You know it's a bad sign when people say a comedy special made them cry. Yes, this is Norm MacDonald doing a show (sort of) but it's like when I saw George Carlin perform live in Red Bank in 2007. Carlin walked on stage looking feeble with a script on a stool he used as a reference. The entire show ended up feeling like it was just a rehearsal for doing the show live as the HBO special the following March. Here, Norm MacDonald is basically practicing to do the show that would be the real special which he hoped to film. The timing is a little off. He has no audience to gauge the quality of one joke compared to another. Performers aren't born with the gift to be perfect every time they perform, it takes A LOT of preparation and hard work and this show is an example of that work and not Norm at his best during the real specials filmed
I feel like I have to make that point since Norm MacDonald was far more popular and nearly ubiquitous 25 to 30 years ago. A generation has grown up and another is growing up since then. If you are relatively uninitiated, this is not the place to start even if it is the one getting the most press.
All that said, it is nice seeing a hopeful Norm practicing his material and yes, it is poignant knowing he was doing this material while also facing such an ordeal like cancer. The value of work is it gives you purpose to keep fighting, otherwise you just rest and try not to think about being sick.
I feel like I have to make that point since Norm MacDonald was far more popular and nearly ubiquitous 25 to 30 years ago. A generation has grown up and another is growing up since then. If you are relatively uninitiated, this is not the place to start even if it is the one getting the most press.
All that said, it is nice seeing a hopeful Norm practicing his material and yes, it is poignant knowing he was doing this material while also facing such an ordeal like cancer. The value of work is it gives you purpose to keep fighting, otherwise you just rest and try not to think about being sick.