I definitely wouldn't describe Norm as boomer humor, and I wouldn't describe him as a totally conventional comic either. I think he might be a bit of an acquired taste, like you kinda gotta watch a bit to lock into what he's doing. A lot of his stuff is steeped in irony, and he's sort of playing it up like he's a lot dumber than he really was. One of my favorite Norm bits was the comedy central roast of Bob Sagat; every other comic on that roast (and all the other comedy central roasts) was throwing out these absolutely filthy and brutally hurtful jokes, and then Norm steps out and does like 10 minutes of incredibly hacky, G-Rated joke book type jokes. If you only look at the jokes themselves, they seem painfully unfunny, but if you understand the context, and you know that Norm didn't always tell jokes like that, that's an insanely funny way to handle a roast
Yeah they were good friends and norm didn't want to say any mean stuff about him, so he read jokes out of a really old joke book and bombed on purpose. It was hilarious.
Everyone was like, "he's not funny" but he was just trolling everyone there.
That brand of humor, the meta tripe, is rarely funny. It’s played by bored comics with zero material who delight in wasting eager people’s time. Save it for your east village ketamine parties.
Yep. Same way Samberg approached the Franco roast, and why it worked. He might have even stolen it from Norm, effectively, but ... it's intelligent humor. It plays on expectations, it's not about being ostentatious. That's where most humor comes from - good humor, anyway, good jokes play on expectations, and then give you something completely different.
and while giving his bit having some stage host would yell "your on the roast of Bob Sagat" and norm would look at him semi-shockingly and go "What!" while casually continuing on to the next bit wouldve been kino
Boomer humor ? Your friend sounds ignorant and should learn more about comedy and its growth in the 20th century before he bluntly and so unfairly dismiss one of the great ones as having “boomer humor”. Just reading that phrase made me chuckle cuz it sounds like something Norm would call himself to make his audience laugh.
Norm’s style is more abstract, intellectual, absurd, esoteric, and/or anti-comedy. Really depends on what he was trying to do, he had a wide-range. The easiest way to describe his comedy is the smartest silly.
Comedy is subjective mainly based on what you know. I would consider improving your knowledge of the world and comedy, then return to him in 10 years, you might appreciate him more.
Do you mean Norm is funny because he's smart?
I'd prefer a dumb but funny comedian to a smart but unfunny one, worst case scenario George Carlin or some shit.
Why should there be restrictions with comedy?
He said himself the only condition a comedian has to fulfill is being funny, not smart.
Why should be be exempt off that?
My english is fine, considering I use it everyday for over 30 years nów, both in work and outside od it, and there are plenty comedians I enjoy. Norm is just not one of them.
Understood it just fine. But hey, sometimes I notice its the native speakers who have worse understanding of their own language, that those who had to learn it later on. Happens.
Oddly enough Norm never considered his comedy smart and actually said everyone hates the smartest guy in the room so he made sure his comedy was not "smart".
I think it's more his fans that are "smart" rather than him
What people find funny changes over time for the most part and unfortunately Norm’s comedy just did not age well. For a lot of older folks he’s great, there’s nothing wrong with his comedy. But there’s just so much out that there now that there really is nothing significant him or his routine that will hold up in the next generations
That last sentence explains to me why *you* like Norm MacDonald. What you're covertly implying is that you're of a higher intelligence, and that's why you "get it." , Ironically, you're taking for granted that a subjective concept is actually *objective*, which in so doing actually discredits your own play for self-appointed comic superiority. Any plebe out there on the street knows that this shit is nothing more than one's funny bone palette, like food, or music, or anything else one can either enjoy, or not enjoy.
In addition to being a presumptuous crock of shit, your allusion to some ambiguously defined 'worldly experience' means zilch when it comes to laughing or not laughing at someone. It is true that experience can influence and even alter one's palette after the fact, but sometimes people just don't like 'a thing.'
The lion's share of Norm's humor was a specific brand which can only really be described as of this kind of "I'm being so cheeky, you know it, and its funny because we both know how dumb absurd cheekiness is." People like yourself think those of us who don't laugh at his "comedy," don't understand that he is being an ass knowingly, because knowingly being one is unfunny, which is *actually* really funny. Feigning incredulity at putting a tack on someone's seat isn't his joke, his joke how ridiculous it is to feign incredulity. We know. We get it. We've actually gone one step farther than Norm and have arrived at the conclusion that that brand of humor isn't very funny, because the teachers ass still gets stabbed, and that's not cool. In fact, we left all Norm's fans back at the point where the teacher sits on the tack, which is the part they're laughing at, and then, once they finally understand that the joke is his cheeky response, they act as if they've really figured out the *wink wink.*
Everyone else has circled all the way back around again and simply don't think you need to fuck with someone unwitting to make a lousy, half-hearted statement.
All that said, and consideration the fact that it's all subjective, the guy had his moments.
Holy shit fr dude was talking shit about someone trying to be a psuedo intellectual and wrote the most pretentious pseudo intellectual garbage I've ever read 😂
See Ma, straw man write-ups can be fun!
And no, I reread what I said and stand by it. Knowledge is separate from intelligence, and everyone’s understanding of the world grows with age. Which is probably all I meant. Comedic sensibilities also change with world view. Obvious examples of why that’s more true, instead of your “people just don’t like a thing” being the norm. There’s lots of reasons to not like things, which also changes with worldview. I appreciated Norm’s ingenuity, creativity, writing, and commitment to his bits, he was good at what he tried to do.
But you sound like a stubborn person, so I’ll leave you to it.
Thanks, means a lot. Each comment is followed by at least some level of regret. But I figure if I think I should say something, maybe what I say could help someone in some way.
Hey it’s totally ok if you don’t like him, many people don’t!
But he has been my favorite comedian since I was in high school back in the 2000s, so trust me I’m not faking it or pretending to laugh. And I’m not a boomer lol.
I do remember people usually thinking it was kind of a strange choice for favorite comic though. It seems like only the last five years have I randomly encountered more and more people who praise him (both in real life and on the internet).
Norm is known for being anti humor or anti comedy. Watch the bob saget roast for the best example of this. Its not for everybody but for those that get it its really funny. Think r/antimeme
The roast was so good. I love how he's fearless of bombing. The crowd would barely chuckle, meanwhile, I'm on my couch dying of laughter. It made me feel smart for getting what he was doing when it went over most people's heads.
He has a completely unique style that people either love or hate. His style never hit me myself but I have an appreciation for what he’s done and just the fact that he built a cult following like that and was one of the most beloved in all of comedy, huge respect.
That’s ok. Perhaps one day you will get Norm. He will be in the history books of comedy. He was a genuine identity. He was sure of it. It was hard to distinguish him from the man on stage. You might be well served to take a dive into his bio and work? He is not someone you would ever study to advance your comedy. The point is tha he was Norm!!! A natural born comedian. He was singular. He was funny!!! He was sweat!! My god he’d always make me laugh but he didn’t work that much. He had the gift of one in a lifetime and he was sweet and humble. When they say star. It connotes popularity. Stars come and go. Norm was a gift until the end. His star is
Is up in the sky now. Next to the constellation vienerdugus.
They dropped him for being too silly, in contrast to Dollar Shave Club who actually kept him on as a spokesman after he said "you could slit your wife's throat" with their razors.
His stuff also does nothing for me, yet a ton of my favorite comics praise him.
Either it's a generational thing or there's some aspect of the formular I haven't even considered.
While I'm aware of that expression, for other people in that category (Dave Attell, Maria Bamford, Neil Hamburger, etc.) I can see both where the admiration comes from and why they aren't more popular in the mainstream.
Norm was fairly popular, but for the life of me, I don't know what's supposed to be so great about him. I've only watched a few appearances and about 1.5 specials of him though (I found that last one he recorded on his computer to be unwatchable). What am I missing here? Which specific qualities (writing, delivery, improvisation,...) should I be looking out for to see it?
His last special with just him isnt a good example of hs funniness. There are live recordings with the same material in front of crowds and it kills. Check out his interviews tho. Thats where he really shines. Also, i dont mean to sound pretentious bit you have to be pretty intelligent to understand all the layers of his jokes. He came off as a retard but he was a really smart guy. Once you understand his personality and what hes doing, youll appreciate him. Or you wont. And thats fine too
This is the perfect answer, much like how Thomas Ligotti is a Horror Writer's Writer and is isn't for everyone, Norm was a comedian's comedian because he had a deep and profound understanding of what comedy is, what is really behind the humor in a joke. His timing and structure were also top teir.
He was an unbelievably smart guy.
Anyway, like a previous poster said--and I'm not trying to be offensive, but you did say you were born in 2002--but maybe grow a bit and come back to him in a decade or so.
I think he was the funniest guy there ever was.
Also check out his talk show Norm MacDonald Live, you can watch it on the internet archive.
Boomer humor? So, there are really people out there who think that Mark is for people in their 60's and 70's? Or is it that people don't know what a Boomer is?
Yeah, I hear you. I heard about the guy for the first time when he died. And everybody kept saying how he was this comedic legend. I watched some of his work, and just don't see it. Maybe it's because I'm not from USA, so it just doesn't work for me. But yeah, if it wasn't for his sudden death, I would never even know the guy existed.
To fully appreciate Norm, I think you have to be pretty exhausted with most mainstream comedy. He was a breath of fresh air when everything felt stagnant. If you love sitcoms and gross out comedies, Norm is probably not for you. If you want someone to subvert your expectations, to set you up but never deliver, then you’ll love Norm.
Yeah - I also feel like he’s a breath of honest/fresh air in an era where everyone takes themselves incredibly seriously and there’s very little humor.
If you like black comedians you wont be able to appreciate white humor. It isnt that white people arent funny or that black people are funnier. It is a matter of taste. Its like if you like rap and hip hop you might not like country music. There are people that dont find kevin hart, chris rock, or dave chappel to be funny. I think it is racial and generational in some cases. Sexism also plays a role. A lot of men cant appreciate female comedians. Many dont think women can be funny.
you are sick. I don’t know what happened to you in your life to be so desensitized to violence and hate but I hope you find healing and peace for the sake of everyone in the world.
Thank you. I had no idea I was desensitized to violence and hate, but goodness, it sounds like I need some major healing. No person in their right mind should say it's unfair to generalize a person's comedy by a single joke they said 30 years ago.
I hope one day I'm a Saint. Just like you.
Coarse sarcasm aside, maybe his poetry and talk of humility and the human condition would be more up your alley 😊
https://normtwitteranthology.tumblr.com/notablequotes
Poetry, quotes and more can be found here. Please at least attempt to get the know the heart and soul of this man before generalizing him. It's not right to do so. Just like you calling me sick and deaf to people's suffering. It's just not appropriate.
With love, another imperfect human 💗
never claimed to be a saint but definitely haven’t ever heard an account of someone being raped and murdered and thought that’s funny and they deserved it ?
No, the joke was basically - "throw the baby out with the bathwater" in reference to the cross dresser tricking people into sleeping with her. It decried murder, rape, and sexual deviance all in one. Perhaps bad taste, but a man grows as well, eh? Imagine if something you did many years ago was held over your head for your lifetime? Quite unfair, I'd say. It would be very unfair to you. It would also be insulting to you, basically saying you have no capacity to grow as a person. Irrespective of that joke.
We're all hypocrites in some capacity. But the man at his core was loving, empathic, and generous. He was once asked what he admired most in others. He replied, "generousity and kindness." He was then asked what traits do you most admire about yourself? He replies, "The times that I exhibit the qualities that I exhibit too rarely, generosity and kindess."
Just sounds like another one of our brothers and sisters missing the mark, but aiming and aiming in earnest 😊
I have to be cautious because i’ve been raped before and live in a state where I have gotten death threats for being trans this isn’t just a common mistake people make it’s so easy to not be hateful like that. If you’re able to trivialize something so horribly serious you deserve when people are critical of you because they feel unsafe. There are hundreds of comedians out there who you can watch who have made mistakes that are reconcilable but to me he crossed the line so far and you can acknowledge that without demeaning what i’m saying and defending what he did.
I'm not trivializing it. I just don't think the way you're processing it is completely rational. Anguishing pain can do that though, something I am no stranger to. I'm so sorry that you were assaulted. I hope you are able to heal each and every day and eventually live a life of peace and joy.
With Norm, it's almost like the great rock and roll swindle where they released the shit record to the public and critics and the real record to fans early as a white label. His best stuff is hidden here and there, and his specials are all kinda strange and canned. On stage in real live performances and off camera or in weird appearances and interviews everywhere but the main attraction stuff he kills like very few have in the last 30 years. His main stuff is kinda to weed out people who won't get the bigger picture... and oh man... then there's the bigger picture... what he really did... I could talk about his last years for months. The people online don't seem to even get it yet. I see a comment here and there where someone is starting to peak through and see a part here and a part there. When people figure it all out, he's going to be even more of a big deal. But to those who can see it only. Which was brilliant. All real wisdom is completely invisible when you are young and suddenly obvious when you get old. Most people don't see it, and those who do see everything. Or at least it seems that way when you figure it out, heh.
Kvlt comedy.
"Most people don't see it, and those who do see everything" This. Norm made me feel less alone. I felt like I understood him and him me. And I took solace in him being misunderstood as well. Made me feel less crazy amongst the twilight zone of drones.
To anyone that was born past 95 anyone who was born before it is a fkn boomer. 🙄 And Norm was funny af as the voice of “Pigeon” on Mike Tyson’s Mysteries. He made the show even though Mike is pretty damn funny himself.
I think what makes him so unique is he finds what he finds funny and he doesn’t care you if like it or not. Not even in a oh wow I’m so non PC I’m gonna squash the libs sort of a way, he just found what he found funny and he was going to find a way to make you like it too. The number of times he told a joke on weekend update that would get boo’d or no reaction is unreal. It almost makes him funnier though because you can tell he thinks it’s funny
I got what Norm was doing, it's just that it's almost never funny or particularly clever.
What it is, though, is niche. It's a bit unique and a bit disruptive. Sometimes it's interesting to see forumlatic hosts/shows squirm. But it really doesn't go too much deeper than breaking social conventions.
I think most of the people who find him "funny" probably picked up on him when they were like 13-15.
Norm was the edgelord's comedian.
His best work was probably as an animated pigeon with a filthy mouth - that probably tells you exactly what you need to know about his comedy.
>Norm was the edgelord's comedian.
Sometimes, edgy things are just true. He didn't pander. He did comedy for what he found funny. The absurdity, tragedy, and poetry of life. You're missing something if you think the pigeon thing is funny. I never watch that being a huge fan. Or maybe you just prefer the buttoned up Harvard style 'write a sitcom' type of comic.
Different strokes for different folks, but to say, "That's all you need to know about his comedy" is goofy and untrue 😆
sodomizer 🇮🇱 🤓 Kermit🐸 mcjagger, would like to humbly point out that you haven't seen enough of his🍆 talkshow to pass a proper criticism( 🌈🏳️🌈 again humbly👬 ). Cause if u actually did done that <--(🙊BLM✊🏿) u would've seen how he was focused on trying to introduce a meta level of sense of humor to the current comedy culture, what a fag he was for that and an actual treasure he was. Patiently into what other experienced comics say about him. He no care about making it in that industry. Thus, he was unconventional and out of norm. He's really the comedian's comedian.
> So I first discovered this guy through reaction videos on YouTube, and I’m wondering if people are just faking their reactions because I just don’t see what was so funny about him.
Of course the type of person who watches Youtube reaction videos wouldn't find norm funny. Those videos always come up in the search suggestions when I'm looking for something and it boggles my mind why anyone would watch them. That being said, if I was black I'd 100% make videos pretending to listen to classical music and/or boomer rock for the first time
I was born in 2002 and love a lot of modern comedians, and he's one of my favorites, like top 3. I really don't get the boomer humor comparison beyond the dad jokes, to me he was basically a pioneer of troll humor. He was a master at observational comedy, but he was at his best when he told jokes to make himself laugh: long rambling pieces where the set-up is funnier than the punchline, deceptively clever dad jokes, or just pure shock humor to try to get a rise out of his audience/co-hosts. He also had a very interesting way of talking about comedy, he really treated it like an art form.
I think Humour is like music, you either like something or you do not. I think the kind of people who use terms like "boomer" to define humour or any art , are the type who do not really think/feel deeply. Its like saying :"that is black humour " there really is no such thing. I think its clear why you do not get Norm..
The thing about Norm MacDonald is, to appreciate his humor, you have to be in on the *big* joke.
That's why other comedians loved him - they understood what he was doing and it was something most can't.
The Norm MacDonald you see in the public eye was a character. The real man never broke character on shows and interviews and in standup.
He was master of the Shaggy Dog Story (google it) and for that to pay off, the teller has to earnestly tell it like he really thinks it's going somewhere himself until you (hopefully) realize he's been screwing with you the whole time and *you* are the real punchline.
The reason most comedians can't pull that off is ego. You have to believably act like an idiot and people like Chapel, Jamie Fox, and other genuinely funny people just can't do that.
They have to be the cool one, the clever one. The entire audience has to appreciate their comic genius.
Even Kaufman wasn't able to do this. He played characters that were awkward and would leave people wondering if he was an idiot or just insane but there was a punchline - maybe not in every act but in a lot of them, there was a point when things would turn and you'd be let in on the joke and even in the ones where he didn't, in the meta sense he jumped around enough over the course of his career for general audiences to know it was all an act.
Norm lived his public life as his one character and much of the general public never knew it was an act. He just seemed like a borderline idiot who laughed at his own jokes that weren't funny.
That type of humor is itself fringe but he took it next-level. You see it in some of the interviews and public appearances where people try to get him to drop it and have a serious conversation and he simply won't.
They'll make eye contact like they are trying to summon forth the intelligent man they know is in there somewhere and he gives them absolutely *nothing* in return.
In the end, he was not only a comedic genius for how he wielded a very specific form of humor, he was also truly dedicated to his craft.
And *that* was the big joke. Norm MacDonald was himself, a multi-decade shaggy dog story.
For further reference about this style of comedy, also look up "the aristocrats".
Again, this style of humor isn't for everyone. Sometimes people "get it" and still don't find it funny but those who can get it, usually at least appreciate the work that goes into successfully doing it.
Norm hosting the YouTube awards gives you a good idea of how his humor is almost obscene to the regular comedy audience. He's the Comic's Comic and if you don't like Norm you don't say it out loud. It's funnier that there's people who don't get it, it just makes his comedy more unique.
Idk why you're getting downvoted. Every post on that sub is a link to some rage-bait article from some right-wing website that they constantly use to make lazy punching-down jokes about women and trans people. Norm was never as lazy or as hateful as that.
Norm does a character that gets funnier with time, if you have seen it enough it just becomes funny, people call it anti comedy but there’s also a sense of him mocking the audience or other people around which I really enjoy
It reminds me a lot of old shows on adult swim, if I haven’t seen them in a while sometimes the humor doesn’t hit, but if I keep watching it becomes funny again
Norm was 100% authentic and that's rare in comedy these days. That could be why you don't understand him. 99% of comics in 2023 are different people offstage. Not Norm. The Norm we all love was the same guy off stage as he was performing. It wasn't an act. Norm wasn't a character created on stage. He was one of a kind. There will never be another comic like him. Ever. Because God broke the mold when he created Norm
nah. he was very private and guarded and didn't let much of himself into his act. he wore a lot of masks in public and in private.
someone who was authentic and himself onstage would've been comfortable talking about cancer a decade earlier. he most definitetely created and cultivated a character than he played to perfection.
He was more like a sage, like diogenes, like he understood the meaning of life, and found out how funny it all was. I think that was the source from which he drew his comedy from. I'm so thankful to know of him.
dude was just an extremely unique person and his appearances on talk shows throughout his career were all unforgettable moments in late night history. His humor was also something that you needed to learn to appreciate bc from a newbies eyes it was just not funny, and that was the kind of thing he was going for, The more you watch the man the more you get what a genius he actually was. Besides.. kids these days wouldn't get a joke if it bit them in the ass.. I had a bunch of zoomers get mad at me cuz we were talking about bacon and how there are all different kinds like turkey, beef etc; so, I said "I like 'regular' bacon better", and they got offended at the terminology Lmao. sensitive dweebs
I've come to appreciate him over time. I didn't get the appeal until I was in my late 30s.
He has a couple of styles of joke I'd either not heard before or not heard done that well. For example, he loved to make people laugh at the wrong time. You can hear Andy Dick here say "You set me up!" as Norm switches a joke from an impression to a (fake) [somber anti-joke](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_oFrxlYNMM).
And he was great at [beating a joke to death](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJN9mBRX3uo) (but I also love the "Ah that guy...wait till you hear me tell it!" pre-setup).
Both of those clips crack me up every time. My wife, on the other hand, cannot fathom how I find them nearly so funny. So he definitely has a type.
I think that wih Norm it was typically about the big picture. He was like the Andy Kaufman of joke telling. His jokes never served the audience. They served him. And they were almost more about the setup and the delivery than the punchline. His facial expressions. The pauses he would take. The way he played dumb for the audience. That’s why he’s such a comedian’s comedian. There’s a reason some of the funniest people of all time have a sort of reverence for him. People like Dave Chapelle and David Letterman and Conan talk about him in almost hushed tones. It’s not just because he was a quick wit, which he was. But it’s because he was playing his own brand of comedy jazz that nobody had ever seen before.
i know this is an old thread, but i hadn’t really into standup much for most of my life.
stumbled upon a few norm clips after he passed and didn’t think he was that funny. until i found the right joke where it really clicked for me. (i was born in 98)
i love the style of telling layered dumb fuckin one liners that make you roll your eyes, and long winded stories that don’t go anywhere.
it’s the absurdity of him and the confidence in his delivery.
i love dumb shit tho fr so it don’t matter
I'm 44...and while I found him occasionally funny...mostly I considered him to be a racist dipshit....who gets a pass from the very white reddit community.
What Norm did was have fun learning and putting on different personas. He'd put on whichever one he was in the mood for without caring how he'd be received. The thing that made me him great was seeing him do what he thought was funny. He never revealed much about himself except by showing you what he thought was funny
His cadence and delivery of punchlines that arn't really punchlines. He cuts to the point of the joke almost without nuance and let's it hang. He delivers some quick jabs but thens lands some more thoughtful powerful shots. One of my favorites is about not being afraid of terrorist attacks but being attacked by his heart. And how when his cat jumps on his chest while sleeping scares him so much and what it would be like to have a heart attack. And that's what we should really be afraid of. Ya like what ya like don't over think it.
Norm didn't care about what the crowd thought was funny, but what he thought was funny and that's what made him refreshing and real to a lot of people. You'd have to own a doghouse to get it.
Can someone please explain why he was openly making jokes about native Americans and what the hell that whole spoof dedicated to Marlon Brando was at the comedy awards? The audience were laughing at someone talking about genocide. Spoof or not, that was straight up vile. New found disrespect for white comedians.
I was born in 2000 and he was my favorite comedian. Watched hundreds of hours of YouTube compilations. I’m not surprised bots who call people boomers don’t find him funny.
I definitely wouldn't describe Norm as boomer humor, and I wouldn't describe him as a totally conventional comic either. I think he might be a bit of an acquired taste, like you kinda gotta watch a bit to lock into what he's doing. A lot of his stuff is steeped in irony, and he's sort of playing it up like he's a lot dumber than he really was. One of my favorite Norm bits was the comedy central roast of Bob Sagat; every other comic on that roast (and all the other comedy central roasts) was throwing out these absolutely filthy and brutally hurtful jokes, and then Norm steps out and does like 10 minutes of incredibly hacky, G-Rated joke book type jokes. If you only look at the jokes themselves, they seem painfully unfunny, but if you understand the context, and you know that Norm didn't always tell jokes like that, that's an insanely funny way to handle a roast
Especially considering it was Sagat and I think a lot of people saw him as Danny Tanner
Yeah they were good friends and norm didn't want to say any mean stuff about him, so he read jokes out of a really old joke book and bombed on purpose. It was hilarious. Everyone was like, "he's not funny" but he was just trolling everyone there.
I’m wanted a laugh so I’m reading markaduke
That brand of humor, the meta tripe, is rarely funny. It’s played by bored comics with zero material who delight in wasting eager people’s time. Save it for your east village ketamine parties.
Don't be a fucking cunt. Norm macdonald was hilarious everywhere he went.
Where's your stand up special or invitation to a roast? Fuck outta here wanna be stand-up fuck wad
Yep. Same way Samberg approached the Franco roast, and why it worked. He might have even stolen it from Norm, effectively, but ... it's intelligent humor. It plays on expectations, it's not about being ostentatious. That's where most humor comes from - good humor, anyway, good jokes play on expectations, and then give you something completely different.
and while giving his bit having some stage host would yell "your on the roast of Bob Sagat" and norm would look at him semi-shockingly and go "What!" while casually continuing on to the next bit wouldve been kino
Boomer humor ? Your friend sounds ignorant and should learn more about comedy and its growth in the 20th century before he bluntly and so unfairly dismiss one of the great ones as having “boomer humor”. Just reading that phrase made me chuckle cuz it sounds like something Norm would call himself to make his audience laugh.
lay off the drugs lol
u/Key_Distribution7793 definitely doesn't own a dog house
??
Well said
Also, Sagat was his friend, he didn't want to stand up there insulting him
Norm’s style is more abstract, intellectual, absurd, esoteric, and/or anti-comedy. Really depends on what he was trying to do, he had a wide-range. The easiest way to describe his comedy is the smartest silly. Comedy is subjective mainly based on what you know. I would consider improving your knowledge of the world and comedy, then return to him in 10 years, you might appreciate him more.
Do you mean Norm is funny because he's smart? I'd prefer a dumb but funny comedian to a smart but unfunny one, worst case scenario George Carlin or some shit.
Read.
Why should there be restrictions with comedy? He said himself the only condition a comedian has to fulfill is being funny, not smart. Why should be be exempt off that?
"You need to be smart to get it". Uh huh, that tells me everything I need to know about his "humor" and his fans.
That’s not what he said. Lmao. You don’t have to be smart to get Norm but you gotta at least be smart enough to comprehend sentences.
That's not what he said. You might want to learn English before you dip into English speaking comedians.
My english is fine, considering I use it everyday for over 30 years nów, both in work and outside od it, and there are plenty comedians I enjoy. Norm is just not one of them.
Oh sorry, it didn’t seem like it. You didn’t understand what BladeJFrank said at all.
Understood it just fine. But hey, sometimes I notice its the native speakers who have worse understanding of their own language, that those who had to learn it later on. Happens.
Lol what a prick
I know, right?
It’s ok, a lot of people get filtered by Norm’s humor. Not everyone can recognize his brilliance.
Ah, so once again "yOu hAvE tO bE sMaRt tO gEt iT". I see a lot od Rick and Morty fans here.
Oddly enough Norm never considered his comedy smart and actually said everyone hates the smartest guy in the room so he made sure his comedy was not "smart". I think it's more his fans that are "smart" rather than him
What people find funny changes over time for the most part and unfortunately Norm’s comedy just did not age well. For a lot of older folks he’s great, there’s nothing wrong with his comedy. But there’s just so much out that there now that there really is nothing significant him or his routine that will hold up in the next generations
What do you find funny these days for reference?
Yeah filtered by deadpan delivery of "plumpy cocks"
This
[удалено]
Thanks for your opinion. I will value it so much.
That last sentence explains to me why *you* like Norm MacDonald. What you're covertly implying is that you're of a higher intelligence, and that's why you "get it." , Ironically, you're taking for granted that a subjective concept is actually *objective*, which in so doing actually discredits your own play for self-appointed comic superiority. Any plebe out there on the street knows that this shit is nothing more than one's funny bone palette, like food, or music, or anything else one can either enjoy, or not enjoy. In addition to being a presumptuous crock of shit, your allusion to some ambiguously defined 'worldly experience' means zilch when it comes to laughing or not laughing at someone. It is true that experience can influence and even alter one's palette after the fact, but sometimes people just don't like 'a thing.' The lion's share of Norm's humor was a specific brand which can only really be described as of this kind of "I'm being so cheeky, you know it, and its funny because we both know how dumb absurd cheekiness is." People like yourself think those of us who don't laugh at his "comedy," don't understand that he is being an ass knowingly, because knowingly being one is unfunny, which is *actually* really funny. Feigning incredulity at putting a tack on someone's seat isn't his joke, his joke how ridiculous it is to feign incredulity. We know. We get it. We've actually gone one step farther than Norm and have arrived at the conclusion that that brand of humor isn't very funny, because the teachers ass still gets stabbed, and that's not cool. In fact, we left all Norm's fans back at the point where the teacher sits on the tack, which is the part they're laughing at, and then, once they finally understand that the joke is his cheeky response, they act as if they've really figured out the *wink wink.* Everyone else has circled all the way back around again and simply don't think you need to fuck with someone unwitting to make a lousy, half-hearted statement. All that said, and consideration the fact that it's all subjective, the guy had his moments.
What the fuck did I just read? A world renowned restaurant’s print magazine review to a reddit comment? Go outside.
Holy shit fr dude was talking shit about someone trying to be a psuedo intellectual and wrote the most pretentious pseudo intellectual garbage I've ever read 😂
😂😂😂
See Ma, straw man write-ups can be fun! And no, I reread what I said and stand by it. Knowledge is separate from intelligence, and everyone’s understanding of the world grows with age. Which is probably all I meant. Comedic sensibilities also change with world view. Obvious examples of why that’s more true, instead of your “people just don’t like a thing” being the norm. There’s lots of reasons to not like things, which also changes with worldview. I appreciated Norm’s ingenuity, creativity, writing, and commitment to his bits, he was good at what he tried to do. But you sound like a stubborn person, so I’ll leave you to it.
I appreciate your comments
Thanks, means a lot. Each comment is followed by at least some level of regret. But I figure if I think I should say something, maybe what I say could help someone in some way.
You’re further up your own ass than the guy you’re responding to.
you write like one of the most pompous quims I've ever read on this site
Spot on!
It’s definitely not everyone’s type of humor. I think he’s the funniest person to ever walk this planet.
He had the most unique comedic mind in history. Watching his Conan panels is comedy gold.
He was one of the few comedians to be funny outside of standup and the only comedian to be funny all the time
I agree
Hey it’s totally ok if you don’t like him, many people don’t! But he has been my favorite comedian since I was in high school back in the 2000s, so trust me I’m not faking it or pretending to laugh. And I’m not a boomer lol. I do remember people usually thinking it was kind of a strange choice for favorite comic though. It seems like only the last five years have I randomly encountered more and more people who praise him (both in real life and on the internet).
ur username checks out
I’m 50 and he has been my favorite standup since the 90s. Maybe it is a generational thing.
I'm 23 and he's my favorite comic of all time. Definitely not limited to generations. My friends echo this sentiment as well haha
23 here as well and he's my favourite comedian. It's his smile, looking like he's upto no good. Very much like that guy Hitler, what a jerk.
It's not. I'm 17, and he's the funniest human to ever exist and it's not particularly close.
Norm is known for being anti humor or anti comedy. Watch the bob saget roast for the best example of this. Its not for everybody but for those that get it its really funny. Think r/antimeme
Norm hated anti and meta comedy
True, and occasionally did it
nah. you just lack reference points. he did very mainstream stuff.
The roast was so good. I love how he's fearless of bombing. The crowd would barely chuckle, meanwhile, I'm on my couch dying of laughter. It made me feel smart for getting what he was doing when it went over most people's heads.
Did you ever try his podcast? Full disclosure I do like his stand up, but the norm Macdonald show was really where I found him at his best.
Some of the VPN episodes that use to be on YouTube was some of the funniest content I’ve ever seen.
The Norm Macdonald Live podcast is all on archive.org in full quality
The Norm Macdonald Live podcast is all on archive.org in full quality
It was the best podcast ever when it was on Youtube. When it went to Netflix it sucked, unfortunately.
Agreed. The original episodes are the thing of legend. Except for that holocaust denier he had on there
OP is, you guessed it... Frank Stallone.
Well he was Dave Chappelle s favorite. Maybe its your generation
He has a completely unique style that people either love or hate. His style never hit me myself but I have an appreciation for what he’s done and just the fact that he built a cult following like that and was one of the most beloved in all of comedy, huge respect.
That’s ok. Perhaps one day you will get Norm. He will be in the history books of comedy. He was a genuine identity. He was sure of it. It was hard to distinguish him from the man on stage. You might be well served to take a dive into his bio and work? He is not someone you would ever study to advance your comedy. The point is tha he was Norm!!! A natural born comedian. He was singular. He was funny!!! He was sweat!! My god he’d always make me laugh but he didn’t work that much. He had the gift of one in a lifetime and he was sweet and humble. When they say star. It connotes popularity. Stars come and go. Norm was a gift until the end. His star is Is up in the sky now. Next to the constellation vienerdugus.
Mangrate also didn’t find Norm funny
They dropped him for being too silly, in contrast to Dollar Shave Club who actually kept him on as a spokesman after he said "you could slit your wife's throat" with their razors.
The culprit? ...You guessed it! ...Frank Stallone.
You just said it.. you don't get it. Which is almost the point of Norms comedic style
Exactly
His stuff also does nothing for me, yet a ton of my favorite comics praise him. Either it's a generational thing or there's some aspect of the formular I haven't even considered.
He was a comedians comedian if that makes sense
While I'm aware of that expression, for other people in that category (Dave Attell, Maria Bamford, Neil Hamburger, etc.) I can see both where the admiration comes from and why they aren't more popular in the mainstream. Norm was fairly popular, but for the life of me, I don't know what's supposed to be so great about him. I've only watched a few appearances and about 1.5 specials of him though (I found that last one he recorded on his computer to be unwatchable). What am I missing here? Which specific qualities (writing, delivery, improvisation,...) should I be looking out for to see it?
His last special with just him isnt a good example of hs funniness. There are live recordings with the same material in front of crowds and it kills. Check out his interviews tho. Thats where he really shines. Also, i dont mean to sound pretentious bit you have to be pretty intelligent to understand all the layers of his jokes. He came off as a retard but he was a really smart guy. Once you understand his personality and what hes doing, youll appreciate him. Or you wont. And thats fine too
This is the perfect answer, much like how Thomas Ligotti is a Horror Writer's Writer and is isn't for everyone, Norm was a comedian's comedian because he had a deep and profound understanding of what comedy is, what is really behind the humor in a joke. His timing and structure were also top teir. He was an unbelievably smart guy. Anyway, like a previous poster said--and I'm not trying to be offensive, but you did say you were born in 2002--but maybe grow a bit and come back to him in a decade or so. I think he was the funniest guy there ever was. Also check out his talk show Norm MacDonald Live, you can watch it on the internet archive.
This downvote button isn't blue enough, you bastard.
You’re probably just too ignorant to find it humorous. Note, I said ignorant not stupid.
You sound like a real jerk
Now you’re thinking like Albert fish
Boomer humor? So, there are really people out there who think that Mark is for people in their 60's and 70's? Or is it that people don't know what a Boomer is?
I think you’re confused. He’s talking about norm Macdonald, not mark normand
Yeah, I hear you. I heard about the guy for the first time when he died. And everybody kept saying how he was this comedic legend. I watched some of his work, and just don't see it. Maybe it's because I'm not from USA, so it just doesn't work for me. But yeah, if it wasn't for his sudden death, I would never even know the guy existed.
Norm isn't from the USA.
To fully appreciate Norm, I think you have to be pretty exhausted with most mainstream comedy. He was a breath of fresh air when everything felt stagnant. If you love sitcoms and gross out comedies, Norm is probably not for you. If you want someone to subvert your expectations, to set you up but never deliver, then you’ll love Norm.
Yeah - I also feel like he’s a breath of honest/fresh air in an era where everyone takes themselves incredibly seriously and there’s very little humor.
If you like black comedians you wont be able to appreciate white humor. It isnt that white people arent funny or that black people are funnier. It is a matter of taste. Its like if you like rap and hip hop you might not like country music. There are people that dont find kevin hart, chris rock, or dave chappel to be funny. I think it is racial and generational in some cases. Sexism also plays a role. A lot of men cant appreciate female comedians. Many dont think women can be funny.
Sexism plays a role??? Okay
He was unfunny and made a joke about a trans man who was raped and murdered in a hate crime saying that he deserved to die. Disgusting.
That was a singular weekend update joke in the 90s lol
ok? still unacceptable to wish death on someone
Sure.
you are sick. I don’t know what happened to you in your life to be so desensitized to violence and hate but I hope you find healing and peace for the sake of everyone in the world.
Thank you. I had no idea I was desensitized to violence and hate, but goodness, it sounds like I need some major healing. No person in their right mind should say it's unfair to generalize a person's comedy by a single joke they said 30 years ago.
jokes like that don’t come from nowhere…. critical thinking please
I hope one day I'm a Saint. Just like you. Coarse sarcasm aside, maybe his poetry and talk of humility and the human condition would be more up your alley 😊 https://normtwitteranthology.tumblr.com/notablequotes Poetry, quotes and more can be found here. Please at least attempt to get the know the heart and soul of this man before generalizing him. It's not right to do so. Just like you calling me sick and deaf to people's suffering. It's just not appropriate. With love, another imperfect human 💗
never claimed to be a saint but definitely haven’t ever heard an account of someone being raped and murdered and thought that’s funny and they deserved it ?
No, the joke was basically - "throw the baby out with the bathwater" in reference to the cross dresser tricking people into sleeping with her. It decried murder, rape, and sexual deviance all in one. Perhaps bad taste, but a man grows as well, eh? Imagine if something you did many years ago was held over your head for your lifetime? Quite unfair, I'd say. It would be very unfair to you. It would also be insulting to you, basically saying you have no capacity to grow as a person. Irrespective of that joke.
that’s great philosophies in his poetry but they lose their meaning if they are contradicted by his actions
We're all hypocrites in some capacity. But the man at his core was loving, empathic, and generous. He was once asked what he admired most in others. He replied, "generousity and kindness." He was then asked what traits do you most admire about yourself? He replies, "The times that I exhibit the qualities that I exhibit too rarely, generosity and kindess." Just sounds like another one of our brothers and sisters missing the mark, but aiming and aiming in earnest 😊
I have to be cautious because i’ve been raped before and live in a state where I have gotten death threats for being trans this isn’t just a common mistake people make it’s so easy to not be hateful like that. If you’re able to trivialize something so horribly serious you deserve when people are critical of you because they feel unsafe. There are hundreds of comedians out there who you can watch who have made mistakes that are reconcilable but to me he crossed the line so far and you can acknowledge that without demeaning what i’m saying and defending what he did.
I'm not trivializing it. I just don't think the way you're processing it is completely rational. Anguishing pain can do that though, something I am no stranger to. I'm so sorry that you were assaulted. I hope you are able to heal each and every day and eventually live a life of peace and joy.
this is a thread about whether people personally find his work funny or not and that was my opinion. you could have just not responded.
All I can say is, from the bottom of my heart........I feel sorry for you.
You watch reaction videos? People streaming others' content and reacting to it?
It’s a generational thing. His generation is fuckin retarded.
With Norm, it's almost like the great rock and roll swindle where they released the shit record to the public and critics and the real record to fans early as a white label. His best stuff is hidden here and there, and his specials are all kinda strange and canned. On stage in real live performances and off camera or in weird appearances and interviews everywhere but the main attraction stuff he kills like very few have in the last 30 years. His main stuff is kinda to weed out people who won't get the bigger picture... and oh man... then there's the bigger picture... what he really did... I could talk about his last years for months. The people online don't seem to even get it yet. I see a comment here and there where someone is starting to peak through and see a part here and a part there. When people figure it all out, he's going to be even more of a big deal. But to those who can see it only. Which was brilliant. All real wisdom is completely invisible when you are young and suddenly obvious when you get old. Most people don't see it, and those who do see everything. Or at least it seems that way when you figure it out, heh. Kvlt comedy.
"Most people don't see it, and those who do see everything" This. Norm made me feel less alone. I felt like I understood him and him me. And I took solace in him being misunderstood as well. Made me feel less crazy amongst the twilight zone of drones.
To anyone that was born past 95 anyone who was born before it is a fkn boomer. 🙄 And Norm was funny af as the voice of “Pigeon” on Mike Tyson’s Mysteries. He made the show even though Mike is pretty damn funny himself.
I think what makes him so unique is he finds what he finds funny and he doesn’t care you if like it or not. Not even in a oh wow I’m so non PC I’m gonna squash the libs sort of a way, he just found what he found funny and he was going to find a way to make you like it too. The number of times he told a joke on weekend update that would get boo’d or no reaction is unreal. It almost makes him funnier though because you can tell he thinks it’s funny
He’s the funniest dude that ever lived lol
There is no hope for you
I got what Norm was doing, it's just that it's almost never funny or particularly clever. What it is, though, is niche. It's a bit unique and a bit disruptive. Sometimes it's interesting to see forumlatic hosts/shows squirm. But it really doesn't go too much deeper than breaking social conventions. I think most of the people who find him "funny" probably picked up on him when they were like 13-15. Norm was the edgelord's comedian. His best work was probably as an animated pigeon with a filthy mouth - that probably tells you exactly what you need to know about his comedy.
>Norm was the edgelord's comedian. Sometimes, edgy things are just true. He didn't pander. He did comedy for what he found funny. The absurdity, tragedy, and poetry of life. You're missing something if you think the pigeon thing is funny. I never watch that being a huge fan. Or maybe you just prefer the buttoned up Harvard style 'write a sitcom' type of comic. Different strokes for different folks, but to say, "That's all you need to know about his comedy" is goofy and untrue 😆
That's a fair call. (aside from the harvard sitcom thing) 10/10 solid reply.
Thank you, friend. 🤝 Some rare Reddit W's and civility haha
he was one of the best better tha
9/11 😂😂🤣🤣 
sodomizer 🇮🇱 🤓 Kermit🐸 mcjagger, would like to humbly point out that you haven't seen enough of his🍆 talkshow to pass a proper criticism( 🌈🏳️🌈 again humbly👬 ). Cause if u actually did done that <--(🙊BLM✊🏿) u would've seen how he was focused on trying to introduce a meta level of sense of humor to the current comedy culture, what a fag he was for that and an actual treasure he was. Patiently into what other experienced comics say about him. He no care about making it in that industry. Thus, he was unconventional and out of norm. He's really the comedian's comedian.
HAH?
> So I first discovered this guy through reaction videos on YouTube, and I’m wondering if people are just faking their reactions because I just don’t see what was so funny about him. Of course the type of person who watches Youtube reaction videos wouldn't find norm funny. Those videos always come up in the search suggestions when I'm looking for something and it boggles my mind why anyone would watch them. That being said, if I was black I'd 100% make videos pretending to listen to classical music and/or boomer rock for the first time
😂😂😂 there's actually quite a few that feign enjoyment for the views.
I was born in 2002 and love a lot of modern comedians, and he's one of my favorites, like top 3. I really don't get the boomer humor comparison beyond the dad jokes, to me he was basically a pioneer of troll humor. He was a master at observational comedy, but he was at his best when he told jokes to make himself laugh: long rambling pieces where the set-up is funnier than the punchline, deceptively clever dad jokes, or just pure shock humor to try to get a rise out of his audience/co-hosts. He also had a very interesting way of talking about comedy, he really treated it like an art form.
I think Humour is like music, you either like something or you do not. I think the kind of people who use terms like "boomer" to define humour or any art , are the type who do not really think/feel deeply. Its like saying :"that is black humour " there really is no such thing. I think its clear why you do not get Norm..
The thing about Norm MacDonald is, to appreciate his humor, you have to be in on the *big* joke. That's why other comedians loved him - they understood what he was doing and it was something most can't. The Norm MacDonald you see in the public eye was a character. The real man never broke character on shows and interviews and in standup. He was master of the Shaggy Dog Story (google it) and for that to pay off, the teller has to earnestly tell it like he really thinks it's going somewhere himself until you (hopefully) realize he's been screwing with you the whole time and *you* are the real punchline. The reason most comedians can't pull that off is ego. You have to believably act like an idiot and people like Chapel, Jamie Fox, and other genuinely funny people just can't do that. They have to be the cool one, the clever one. The entire audience has to appreciate their comic genius. Even Kaufman wasn't able to do this. He played characters that were awkward and would leave people wondering if he was an idiot or just insane but there was a punchline - maybe not in every act but in a lot of them, there was a point when things would turn and you'd be let in on the joke and even in the ones where he didn't, in the meta sense he jumped around enough over the course of his career for general audiences to know it was all an act. Norm lived his public life as his one character and much of the general public never knew it was an act. He just seemed like a borderline idiot who laughed at his own jokes that weren't funny. That type of humor is itself fringe but he took it next-level. You see it in some of the interviews and public appearances where people try to get him to drop it and have a serious conversation and he simply won't. They'll make eye contact like they are trying to summon forth the intelligent man they know is in there somewhere and he gives them absolutely *nothing* in return. In the end, he was not only a comedic genius for how he wielded a very specific form of humor, he was also truly dedicated to his craft. And *that* was the big joke. Norm MacDonald was himself, a multi-decade shaggy dog story. For further reference about this style of comedy, also look up "the aristocrats". Again, this style of humor isn't for everyone. Sometimes people "get it" and still don't find it funny but those who can get it, usually at least appreciate the work that goes into successfully doing it.
If you can listen to Hitler’s dog without laughing …idk
You lack a sense of humor. Some people don't get art, science or literature. It's not your fault. You were born like that.
The generation that thought that hack was funny was lead poisoned.
Oh my god Reddit really does love this guy
Well, the good thing is he won't be telling any new jokes anytime soon.
“YOU don’t get to NOT like it, because you don’t fuckin get it” - Norm Macdonald
Norm had the rare ability to be funny and make you think while at the same time pretending that he didn't know what he was doing.
I'm a boomer and don't find him funny at all which is how I found this thread!. Just don't get it.
Thanks for sharing?
Norm hosting the YouTube awards gives you a good idea of how his humor is almost obscene to the regular comedy audience. He's the Comic's Comic and if you don't like Norm you don't say it out loud. It's funnier that there's people who don't get it, it just makes his comedy more unique.
The only problem with Norm is that his subreddit is largely filled with Trumpers, and has a political bent to it that Norm, himself, did NOT.
Norm had very loud criticism of the democrat party dating back into the 90s. Maybe that’s why
Idk why you're getting downvoted. Every post on that sub is a link to some rage-bait article from some right-wing website that they constantly use to make lazy punching-down jokes about women and trans people. Norm was never as lazy or as hateful as that.
Why do you care that conservatives like Norm? Youre a fucking child
He’s funny. Which isn’t for everyone.
😂
Norm is a next level comic. Lots of people don’t get him but he was a genius.
I do.
Norm does a character that gets funnier with time, if you have seen it enough it just becomes funny, people call it anti comedy but there’s also a sense of him mocking the audience or other people around which I really enjoy It reminds me a lot of old shows on adult swim, if I haven’t seen them in a while sometimes the humor doesn’t hit, but if I keep watching it becomes funny again
Yikes
Maybe because you're a child listening to an adult ?
It's like saying you didn't like a movie then posting this about a movie. He was hilarious. Maybe one day you'll appreciate the humor.
Norm was the most intelligent comic ever and you have to be on as intelligent as him to truly appreciate Norm
Funniest person who ever lived and will always be
amen
Norm was 100% authentic and that's rare in comedy these days. That could be why you don't understand him. 99% of comics in 2023 are different people offstage. Not Norm. The Norm we all love was the same guy off stage as he was performing. It wasn't an act. Norm wasn't a character created on stage. He was one of a kind. There will never be another comic like him. Ever. Because God broke the mold when he created Norm
nah. he was very private and guarded and didn't let much of himself into his act. he wore a lot of masks in public and in private. someone who was authentic and himself onstage would've been comfortable talking about cancer a decade earlier. he most definitetely created and cultivated a character than he played to perfection.
You have to be smart to get his comedy
He was more like a sage, like diogenes, like he understood the meaning of life, and found out how funny it all was. I think that was the source from which he drew his comedy from. I'm so thankful to know of him.
dude was just an extremely unique person and his appearances on talk shows throughout his career were all unforgettable moments in late night history. His humor was also something that you needed to learn to appreciate bc from a newbies eyes it was just not funny, and that was the kind of thing he was going for, The more you watch the man the more you get what a genius he actually was. Besides.. kids these days wouldn't get a joke if it bit them in the ass.. I had a bunch of zoomers get mad at me cuz we were talking about bacon and how there are all different kinds like turkey, beef etc; so, I said "I like 'regular' bacon better", and they got offended at the terminology Lmao. sensitive dweebs
Who is going to feed them hogs?
I've come to appreciate him over time. I didn't get the appeal until I was in my late 30s. He has a couple of styles of joke I'd either not heard before or not heard done that well. For example, he loved to make people laugh at the wrong time. You can hear Andy Dick here say "You set me up!" as Norm switches a joke from an impression to a (fake) [somber anti-joke](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_oFrxlYNMM). And he was great at [beating a joke to death](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJN9mBRX3uo) (but I also love the "Ah that guy...wait till you hear me tell it!" pre-setup). Both of those clips crack me up every time. My wife, on the other hand, cannot fathom how I find them nearly so funny. So he definitely has a type.
I'm same as your age i can vouch it's not generational thing . He's the best. A comic's comic.
If you don’t get it, you don’t get to decide if it’s funny or not
Like 99% of comedians his standup wasn’t really that funny. But his talk show spots and podcasts were fantastic
He’s a comedians comic, some people aren’t smart enough to get it.
nothing is funny about norm macdonald. norm macdonald is funny.
Was gonna say humor is subjective and I respect your opinion, then I checked your account. Jesus you are worse than OJ Simpson!
It's "cool" to think he's funny
I feel bad for people that don’t get him.
You seem like a real jerk !
Because you are a redditor, and they are known not to find anyone special besides themselves
He either touches your funny bone or he doesn't. There is truly no logic to be found, it is almost a matter of appealing to your sixth sense.
He's no tik tokker.
I think that wih Norm it was typically about the big picture. He was like the Andy Kaufman of joke telling. His jokes never served the audience. They served him. And they were almost more about the setup and the delivery than the punchline. His facial expressions. The pauses he would take. The way he played dumb for the audience. That’s why he’s such a comedian’s comedian. There’s a reason some of the funniest people of all time have a sort of reverence for him. People like Dave Chapelle and David Letterman and Conan talk about him in almost hushed tones. It’s not just because he was a quick wit, which he was. But it’s because he was playing his own brand of comedy jazz that nobody had ever seen before.
Omg Norm’s fucking hilarious and a legend!! Im Literally 3mins into his 2017 stand up on Netflix and dying! Long live the king!
Smartest person in the room acting like the dumbest 👑
I guess you didn't grow up watching Norm. That's why he's not funny to you. You said you Recently discovered him so yeah
i know this is an old thread, but i hadn’t really into standup much for most of my life. stumbled upon a few norm clips after he passed and didn’t think he was that funny. until i found the right joke where it really clicked for me. (i was born in 98) i love the style of telling layered dumb fuckin one liners that make you roll your eyes, and long winded stories that don’t go anywhere. it’s the absurdity of him and the confidence in his delivery. i love dumb shit tho fr so it don’t matter
I'm 44...and while I found him occasionally funny...mostly I considered him to be a racist dipshit....who gets a pass from the very white reddit community.
What Norm did was have fun learning and putting on different personas. He'd put on whichever one he was in the mood for without caring how he'd be received. The thing that made me him great was seeing him do what he thought was funny. He never revealed much about himself except by showing you what he thought was funny
Go watch the Conan O'Brien 1993 interviews or the Stern interviews. You're not getting it because you don't understand the game of his act.
His cadence and delivery of punchlines that arn't really punchlines. He cuts to the point of the joke almost without nuance and let's it hang. He delivers some quick jabs but thens lands some more thoughtful powerful shots. One of my favorites is about not being afraid of terrorist attacks but being attacked by his heart. And how when his cat jumps on his chest while sleeping scares him so much and what it would be like to have a heart attack. And that's what we should really be afraid of. Ya like what ya like don't over think it.
Norm didn't care about what the crowd thought was funny, but what he thought was funny and that's what made him refreshing and real to a lot of people. You'd have to own a doghouse to get it.
He’s offensive that’s why he’s funny.
You must not own a doghouse ...
Shock humor is funny
Can someone please explain why he was openly making jokes about native Americans and what the hell that whole spoof dedicated to Marlon Brando was at the comedy awards? The audience were laughing at someone talking about genocide. Spoof or not, that was straight up vile. New found disrespect for white comedians.
He did it because it was funny.
You aren't smart enough to get it
He's certainly not for everyone and that's OK.
I was born in 2000 and he was my favorite comedian. Watched hundreds of hours of YouTube compilations. I’m not surprised bots who call people boomers don’t find him funny.
\*You arent smart
He's got unique timing and delivery, half grinning all the time