated remains of his father, 415 00:17:59,912 --> 00:18:02,456 are still missing. 416 00:18:02,456 --> 00:18:04,292 Don't I know it. 417 00:18:04,292 --> 00:18:07,086 [Laughing] 418 00:18:07,086 --> 00:18:09,005 [Mumbling] 419 00:18:09,005 --> 00:18:13,801 [Laughing] 420 00:18:13,801 --> 00:18:16,470 Now pulling in a reported six figures from his work on 421 00:18:16,470 --> 00:18:19,181 'Saturday Night Live,' Norm finds ever bigger 422 00:18:19,181 --> 00:18:21,225 opportunities to feed a habit 423 00:18:21,225 --> 00:18:23,477 that's become an obsession. 424 00:18:23,477 --> 00:18:26,856 He would go right from SNL to gamble in Atlantic City. 425 00:18:26,856 --> 00:18:29,817 I mean, he told me that if you watch old episodes of SNL 426 00:18:29,817 --> 00:18:31,861 and everybody's on stage hugging each other and, 427 00:18:31,861 --> 00:18:33,321 you know, celebrating at the end, he goes, 428 00:18:33,321 --> 00:18:35,489 "Often you wouldn't see me, 'cause I'd be in a limo 429 00:18:35,489 --> 00:18:37,992 heading down to Atlantic City." 430 00:18:37,992 --> 00:18:41,579 As Norm's thirst for risk at the casino, amplifies. 431 00:18:41,579 --> 00:18:43,998 so does his impulse to drive his comedy into 432 00:18:43,998 --> 00:18:46,417 more and more controversial territory. 433 00:18:46,417 --> 00:18:48,544 Hey, it's comedian Jim Breuer. 434 00:18:48,544 --> 00:18:51,505 And now ladies and gentlemen, Jim Breuer! 435 00:18:51,505 --> 00:18:53,215 Here he is. 436 00:18:53,215 --> 00:18:57,303 Summer of '96 going to Iowa, big show. 437 00:18:57,303 --> 00:19:00,473 Me, Darrell Hammond, it's our first year, 438 00:19:00,473 --> 00:19:02,099 and Norm Macdonald. 439 00:19:02,099 --> 00:19:04,393 Now, before the show they're like, "Listen." You know, 440 00:19:04,393 --> 00:19:06,604 "There's kids." You know, "There's students here. 441 00:19:06,604 --> 00:19:09,982 Just no cursing." You know, "Try not to talk about 442 00:19:09,982 --> 00:19:14,111 sex and mention sexuality. 443 00:19:14,111 --> 00:19:16,447 Don't make fun of church." And me, 444 00:19:16,447 --> 00:19:17,865 I'm like, "I'm on 'Saturday Night Live'. 445 00:19:17,865 --> 00:19:19,867 This is, this is me every, yeah, I get it. 446 00:19:19,867 --> 00:19:25,164 Live TV, just same thing." Norm goes out, 447 00:19:25,164 --> 00:19:27,124 he's smoking a cigarette. 448 00:19:27,124 --> 00:19:28,876 And they're already like, "Oh my God, 449 00:19:28,876 --> 00:19:29,960 he's smoking in front of." 450 00:19:29,960 --> 00:19:32,254 And he goes- [Inhaling] 451 00:19:32,254 --> 00:19:33,798 What did you say to them? 452 00:19:33,798 --> 00:19:35,883 I was just talking, you know, like, I don't have, 453 00:19:35,883 --> 00:19:37,635 my stand-up act, I just talk about 454 00:19:37,635 --> 00:19:38,969 whatever I'm thinking about. 455 00:19:38,969 --> 00:19:40,846 -Mm-hm. -So, I went- 456 00:19:40,846 --> 00:19:44,183 It was about having sex with an animal. 457 00:19:44,183 --> 00:19:47,186 ♪ 458 00:19:47,186 --> 00:19:50,272 And... 459 00:19:50,272 --> 00:19:52,525 People are getting up, 460 00:19:52,525 --> 00:19:54,735 and, they're grabbing their kids. 461 00:19:54,735 --> 00:19:56,362 They're running up the aisles. 462 00:19:56,362 --> 00:19:59,698 People are flocking for the exit. 463 00:19:59,698 --> 00:20:02,493 Next day... 464 00:20:02,493 --> 00:20:05,329 kicked out of the state. 465 00:20:05,329 --> 00:20:08,374 The governor wants him out, 466 00:20:08,374 --> 00:20:11,127 kicked off of the golf thing... 467 00:20:11,127 --> 00:20:15,631 I mean, it was, it was 'USA Today.' 468 00:20:15,631 --> 00:20:17,883 It was all over the place. 469 00:20:17,883 --> 00:20:22,638 I think he said afterwards, he goes, 470 00:20:22,638 --> 00:20:24,849 "I don't care about if people left. 471 00:20:24,849 --> 00:20:26,767 I only cared about the kids that were there. 472 00:20:26,767 --> 00:20:28,394 They had a good time, and I had a good time, 473 00:20:28,394 --> 00:20:29,979 that's all that matters." 474 00:20:36,986 --> 00:20:38,529 -Quite a world we live in. -[Chuckling] 475 00:20:38,529 --> 00:20:40,614 Incidentally, Ms. Mastin will be represented in her 476 00:20:40,614 --> 00:20:43,451 civil suit by feminist attorney Gloria Allred, 477 00:20:43,451 --> 00:20:45,619 who is also quite unattractive. 478 00:20:45,619 --> 00:20:48,205 Norm continues to push buttons on Weekend Update, 479 00:20:48,205 --> 00:20:50,458 starting to make increasingly questionable 480 00:20:50,458 --> 00:20:52,001 jokes about women. 481 00:20:52,001 --> 00:20:54,712 No box of chocolates that one. 482 00:20:54,712 --> 00:20:58,007 It's really, really interesting and 483 00:20:58,007 --> 00:21:00,968 kind of bizarre that someone who had 484 00:21:00,968 --> 00:21:04,805 such a fresh aesthetic and 485 00:21:04,805 --> 00:21:08,184 artistic ability was really not able to apply that in 486 00:21:08,184 --> 00:21:11,604 any kind of interesting way to women. 487 00:21:11,604 --> 00:21:14,523 Who are safer drivers, men or women? 488 00:21:14,523 --> 00:21:16,233 Well, according to a new survey, 489 00:21:16,233 --> 00:21:19,945 55% of adults feel that women are most responsible 490 00:21:19,945 --> 00:21:22,198 for minor fender benders, 491 00:21:22,198 --> 00:21:25,951 while 78% blame men for most fatal crashes. 492 00:21:25,951 --> 00:21:27,536 Please note that the percentages in these 493 00:21:27,536 --> 00:21:30,956 pie graphs do not add up to 100% because 494 00:21:30,956 --> 00:21:32,917 the math was done by a woman. 495 00:21:32,917 --> 00:21:34,335 [Laughing] 496 00:21:34,335 --> 00:21:36,629 You know, it's called a punchline for a reason. 497 00:21:36,629 --> 00:21:38,172 It's supposed to punch. 498 00:21:38,172 --> 00:21:41,383 It's supposed to hit and elicit that laugh. 499 00:21:41,383 --> 00:21:42,843 For those of you hissing at that joke, 500 00:21:42,843 --> 00:21:44,595 it should be noted that that joke was 501 00:21:44,595 --> 00:21:47,139 written by a woman, so... 502 00:21:47,139 --> 00:21:49,058 now you don't know what the hell to do, do you? 503 00:21:49,058 --> 00:21:53,270 [Laughing & applauding] 504 00:21:53,270 --> 00:21:54,980 No, I'm just kidding. We don't hire women. 505 00:21:54,980 --> 00:22:00,444 [Laughing & applauding] 506 00:22:00,444 --> 00:22:02,905 Norm is seemingly immune to criticism, 507 00:22:02,905 --> 00:22:05,699 but then he starts attacking another subject and 508 00:22:05,699 --> 00:22:07,451 won't let it go. 509 00:22:07,451 --> 00:22:09,578 According to retailers, the most popular 510 00:22:09,578 --> 00:22:12,414 Halloween mask this year is OJ Simpson, 511 00:22:12,414 --> 00:22:15,042 and the most popular Halloween greeting is, 512 00:22:15,042 --> 00:22:16,794 "I'll kill you and that guy 513 00:22:16,794 --> 00:22:19,797 who's bringing over your glasses, or treat." 514 00:22:19,797 --> 00:22:21,590 I was there when OJ was acquitted, 515 00:22:21,590 --> 00:22:23,425 that was my first season at SNL, 516 00:22:23,425 --> 00:22:27,346 and Norm was passionate about the fact that 517 00:22:27,346 --> 00:22:30,391 OJ Simpson had gotten away with murder. 518 00:22:30,391 --> 00:22:34,687 But his boss is a friend of OJ's, and, 519 00:22:34,687 --> 00:22:36,897 and kept calling Lorne Michaels to say, 520 00:22:36,897 --> 00:22:39,942 "You gotta tell Norm, just, he could do every 521 00:22:39,942 --> 00:22:41,902 other joke just no more OJ." 522 00:22:41,902 --> 00:22:44,572 I'm Norm Macdonald and now the fake news. 523 00:22:44,572 --> 00:22:48,450 Well, it is finally official, murder is legal 524 00:22:48,450 --> 00:22:50,077 in the state of California. 525 00:22:50,077 --> 00:22:54,415 [Cheering] 526 00:22:54,415 --> 00:22:57,793 He deliberately antagonized Don Ohlmeyer, 527 00:22:57,793 --> 00:23:02,089 who kept telling him to lay off OJ, 528 00:23:02,089 --> 00:23:04,091 and he wouldn't do it. You know? 529 00:23:04,091 --> 00:23:05,801 No more OJ. We don't want to hear any more... 530 00:23:05,801 --> 00:23:09,388 and the more he was told not to 531 00:23:09,388 --> 00:23:11,348 poke the bear, 532 00:23:11,348 --> 00:23:14,518 he not only poked the bear, he was kicking the bear. 533 00:23:14,518 --> 00:23:16,395 Well, let's get to OJ. OJ Simpson. 534 00:23:16,395 --> 00:23:18,147 OJ Simpson. OJ Simpson. 535 00:23:18,147 --> 00:23:22,026 OJ Simpson. And OJ. OJ Simpson trial. 536 00:23:22,026 --> 00:23:24,028 So, he, he kept doing the OJ jokes, 537 00:23:24,028 --> 00:23:25,362 but that's what made him great. 538 00:23:25,362 --> 00:23:27,781 That's what made him, and that's what excited him more, 539 00:23:27,781 --> 00:23:29,408 because it was more dangerous, 540 00:23:29,408 --> 00:23:31,410 and that's what made him wanna do it more 541 00:23:31,410 --> 00:23:33,329 because you told him not to do it. 542 00:23:33,329 --> 00:23:35,289 That made it funnier. 543 00:23:35,289 --> 00:23:36,999 Norm doesn't seem to care 544 00:23:35,289 --> 00:23:36,999 about any offence 545 00:23:36,999 --> 00:23:39,043 he may be causing, 546 00:23:39,043 --> 00:23:41,879 then he is given one more warning. 547 00:23:41,879 --> 00:23:44,798 He was called into Don Ohlmeyer's office at NBC, 548 00:23:44,798 --> 00:23:47,092 and Don Ohlmeyer said to Norm, 549 00:23:47,092 --> 00:23:48,927 "Look, I know you're talented, 550 00:23:48,927 --> 00:23:51,847 but you're too slow on Weekend Update. 551 00:23:51,847 --> 00:23:53,390 You need to pick up the pace." 552 00:23:53,390 --> 00:23:56,852 Well, you're telling that to a comedy genius. 553 00:23:56,852 --> 00:23:58,187 Last weekend in Washington, 554 00:23:58,187 --> 00:24:00,105 a new museum dedicated to broadcast jour- 555 00:24:00,105 --> 00:24:03,317 [Gagging] What the ---- was that? 556 00:24:03,317 --> 00:24:06,528 [Laughing] 557 00:24:06,528 --> 00:24:08,364 Last weekend in Washington, a new museum... 558 00:24:08,364 --> 00:24:11,325 [Laughing & cheering continues] 559 00:24:16,956 --> 00:24:18,457 Ah-ha... 560 00:24:18,457 --> 00:24:22,211 My farewell performance. Last weekend... 561 00:24:22,211 --> 00:24:25,422 You can't really take the culture of comedy to the 562 00:24:25,422 --> 00:24:27,549 next level if you're not taking those big swings, 563 00:24:27,549 --> 00:24:29,093 if you're not taking those big risks. 564 00:24:29,093 --> 00:24:30,678 I've heard people say that they thought 565 00:24:30,678 --> 00:24:33,806 Norm was reckless. 566 00:24:33,806 --> 00:24:36,850 I disagree with that completely. 567 00:24:36,850 --> 00:24:39,978 Norm was committed. 568 00:24:39,978 --> 00:24:44,274 Norm Macdonald really did not wanna be told 569 00:24:44,274 --> 00:24:46,193 what he could and couldn't do. 570 00:24:46,193 --> 00:24:48,779 Norm refuses to stop talking about OJ, 571 00:24:48,779 --> 00:24:51,073 until he pushes too far. 572 00:24:51,073 --> 00:24:52,908 Our first guest is one of the funniest men 573 00:24:52,908 --> 00:24:54,326 working in television today. 574 00:24:54,326 --> 00:24:56,745 He is the anchor of 'Weekend Update' on the popular 575 00:24:56,745 --> 00:24:58,205 'Saturday Night Live' program, 576 00:24:58,205 --> 00:25:00,416 please welcome Norm Macdonald. 577 00:25:00,416 --> 00:25:05,254 There is a tape of him on Letterman... that day! 578 00:25:05,254 --> 00:25:07,256 -How you doing? -I'm doing good. Oh. 579 00:25:07,256 --> 00:25:09,591 No, that's alright I'm just, I'm just slow, that's okay. 580 00:25:09,591 --> 00:25:11,176 -Happy New Year, buddy. -Happy New Year to you. 581 00:25:11,176 --> 00:25:12,553 Thank you very much for being here. 582 00:25:12,553 --> 00:25:13,846 You don't mind if I ask you a question? 583 00:25:13,846 --> 00:25:15,097 -What's that? -I hear today... 584 00:25:15,097 --> 00:25:16,140 ...I hear this story and it is like this 585 00:25:16,140 --> 00:25:17,725 press release that you got your ass fired. 586 00:25:17,725 --> 00:25:18,767 -Is that true? -Yeah. 587 00:25:18,767 --> 00:25:20,352 -No, you didn't get fired. -Yeah, they fired me. 588 00:25:20,352 --> 00:25:22,312 -No, they didn't fire you. -No, I'm serious. 589 00:25:22,312 --> 00:25:25,858 I talked to a guy that said I'm fired. Well- 590 00:25:25,858 --> 00:25:26,775 Who fired you? First of all, 591 00:25:26,775 --> 00:25:27,735 let's get some names here. 592 00:25:27,735 --> 00:25:28,986 Let's get this on the record. 593 00:25:28,986 --> 00:25:30,571 They said that this guy Don Ohlmeyer, 594 00:25:30,571 --> 00:25:31,947 who turns out to be the president- 595 00:25:31,947 --> 00:25:33,240 Yeah. Now I know Don Ohlmeyer and 596 00:25:33,240 --> 00:25:34,908 just between you and me, he's an idiot. 597 00:25:34,908 --> 00:25:38,579 So he goes, "Oh yeah, I'm, I'm firing you there from 598 00:25:38,579 --> 00:25:42,166 the show." And then I said, "Oh, that's not good." 599 00:25:42,166 --> 00:25:43,876 -[Laughing] -You know... 600 00:25:43,876 --> 00:25:45,419 And then I said, "Why is that now"? 601 00:25:45,419 --> 00:25:48,088 And he goes, "Oh, you're not, you know, you're not funny." 602 00:25:48,088 --> 00:25:51,550 And then I said, I said, "Holy Lord, 603 00:25:51,550 --> 00:25:53,177 that's even worse news." You know? 604 00:25:53,177 --> 00:25:55,262 [Laughing] 605 00:25:55,262 --> 00:25:57,222 I go, "No, I don't got nothing to fall back on." 606 00:25:57,222 --> 00:26:00,809 -No. -[Cheering] 607 00:26:00,809 --> 00:26:02,811 -He's a good man. -He just fired you! 608 00:26:02,811 --> 00:26:05,397 What do you mean he's a good- what is wrong with you? 609 00:26:05,397 --> 00:26:07,608 Weeks later, Norm relays the conversation 610 00:26:07,608 --> 00:26:11,069 he had with Don Ohlmeyer on Howard Stern, 611 00:26:11,069 --> 00:26:13,489 and suddenly, who was behind the firing 612 00:26:13,489 --> 00:26:15,032 seems less clear. 613 00:26:15,032 --> 00:26:17,701 So then I said, "But this decision is coming from you, 614 00:26:17,701 --> 00:26:19,995 right"? And then he goes, "What"? 615 00:26:19,995 --> 00:26:22,206 And then I go, "Because, you know, 616 00:26:22,206 --> 00:26:24,625 'cause I talked to people on the show, Lorne and stuff, 617 00:26:24,625 --> 00:26:26,752 and they're for me." And he goes, "Well, 618 00:26:26,752 --> 00:26:29,296 if that's what they tell you, sure, blame me." 619 00:26:29,296 --> 00:26:32,800 But the reality remains, Norm Macdonald is out. 620 00:26:41,642 --> 00:26:43,268 In the aftermath of his firing 621 00:26:43,268 --> 00:26:45,938 Norm appears to accept his defeat, 622 00:26:45,938 --> 00:26:48,065 but his reckless impulse to risk it all 623 00:26:48,065 --> 00:26:50,651 continues to ramp up. 624 00:26:50,651 --> 00:26:54,863 In 1999... I spent a crazy lost weekend 625 00:26:54,863 --> 00:26:57,282 with Norm Macdonald in Las Vegas. 626 00:26:57,282 --> 00:26:59,910 I was writing a lot for 'Details' magazine at 627 00:26:59,910 --> 00:27:02,204 the time, and I knew that Norm liked to gamble, 628 00:27:02,204 --> 00:27:03,539 but I didn't know that much about his 629 00:27:03,539 --> 00:27:06,041 gambling proclivities. 630 00:27:06,041 --> 00:27:08,043 Norm was performing at the House of Blues 631 00:27:08,043 --> 00:27:10,796 in Mandalay Bay, and the idea was he would take 632 00:27:10,796 --> 00:27:12,256 what he earned for the performance, 633 00:27:12,256 --> 00:27:14,258 which was $40,000, 634 00:27:14,258 --> 00:27:17,052 and either double the money or lose it all. 635 00:27:17,052 --> 00:27:19,263 If he doubled the money, that would've been awesome. 636 00:27:19,263 --> 00:27:21,431 If I was a betting man, I would've bet that 637 00:27:21,431 --> 00:27:25,060 he was not going to double the money. 638 00:27:25,060 --> 00:27:27,145 [Norm reading] So why the attraction? 639 00:27:27,145 --> 00:27:29,648 Most people would think it's the wins that 640 00:27:29,648 --> 00:27:31,483 keep the gambler going, 641 00:27:31,483 --> 00:27:34,152 but any gambler knows this is not true. 642 00:27:34,152 --> 00:27:36,780 As you place your chips on the crap's table, 643 00:27:36,780 --> 00:27:40,284 you feel anxiety and impatience. 644 00:27:40,284 --> 00:27:44,663 It is a particular moment, a magic moment. 645 00:27:44,663 --> 00:27:47,416 It is after the red dice are thrown, 646 00:27:47,416 --> 00:27:50,502 but before they lay still on the green felt 647 00:27:50,502 --> 00:27:52,087 where they fall. 648 00:27:52,087 --> 00:27:55,215 It is when the dice are in the air. 649 00:27:55,215 --> 00:28:00,846 And as long as they are there, time stops. 650 00:28:00,846 --> 00:28:04,141 As long as the red dice are in the air, 651 00:28:04,141 --> 00:28:07,519 a gambler has hope, 652 00:28:07,519 --> 00:28:11,982 and hope is a wonderful thing. 653 00:28:11,982 --> 00:28:16,069 Norm blew $10,500 on craps, 654 00:28:16,069 --> 00:28:17,487 and then he was like, 655 00:28:17,487 --> 00:28:20,032 "Okay, let's go play blackjack." 656 00:28:20,032 --> 00:28:21,742 We're sitting there playing blackjack. 657 00:28:21,742 --> 00:28:23,911 I'm like betting, you know, minimum bets, 658 00:28:23,911 --> 00:28:26,038 he's of course betting way more. 659 00:28:26,038 --> 00:28:28,790 We lost 17,000 at blackjack. 660 00:28:28,790 --> 00:28:31,043 Norm, like, doesn't even seem to care about losing, 661 00:28:31,043 --> 00:28:34,463 it's like not a big deal to him. 662 00:28:34,463 --> 00:28:35,923 So we're back up in his room and he goes, 663 00:28:35,923 --> 00:28:38,133 "Can you loan me $10,000"? I'm like, 664 00:28:38,133 --> 00:28:40,135 "Norm, I don't have that kind of money with me." 665 00:28:40,135 --> 00:28:43,972 But I did feel like I was party to the loss. So I go, 666 00:28:43,972 --> 00:28:46,475 "Okay Norm, I'll, I'll loan you a thousand." 667 00:28:46,475 --> 00:28:48,560 Sure enough, he was back in about five minutes, 668 00:28:48,560 --> 00:28:51,521 and he blew the money, so now he's broke. 669 00:28:51,521 --> 00:28:54,733 I loaned him $1,000 and I got back a cheque from him, 670 00:28:54,733 --> 00:28:57,527 like, in no time at all. 671 00:28:57,527 --> 00:29:00,030 And there was a note attached to it that said, 672 00:29:00,030 --> 00:29:02,532 "Better sorry than safe." 673 00:29:02,532 --> 00:29:05,661 Norm's gambling addiction has reached shocking proportions, 674 00:29:05,661 --> 00:29:08,664 something he later reveals on TV. 675 00:29:08,664 --> 00:29:10,374 Have you ever been devastated and lost like 676 00:29:10,374 --> 00:29:11,917 a big bet? 677 00:29:11,917 --> 00:29:15,253 I've lost everything I own three times. 678 00:29:15,253 --> 00:29:17,005 [Laughing] 679 00:29:17,005 --> 00:29:19,257 [Stuttering] Like, tapped out? 680 00:29:19,257 --> 00:29:20,592 Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. 681 00:29:20,592 --> 00:29:22,094 That happened to me three times. But since, 682 00:29:22,094 --> 00:29:24,096 I've gotten control of it since. 683 00:29:24,096 --> 00:29:25,639 Actually after you lose everything, 684 00:29:25,639 --> 00:29:27,015 sometimes you kind of feel good. 685 00:29:27,015 --> 00:29:28,350 It's odd. 686 00:29:28,350 --> 00:29:30,852 But you feel like, you feel like, clean. 687 00:29:30,852 --> 00:29:33,939 You go, "Hey man, I feel alright." You know? 688 00:29:33,939 --> 00:29:36,400 Yeah, this was my big statement. 689 00:29:36,400 --> 00:29:39,611 On the boardwalk, I threw 60,000 into the ocean. 690 00:29:39,611 --> 00:29:41,363 Yeah, to quit. That was my thing, 691 00:29:41,363 --> 00:29:43,031 "I'm gonna quit." 692 00:29:43,031 --> 00:29:45,325 I guess it's like people that know 693 00:29:45,325 --> 00:29:47,160 they're gonna hit bottom, you know? 694 00:29:47,160 --> 00:29:48,412 And kind of want it. 695 00:29:48,412 --> 00:29:49,705 -Yeah. -Because it does get... 696 00:29:49,705 --> 00:29:52,124 It's exhausting. 697 00:29:52,124 --> 00:29:53,542 Taking the risk. 698 00:29:53,542 --> 00:29:56,294 I think that's what he was addicted to. 699 00:29:56,294 --> 00:29:59,798 Throwing dice, not knowing where it's gonna land, 700 00:29:59,798 --> 00:30:03,802 is 100% the same as 701 00:30:03,802 --> 00:30:05,554 spinning out a joke and 702 00:30:05,554 --> 00:30:06,763 not knowing where it's gonna land. 703 00:30:06,763 --> 00:30:08,932 And it's almost like 704 00:30:08,932 --> 00:30:11,601 his gambler's mentality is what 705 00:30:11,601 --> 00:30:16,481 made him such a risk-taking comedian. 706 00:30:16,481 --> 00:30:19,818 I remember a psychiatrist once telling me that 707 00:30:19,818 --> 00:30:23,780 I gamble in order to escape the reality of life. 708 00:30:23,780 --> 00:30:28,243 And I told him, "That's why everyone does everything." 709 00:30:28,243 --> 00:30:30,370 I think Norm's gambling, 710 00:30:30,370 --> 00:30:33,373 the toll it took was... 711 00:30:33,373 --> 00:30:35,125 mostly financial. 712 00:30:35,125 --> 00:30:38,003 I didn't see it really take a toll on him 713 00:30:38,003 --> 00:30:39,504 in terms of his spirit. 714 00:30:39,504 --> 00:30:41,548 He would lose a lot of money, he would need money, 715 00:30:41,548 --> 00:30:43,008 he would have to keep working. 716 00:30:43,008 --> 00:30:44,551 But Norm didn't mind working. 717 00:30:44,551 --> 00:30:46,136 I think Norm loved working. 718 00:30:46,136 --> 00:30:47,596 What brought you down, gambling? 719 00:30:47,596 --> 00:30:49,139 Well, some, some have said 720 00:30:49,139 --> 00:30:50,682 it's been the ruin of me, Larry. 721 00:30:50,682 --> 00:30:52,851 -The ruin? -But I don't. 722 00:30:52,851 --> 00:30:55,896 If Norm Macdonald had a dark side, 723 00:30:55,896 --> 00:30:59,191 I don't think that it was 724 00:30:59,191 --> 00:31:01,526 all about his relationship to gambling. 725 00:31:01,526 --> 00:31:04,780 I think that that was a symptom of something much 726 00:31:04,780 --> 00:31:07,824 more interesting and much more complicated, 727 00:31:07,824 --> 00:31:10,911 which is the darkest of all dark sides, 728 00:31:10,911 --> 00:31:15,791 is this relationship we all have with death. 729 00:31:15,791 --> 00:31:18,794 Where most of us live in complete denial. 730 00:31:18,794 --> 00:31:21,588 I mean, if you die, the cancer also dies 731 00:31:21,588 --> 00:31:22,964 at exactly the same time. 732 00:31:22,964 --> 00:31:25,759 So that to me is not a loss, that's a draw. 733 00:31:25,759 --> 00:31:27,761 That's a, you know what I mean? 734 00:31:27,761 --> 00:31:29,888 SFX: [Heart beat] 735 00:31:29,888 --> 00:31:33,809 [Norm] My biggest problem is ruminating about death. 736 00:31:33,809 --> 00:31:35,519 If I could get over that somehow. 737 00:31:35,519 --> 00:31:37,020 [Interviewer] And you do that regularly? 738 00:31:37,020 --> 00:31:40,649 [Norm] I try to read ----ing books about it and shit. 739 00:31:40,649 --> 00:31:43,026 [Dan] I think Norm's dark side was, 740 00:31:43,026 --> 00:31:45,362 he was acutely aware of it, 741 00:31:45,362 --> 00:31:49,032 thinking about it all the time, and everything he did, 742 00:31:49,032 --> 00:31:51,827 his comedy and his gambling, 743 00:31:51,827 --> 00:31:55,622 was all about cheating death 744 00:31:55,622 --> 00:31:57,999 to kind of prove that he was still alive. 745 00:32:07,217 --> 00:32:09,427 After a string of sitcoms, movies, 746 00:32:09,427 --> 00:32:12,472 and personal projects through the early 2000s, 747 00:32:12,472 --> 00:32:15,392 the next decade sees Norm still gigging and quietly 748 00:32:15,392 --> 00:32:18,228 becoming a late night fixture on talk shows, 749 00:32:18,228 --> 00:32:21,898 settling into his role as a comedian's comedian. 750 00:32:21,898 --> 00:32:24,734 He was the ultimate comic's comic. 751 00:32:24,734 --> 00:32:26,695 You hear it a lot like, oh, they're a comic's comic. 752 00:32:26,695 --> 00:32:29,573 But with Norm, like, no one would argue that. 753 00:32:29,573 --> 00:32:32,909 Norm Macdonald. Norm Macdonald, Norm! 754 00:32:32,909 --> 00:32:34,119 Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome 755 00:32:34,119 --> 00:32:36,163 the very funny Norm Macdonald. 756 00:32:36,163 --> 00:32:37,581 Norm Macdonald! 757 00:32:37,581 --> 00:32:40,125 Ladies and gentlemen, Norm Macdonald. 758 00:32:40,125 --> 00:32:43,420 Norm was the very last comic 759 00:32:43,420 --> 00:32:46,548 to do stand-up on Dave's CBS show 760 00:32:46,548 --> 00:32:48,633 before Dave went off the air. 761 00:32:48,633 --> 00:32:52,387 Nobody made Letterman laugh harder than Norm Macdonald, 762 00:32:52,387 --> 00:32:55,390 so this was the perfect moment. 763 00:32:55,390 --> 00:32:56,641 And you know, you know you guys, 764 00:32:56,641 --> 00:32:59,019 we all know that David Letterman was the 765 00:32:59,019 --> 00:33:02,606 greatest talk show, who, host who ever lived, but I- 766 00:33:02,606 --> 00:33:05,025 [Cheering & applauding continues] 767 00:33:12,866 --> 00:33:15,410 I remember Dave differently because the first time 768 00:33:15,410 --> 00:33:17,621 I saw him, I was 13 years old. 769 00:33:17,621 --> 00:33:21,166 I was living in- [Voice breaking] 770 00:33:21,166 --> 00:33:26,588 [Chuckling & gasping] 771 00:33:26,588 --> 00:33:28,048 I was living in Toronto, Canada, 772 00:33:28,048 --> 00:33:30,425 and I went to a talk show they had there, and 773 00:33:30,425 --> 00:33:32,469 David Letterman was the stand-up comedian 774 00:33:32,469 --> 00:33:36,640 on the show. And I loved stand-up. 775 00:33:36,640 --> 00:33:40,143 So anyways, I'd just like to say I know that 776 00:33:40,143 --> 00:33:42,479 Mr. Letterman is, ah... 777 00:33:42,479 --> 00:33:47,234 not for the mockish and he has, 778 00:33:47,234 --> 00:33:49,778 he has no truck for the sentimental, 779 00:33:49,778 --> 00:33:53,198 but if something is true, it is not sentimental. 780 00:33:53,198 --> 00:33:56,785 And I say, in truth, I love you. 781 00:33:56,785 --> 00:33:58,578 Oh my God. 782 00:33:58,578 --> 00:34:01,039 Norm was standing there, and Letterman came over 783 00:34:01,039 --> 00:34:02,624 and he, he was crying. 784 00:34:02,624 --> 00:34:04,542 And, and I thought, that's the most emotional 785 00:34:04,542 --> 00:34:07,045 I've ever seen Norm Macdonald. Ever. 786 00:34:07,045 --> 00:34:11,299 It meant a lot to Dave, and it meant a lot to Norm. 787 00:34:11,299 --> 00:34:15,178 Now keep in mind, Norm... 788 00:34:15,178 --> 00:34:17,222 had to have known he was sick at the time. 789 00:34:17,222 --> 00:34:19,391 Norm! Oh my God! 790 00:34:19,391 --> 00:34:21,810 [Applauding] 791 00:34:21,810 --> 00:34:24,187 Very funny, Norm, and thank you. 792 00:34:24,187 --> 00:34:26,273 -Thank you for everything. -Thank you. 793 00:34:26,273 --> 00:34:28,441 Norm Macdonald, ladies and gentlemen. 794 00:34:28,441 --> 00:34:30,610 That was very sweet, Norm. 795 00:34:30,610 --> 00:34:32,862 He knew that he had a terminal illness at the time 796 00:34:32,862 --> 00:34:34,739 that he did that Letterman performance, 797 00:34:34,739 --> 00:34:36,700 but he was really a humble guy. 798 00:34:36,700 --> 00:34:38,410 And I think for him 799 00:34:38,410 --> 00:34:40,537 it was all about Letterman and, 800 00:34:40,537 --> 00:34:42,872 and not about himself. 801 00:34:42,872 --> 00:34:46,042 Norm's heartfelt appearance on Letterman reveals a side 802 00:34:46,042 --> 00:34:49,462 of the comedian never seen before in public, 803 00:34:49,462 --> 00:34:51,715 and the media takes notice. 804 00:34:51,715 --> 00:34:54,718 When you're doing stand-up, you know, you, you- 805 00:34:54,718 --> 00:34:57,095 -It's false by nature. -Yes. 806 00:34:57,095 --> 00:34:58,930 And then all of a sudden you kind of opened up 807 00:34:58,930 --> 00:35:00,640 as to who you were for real. 808 00:35:00,640 --> 00:35:01,766 Yeah. 809 00:35:01,766 --> 00:35:04,477 And you showed Letterman how much you cared about him. 810 00:35:04,477 --> 00:35:07,772 Netflix offers him his own talk show, and suddenly 811 00:35:07,772 --> 00:35:10,483 Norm Macdonald is back in the spotlight. 812 00:35:10,483 --> 00:35:12,360 Do you miss cocaine? 813 00:35:12,360 --> 00:35:14,446 Oh, there's a dog on the set, Chevy. 814 00:35:14,446 --> 00:35:16,406 I never went to a strip club. 815 00:35:16,406 --> 00:35:17,449 Well, we got tonight. 816 00:35:17,449 --> 00:35:19,868 I feel bad that Roseanne got fired. 817 00:35:19,868 --> 00:35:21,911 But when Norm speaks to a Hollywood reporter 818 00:35:21,911 --> 00:35:24,080 while promoting the show, he puts himself in 819 00:35:24,080 --> 00:35:26,416 the centre of an ugly controversy. 820 00:35:26,416 --> 00:35:29,252 He openly sympathizes with comedian Louis C.K., 821 00:35:29,252 --> 00:35:31,796 who is widely accused of sexual harassment. 822 00:35:31,796 --> 00:35:33,840 Five women came forward with sexual misconduct 823 00:35:33,840 --> 00:35:36,301 allegations against comedian Louis C.K. 824 00:35:36,301 --> 00:35:40,680 I was walking to set to shoot my scene and he 825 00:35:40,680 --> 00:35:43,683 approached me and got really close to my face and said, 826 00:35:43,683 --> 00:35:45,185 "Can I ask you something"? 827 00:35:45,185 --> 00:35:48,688 And I said, "Yes." And he said, 828 00:35:48,688 --> 00:35:52,984 "Can I masturbate in front of you in your dressing room"? 829 00:35:52,984 --> 00:35:54,694 Norm Macdonald did an interview about 830 00:35:54,694 --> 00:35:56,654 this new Netflix talk show he's doing. 831 00:35:56,654 --> 00:35:59,616 He's promoting it, and he made comments about the 832 00:35:59,616 --> 00:36:02,160 'Me Too' movement and his friend Roseanne and 833 00:36:02,160 --> 00:36:04,454 Louis C.K., and here's what he said. 834 00:36:04,454 --> 00:36:06,373 "There are very few people that have gone through 835 00:36:06,373 --> 00:36:08,750 what they have, losing everything in a day. 836 00:36:08,750 --> 00:36:11,211 Of course, people will go, 'What about the victims?' 837 00:36:11,211 --> 00:36:12,420 But you know what? 838 00:36:12,420 --> 00:36:14,756 The victims didn't have to go through that." 839 00:36:14,756 --> 00:36:17,884 Essentially, Norm Macdonald's argument is 840 00:36:17,884 --> 00:36:20,178 Louis C.K. lost his comedy special, 841 00:36:20,178 --> 00:36:22,514 he's lost a lot of cultural cache, 842 00:36:22,514 --> 00:36:24,140 people are mad at him, 843 00:36:24,140 --> 00:36:25,475 his legacy has been tarnished. 844 00:36:25,475 --> 00:36:28,520 And he says, "People say, 'What about 845 00:36:28,520 --> 00:36:29,854 what the victims go through?' 846 00:36:29,854 --> 00:36:33,858 Well, the victims never went through that." 847 00:36:33,858 --> 00:36:36,111 Norm attempts to explain his statements in a 848 00:36:36,111 --> 00:36:41,032 social media post, but criticism continues to build. 849 00:36:41,032 --> 00:36:44,202 I don't wanna make light of being the 850 00:36:44,202 --> 00:36:47,455 centre of a public shaming, as Louis C.K. was, 851 00:36:47,455 --> 00:36:49,290 I'm sure that's devastating to experience, 852 00:36:49,290 --> 00:36:52,919 but it's interesting that Norm Macdonald's 853 00:36:52,919 --> 00:36:55,338 immediate thought was, well, that's way worse 854 00:36:55,338 --> 00:36:58,174 than experiencing sexual assault. 855 00:36:58,174 --> 00:37:00,552 Like is that an equivalent that 856 00:37:00,552 --> 00:37:02,178 we're all comfortable drawing? 857 00:37:02,178 --> 00:37:04,305 Is that really what we're going to say 858 00:37:04,305 --> 00:37:06,349 is the baseline here? 859 00:37:06,349 --> 00:37:10,228 Norm's comments begin to cast a chill over his career. 860 00:37:10,228 --> 00:37:12,981 Comedian Norm Macdonald has had a 'Tonight Show' 861 00:37:12,981 --> 00:37:15,650 appearance nixed after some controversial remarks. 862 00:37:15,650 --> 00:37:18,445 Every year I do a big charity event, which raises, 863 00:37:18,445 --> 00:37:21,739 actually a couple of million dollars for a kid's charity, 864 00:37:21,739 --> 00:37:23,366 like Sick Kids or something. 865 00:37:23,366 --> 00:37:25,243 And we floated the idea of, 866 00:37:25,243 --> 00:37:27,495 we could get Norm Macdonald. 867 00:37:27,495 --> 00:37:29,747 We thought, wow, they're gonna love us for that. 868 00:37:29,747 --> 00:37:31,166 And the committee came back and said, 869 00:37:31,166 --> 00:37:33,293 "No, we don't want Norm Macdonald because 870 00:37:33,293 --> 00:37:34,752 he defended Louis C.K." 871 00:37:34,752 --> 00:37:38,089 It does seem as though he was pretty taken aback by 872 00:37:38,089 --> 00:37:41,509 the backlash, which was so intense that he just sort of 873 00:37:41,509 --> 00:37:45,138 stopped doing press cycle for his new show. 874 00:37:45,138 --> 00:37:47,515 Appearing on 'The View,' Norm tries to 875 00:37:47,515 --> 00:37:50,894 explain himself and mitigate the damage. 876 00:37:50,894 --> 00:37:54,063 But you kind of lose me when you imply that the hardship 877 00:37:54,063 --> 00:37:55,356 that your friend Louis C.K.- 878 00:37:55,356 --> 00:37:56,441 he's a friend of mine too, really- 879 00:37:56,441 --> 00:37:57,817 I know him a long time. 880 00:37:57,817 --> 00:38:00,987 That the hardship that he went through is equal to the 881 00:38:00,987 --> 00:38:03,114 hardship that the victims went through. 882 00:38:03,114 --> 00:38:04,949 That doesn't, that doesn't compute. 883 00:38:04,949 --> 00:38:05,825 No, it's not true. 884 00:38:05,825 --> 00:38:07,285 Can you explain yourself a little there? 885 00:38:07,285 --> 00:38:11,080 Yeah. That's not, that's not what I was saying. 886 00:38:11,080 --> 00:38:14,709 When this happened, I was working for Roseanne when 887 00:38:14,709 --> 00:38:16,961 Roseanne's thing went down, and I called her the next day 888 00:38:16,961 --> 00:38:19,756 and she was crying the whole time I was talking to her. 889 00:38:19,756 --> 00:38:21,758 I've known Roseanne for a while and I was worried 890 00:38:21,758 --> 00:38:24,928 about her 'cause she, she seemed really, really 891 00:38:24,928 --> 00:38:26,888 in a bad place. 892 00:38:26,888 --> 00:38:30,350 And I said, "I can't really talk to you about this 'cause 893 00:38:30,350 --> 00:38:32,268 I've never been through anything like this." 894 00:38:32,268 --> 00:38:35,188 And I said, "I know Louis, and he's been through this, 895 00:38:35,188 --> 00:38:37,190 where he's had everything taken from him." 896 00:38:37,190 --> 00:38:40,902 And I said, um... 897 00:38:40,902 --> 00:38:43,696 "Not many of us have gone through this, and, 898 00:38:43,696 --> 00:38:45,949 and so you should talk to each other 'cause you've, 899 00:38:45,949 --> 00:38:48,284 you've..." And then the guy said, 900 00:38:48,284 --> 00:38:49,619 "What about the victims"? And I said, 901 00:38:49,619 --> 00:38:51,204 "Well, the victims haven't gone through this." 902 00:38:51,204 --> 00:38:53,331 It's too little too late. 903 00:38:53,331 --> 00:38:56,000 By the time the dust settles, Netflix chooses to 904 00:38:56,000 --> 00:38:58,920 end Norm's talk show after one season. 905 00:39:07,804 --> 00:39:09,973 A shocking loss in the comedy world today, 906 00:39:09,973 --> 00:39:12,100 comedian Norm Macdonald has died after 907 00:39:12,100 --> 00:39:14,477 a private battle with cancer. 908 00:39:14,477 --> 00:39:17,188 On September 14th, 2021, 909 00:39:17,188 --> 00:39:19,732 Norm Macdonald dies of leukemia, 910 00:39:19,732 --> 00:39:23,444 suddenly laying bare a secret he has long been hiding. 911 00:39:23,444 --> 00:39:25,989 He wasn't open about his health issues, 912 00:39:25,989 --> 00:39:28,283 which apparently were incredibly shocking to 913 00:39:28,283 --> 00:39:30,743 a lot of us who said, who found out that 914 00:39:30,743 --> 00:39:33,454 he had been suffering for years and years. 915 00:39:33,454 --> 00:39:36,124 I... 916 00:39:36,124 --> 00:39:39,252 I, I had no clue. 917 00:39:39,252 --> 00:39:42,213 The way Norm was able to keep his illness secret was 918 00:39:42,213 --> 00:39:46,134 because he's so respected that I think between 919 00:39:46,134 --> 00:39:50,388 his right to privacy and not telling many people, 920 00:39:50,388 --> 00:39:52,849 the few who knew weren't gonna say a word. 921 00:39:52,849 --> 00:39:56,519 I, I spoke to Norm, the last time, 922 00:39:56,519 --> 00:40:00,898 the July before he passed away that fall. 923 00:40:00,898 --> 00:40:05,194 And I knew something was wrong. 924 00:40:05,194 --> 00:40:07,405 Spidey senses. 925 00:40:07,405 --> 00:40:09,324 Norm's illness was definitely a surprise to me, 926 00:40:09,324 --> 00:40:11,367 and not only me, to many people. 927 00:40:11,367 --> 00:40:15,663 I'm sure there was a few in his family that knew about it. 928 00:40:15,663 --> 00:40:19,334 I, I don't think it was 929 00:40:19,334 --> 00:40:22,086 hard to hide it 'cause, 930 00:40:22,086 --> 00:40:24,172 you don't talk about it, it's hidden. 931 00:40:24,172 --> 00:40:26,966 We were making a run across the open... 932 00:40:26,966 --> 00:40:29,010 Richard Farnsworth was nominated for 933 00:40:29,010 --> 00:40:31,929 an Academy Award for the movie. 934 00:40:31,929 --> 00:40:36,267 And if he had said he was, he was filled with cancer, 935 00:40:36,267 --> 00:40:38,478 he would've won for sure. -Sure. 936 00:40:38,478 --> 00:40:40,730 But instead, he didn't say it. 937 00:40:40,730 --> 00:40:43,691 And in fact, no one knew it. 938 00:40:43,691 --> 00:40:46,611 His family didn't know it. He kept it from everyone. 939 00:40:46,611 --> 00:40:49,197 So that, to me, is courageous. 940 00:40:49,197 --> 00:40:51,741 Like, you're, you know, you're not being a burden to 941 00:40:51,741 --> 00:40:54,202 your family, you know, they know nothing about it, 942 00:40:54,202 --> 00:40:56,579 and then you're gone. 943 00:40:56,579 --> 00:40:59,582 His passion was doing comedy and doing interesting, 944 00:40:59,582 --> 00:41:02,710 funny things in his life, and... 945 00:41:02,710 --> 00:41:08,174 I don't, I don't know this, but I would imagine 946 00:41:08,174 --> 00:41:12,136 he felt that if it was public, 947 00:41:12,136 --> 00:41:15,098 it would colour what he was doing, 948 00:41:15,098 --> 00:41:16,182 how he was doing it, 949 00:41:16,182 --> 00:41:18,017 and how he was being received. 950 00:41:18,017 --> 00:41:21,145 And the Laugh Factory's marquee in Hollywood tonight 951 00:41:21,145 --> 00:41:24,607 lit up with Macdonald's bright smile and the message, 952 00:41:24,607 --> 00:41:26,818 'Make God laugh.' 953 00:41:26,818 --> 00:41:29,779 ♪ 954 00:41:29,779 --> 00:41:31,447 In light of the controversies that dogged him 955 00:41:31,447 --> 00:41:33,616 in the last few years of his life, 956 00:41:33,616 --> 00:41:38,663 Norm's legacy has become more complicated. 957 00:41:38,663 --> 00:41:41,249 I didn't know Norm- like again, 958 00:41:41,249 --> 00:41:45,002 I feel like I knew surface Norm. 959 00:41:45,002 --> 00:41:48,423 I never got to know the deeper layers of Norm. 960 00:41:48,423 --> 00:41:50,174 He never would let, I don't, I don't know if 961 00:41:50,174 --> 00:41:52,468 he let too many people in there. 962 00:41:52,468 --> 00:41:56,347 There certainly was a darkness embedded in 963 00:41:56,347 --> 00:41:58,516 all of Norm's comedy. 964 00:41:58,516 --> 00:42:01,227 I mean, he could do corny stuff, sure, 965 00:42:01,227 --> 00:42:05,273 but there was almost a, a resentment or 966 00:42:05,273 --> 00:42:07,525 anger built in there. 967 00:42:07,525 --> 00:42:10,445 I think after Norm Macdonald died, 968 00:42:10,445 --> 00:42:12,613 there is this really big impulse 969 00:42:12,613 --> 00:42:15,241 in popular culture and especially in comedy, 970 00:42:15,241 --> 00:42:18,953 to want to just celebrate him and 971 00:42:18,953 --> 00:42:20,955 his life in this uncomplicated, 972 00:42:20,955 --> 00:42:22,206 lovely way, you know. 973 00:42:22,206 --> 00:42:24,584 And I think a lot of people experience that as like, 974 00:42:24,584 --> 00:42:26,335 "Oh, what a buzz kill. You know, I just 975 00:42:26,335 --> 00:42:29,464 wanted to love this man, uncomplicated." 976 00:42:29,464 --> 00:42:32,633 And what I think some of the 977 00:42:32,633 --> 00:42:35,052 women have said is, 978 00:42:35,052 --> 00:42:36,804 "I didn't do this to his legacy. 979 00:42:36,804 --> 00:42:39,056 He did it to his own legacy." 980 00:42:39,056 --> 00:42:42,101 I think Norm Macdonald's legacy 981 00:42:42,101 --> 00:42:44,604 is that he was a 982 00:42:44,604 --> 00:42:46,981 completely unique voice in comedy. 983 00:42:46,981 --> 00:42:50,067 He is one of the finest anchors that SNL 984 00:42:50,067 --> 00:42:52,153 ever had on 'Weekend Update.' 985 00:42:52,153 --> 00:42:53,571 That's all for now, folks. 986 00:42:53,571 --> 00:42:55,782 That's the way it is, goodnight. 987 00:42:55,782 --> 00:42:58,034 You know, the people that leave legacies, 988 00:42:58,034 --> 00:43:01,287 people like Norm are... 989 00:43:01,287 --> 00:43:03,915 just brave in their art. 990 00:43:03,915 --> 00:43:07,794 And anybody who's non-conforming 991 00:43:07,794 --> 00:43:10,171 inspires the next generation 992 00:43:10,171 --> 00:43:12,298 to not conform. 993 00:43:12,298 --> 00:43:14,050 I don't think Norm was ever ambitious. 994 00:43:14,050 --> 00:43:16,260 I think he- the, the fact that he, 995 00:43:16,260 --> 00:43:19,430 he kind of ambled his way into success, I think. 996 00:43:19,430 --> 00:43:24,018 He didn't really, he never seemed driven. 997 00:43:24,018 --> 00:43:26,813 You know, he never seemed like a guy 998 00:43:26,813 --> 00:43:28,648 who wanted to be a big star. 999 00:43:28,648 --> 00:43:30,024 He just seemed like a guy who, like, 1000 00:43:30,024 --> 00:43:33,277 wanted to tell good jokes. 1001 00:43:33,277 --> 00:43:36,405 When I have my funeral, you know? 1002 00:43:36,405 --> 00:43:38,074 And you know at most of these funerals- 1003 00:43:38,074 --> 00:43:41,953 [Whimpering] Crying and sad and everything like that, 1004 00:43:41,953 --> 00:43:45,373 and that's what I'd like, you know? 1005 00:43:45,373 --> 00:43:47,291 I don't want- I've heard of other ones, 1006 00:43:47,291 --> 00:43:50,628 "Let's have a party!" Ah, ah, ah, ah. 1007 00:43:50,628 --> 00:43:53,214 -Whoa, whoa! -No party. 1008 00:43:53,214 --> 00:43:55,591 There'll be a lot of party days later, 1009 00:43:55,591 --> 00:43:57,635 but right now this is, I'm dead.