Norm Macdonald

By now, most of you have probably heard about Norm Macdonald’s passing.

This shocked and saddened me, as he was one of my favorite comedians. His sense of humor was often way out there, in that he’d often take you on a journey with a hilarious left turn at the end.

On stage, he played it as if he was a bit dim, but he was usually the smartest guy in the room. Well read, incredibly knowledgable about a wide variety of subjects. A sharp mind that would constantly surprise you.

He was fearless. No topic was off-limit when there was an opportunity to show how hypocritical we are about some topics, a more intrusive style of observational humor that was always very clever and laugh out loud funny.

He was extremely religious, which always surprised me, as it seemed at odds with his usual way of thinking and attitude in general. If I didn’t know otherwise, I’d have assumed he was an athiest, if anything. But there again, he surprised. I really do get the feeling that we only scratched the surface on this guy, and we’ll likely never know any more.

Because he was an extremely private man. He had cancer for nine years, and never told a soul. Not his closest friends, not even his family. Everyone’s different, and I get not wanting to broadcast something like that to the world for a variety of reasons, but to not tell his family, especially his son? Best thing I could say here is that he was a complicated dude.

I wouldn’t dare try and tell any of his material because I don’t have his delivery, timing or talent, and would be doing him a disservice. But do yourself a favor and go down a YouTube rabbit hole and look up some of his stuff. The “moth story” when he was on Conan, or his last stand-up set he did as Letterman’s final guest before his show went off the air. Plenty more out there, so go explore. Rest in peace, Norm.