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Norm MacDonald Has Passed Away
Here is one of my favorite jokes, told by one of my favorite people.
Norm lost his private battle with cancer today. Rest in Peace, Norm. Long live Turd Ferguson!
Sincerely,
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Published in General
Man!
Rest in Peace
Sad loss and way too young!
You were right, Norm. O.J. did it.
Right about Madonna, too. Heh.
Sorry to hear this. I enjoyed his dry sense of humor. R. I. P.
This is sad news. I didn’t know he had cancer. Yes, long live Turd Ferguson.
Very sad. A great loss.
That guy’s timing was incredible.
I ran across a comment that summed up a good deal of the Norm experience:
I’ve never appreciated Conan O’Brien — I find him annoying, cloying, incompetent. But Norm on Conan is a great pairing. Conan is a good straight man perhaps. Although there are questions…
I like that approach also. Your comment reminds me of this a classic representation of that style, close to your description.
RIP Norm.
The Moth Joke is a brilliant piece of misdirection. You’re hung up on the fact that the moth is talking to a podiatrist, which has to be crucial to the resolution. The punchline knocks away all the psychological anguish, reveals the podiatrist issue as a red herring, gives you a reason both absurd and rational (“we need the eggs” as the Woody Allen joke goes) and makes a darker point about instinct and nature.
What’s unforgivable about the clip above is Conan stepping on the joke halfway through. Of all people he should’ve known he had no role here. Let the man work.
He will be missed. Another Norm obliterated in 2021.
Darn, so sad to hear this . . .
That Norm made the moth “Ivan Ilyich” from The Death of Ivan Ilyich is something I didn’t realize until a lot later (I’m just a country boy). I imagine most of the people in the audience don’t know it when he’s telling it either, which doesn’t really matter for the joke to land. Still, the fact that the guy is more or less correctly telling a story out of Russian literature to tell a moth joke makes it even more impressive.
No more Yaphit on “The Orville.”
It’s pretty funny that they re-posted this one:
This has one of my favorite Norm moments. I won’t spoil anything. FEARLESS.
The baby seal story. Some resemblance in style to the moth joke.
It was a draw!