8/26/2023 0 Comments Norm macdonald live simon helberg![]() My idea was to get guys as old as possible, like before they died. And then no one watched it! Like, no one cared. “He was nice enough but completely uninteresting. ![]() “They wanted young guys, so they got this guy from The Big Bang Theory,” he says of actor Simon Helberg. Ditto soliciting donations “like you’re a communist or something”. "His producers were toying with the idea of charging two bucks per program, but Macdonald is a man of the people. On Norm Macdonald, the Greatest Talk Show Guest Ever Great article on the infamous Carrot Top interview from : Here are some further resources on this wonderful comedian: What does Carrot Top think of the classic moment you had on Conan on ? Are you taking drugs of some kind? You gave some drugs to Roseanne Barr when she appeared on Norm MacDonald Live, is that because you take them regularily? You say you've only drank 3 times in your life, but people have commented on reviews of your standup that you sometimes seem incoherent and slurred in your speech. When did you get married, when did you get divorced? Are you currently seeing anyone? Did you raise your son, or did your wife? From what it appears in recent appearances and tweets, you seem close with your son.ĭo you still smoke? You used to smoke, when did you quit? How bad of a smoker were you? Your son was young (8-11), were you raising him? You had a 2.5 year gap between the end of the Norm Show and A Minute with Stan Hooper where you had no mass-media appearances. But then other than once in 1999 to promote Norm Show, once in 2003 to promote a Minute with Stan Hooper, you didn't appear on Conan's show again until 2009, during his Tonight Show days, when he fought to get you on the show 3 times despite you having nothing to promote except local comedy appearances:Īlso, what's the story about why Letterman wouldn't let you finish the story? You were clearly on good terms with him he had you on the show 10 times from 1996-1998. You were on Conan 12 times from 1995-97, ending with the infamous Courtney Thorne-Smith appearance. Having compiled a lot of data on Norm Macdonald, I have a few questions for him. Despite their differences, both Andy and Norm work great as Conan's sidekick. Norm's favourite thing to do is to utterly eviscerate someone with comedy, and then sarcastically say "naw, you're a great guy". Andy has a sweetness about him that Norm completely lacks. Conan is the obvious choice here, but of course he already has the excellent but far less ascerbic Andy Richter. On on Letterman, using an anecdote from early in his career about a show "outside of Red Deer, Alberta", he mentioned how much he dislikes the standup road schedule:Īnother option might be if someone took him on as a permanent sidekick. Still, unlike standups who enjoy having a rigourous schedule of shows like Leno or Seinfeld (likely because they get to travel in private jets), Norm would likely prefer not to have to be subjected to a brutal road schedule each year. The show pulled in about 1 million viewers a week, but that was about 25% too little for Comedy Central to keep the show going. Still, the brilliance of Sports Show with Norm Macdonald, which was cancelled after just 8 episodes in 2011, shows how much more he could do if given the chance. He's done that for the past two years, and if he keeps that up for the next five I'd be happy for him. I'd be okay if he settled into a comfortable pattern of 2-3 network talk show appearances per year, a 13-episode season of Norm Macdonald Live, and then going out on the road doing standup for the balance of the year. Basically, his 1998 firing, and later setbacks, made Norm humble, and more real, and even funnier. Now that he's more bitter or just doesn't care about looking good or seeming "cool" anymore, his comedy is more raw, and more real. In the early 1990s he had a smarmy cockiness that did not serve his comedy well. He's right, and I think Norm has come to realize this has only made him a better comedian. He's said to Conan that he's been "worn down by years of failure" whereas Conan has known "only success". In fact, I'd argue that the quality of his comedy increased after his firing from SNL. After all, a huge part of his comedy is doing or saying outrageous things that make everyone uncomfortable. However, I think he rightly understands that the foundation of his comedy is that rebellious streak, and if he ever neutered himself, he wouldn't be funny, and therefore it would be pointless for him to give in. He has shown again and again to be unwilling to take feedback or criticism from network executives. But it's also understandable from a business perspective: he's independent and uncontrollable. ![]() At this point in Norm's career, it seems unlikely he'll be given a coveted network talk show position.
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