Norm Macdonald's comedy style did not rely on personal anecdotes, he instead preferred to keep his private affairs away from the spotlight. That very lifestyle is what possibly drove him to record his final one-hour comedy special just as he saw death approach, and it will now be coming to Netflix later this month.
Macdonald passed away in September of last year at the age of 61, with the news being carefully disclosed by his representatives to select media outlets who only then made Macdonald's 9-year battle with leukemia public. Macdonald was a noted Saturday Night Live alumni, helming the Weekend Update desk for years before leaving the show in 1998, as well as a prolific stand-up comedian whose work has been incessantly praised by his peers in recent months.
As it turns out, Macdonald also bid farewell to this world in the most Norm Macdonald way possible, opting to shoot a one-hour special in his own living room shortly before facing a life-threatening medical procedure in 2020. A close friend of the comedian and producing partner, Lori Jo Hoekstra, explained to The Hollywood Reporter that “His test results were not good, so during the heart of COVID-19 pandemic and literally the night before going in for a procedure, he wanted to get this on tape just in case — as he put it — things went south." Although Macdonald made out fine, his health did worsen a year later when he asked her to watch the new material, which he ended up liking and giving a very on-brand name: Nothing Special.
Norm Macdonald: Nothing Special will premiere on Netflix this May 30, with the hour’s worth of new material being accompanied by select footage from close friends and colleagues of the comic. These guests include fellow Netflix star Adam Sandler, Conan O'Brien, Dave Chappelle, David Letterman, David Spade and Molly Shannon, with footage from the same show where Chappelle was assaulted while performing. Hoekstra clarified Macdonald didn’t film this special for its shock factor but rather “because he loved his material and was so proud of his material. He worked so hard and it really would’ve bothered him to have done all that work and not been able to show everybody. He did it for the stand-up.”
Nothing Special is naturally quite the opposite of what Macdonald played it out to be, as the show will provide comedy fans with a truly rare insight, that of a man approaching his death knowingly, something Hoekstra described as unheard of among their acquaintances in the comedy world. Netflix already has great Macdonald shows available like Norm Macdonald Has a Show or his special Hitler's Dog, Gossip & Trickery.
There are also plenty of fantastic SNL skits and jokes featuring Macdonald in the show’s vast archives, but getting the thoughts of such a brutally honest man like him with his classic deadpan humor might have been the best parting gift he could ever give to the craft he loved so much.
Norm Macdonald: Nothing Special will premiere on Netflix on May 30, 2022.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter