DEVELOPING Person on fire outside Trump's hush money trial rushed away on a stretcher
A person who was on fire in a park outside the New York courthouse where Donald Trump’s hush money trial is taking place has been rushed away on a stretcher.
The context is more important than the content in "Norm Macdonald: Nothing Special," a spare one-man comedy show that the former "Weekend Update" anchor, knowing that he was ill, wrote and performed in a single take at home alone before his death in September. The posthumous release provides a fitting and deeply personal tribute, as well as a primer on the art of stand-up.
Netflix has packaged Macdonald's performance, which runs a little over 50 minutes, with a half-hour discussion featuring six of his friends: Dave Chappelle, David Letterman, Adam Sandler, David Spade, Conan O'Brien, and Molly Shannon, who spend another 30 minutes or so reminiscing about him while deconstructing what viewers just saw.
Chappelle calls the stark setting "very endearing," while Letterman notes that without an audience to respond to the material, "We weren't watching standup comedy. Without that audience, you don't get the full measure of Norm."
What you do get is a clear reminder of Macdonald's quirky sense of humor as he flits from topic to topic, occasionally engages in odd digressions and endures the kind of interruptions that have been common to work experiences during Covid, from his dog barking to answering a phone call and saying sorry, but he's in the middle of taping a comedy special.
While Macdonald knew his time might be short, there's nothing morbid or maudlin about the presentation, which essentially trains a camera on his face and lets him rip. The comic does mention living wills and a few other matters that touch upon mortality, but it's no different in tone than his routine about preferring to gamble at Native-American casinos ("I look on it as a form of reparations") or strategizing about cannibalism should he ever be on a plane that crashes in the Andes.
Like the controversies surrounding Netflix's recent specials involving high-profile comics (the aforementioned Chappelle and more recently Ricky Gervais among them), Macdonald chafes against restrictions on what's presently considered permissible for comedians to say and references how "Words have changed" in terms of what might cause offense. If that has become a kind of generational rift and ongoing debate, Macdonald seemingly wanted to let the world know where he stood.
Beyond that, Macdonald's performance and the ensuing conversation/analysis (taped during Netflix's recent Netflix Is a Joke comedy showcase) benefit from a relaxed quality, taking viewers behind the curtain where they can listen in on comics' process and thoughts.
Macdonald mentions missing the thrill of being able to perform live, but there's a comforting sense that he's well aware he's both doing something he loves and, for the last time, doing it both on a big stage and his own terms. As his producing partner, Lori Jo Hoekstra, described it, "He left this gift for all of us."
However one responds to the various jokes, there's something more sweet than sad about that. Macdonald is gone, but he was able to orchestrate his own curtain call, saying goodbye with a little help from his friends.
"Norm Macdonald: Nothing Special" premieres May 30 on Netflix.
A person who was on fire in a park outside the New York courthouse where Donald Trump’s hush money trial is taking place has been rushed away on a stretcher.
Soulful gospel artist Mandisa, a Grammy-winning singer who got her start as a contestant on 'American Idol' in 2006, has died, according to a statement on her verified social media. She was 47.
Scottish comedian Samantha Hannah was working on a comedy show about finding a husband when Toby Hunter came into her life. What happened next surprised them both.
A Manitoba woman thought she found a miracle natural supplement, but said a hidden ingredient wreaked havoc on her health.
One day after a Montreal police officer fired gunshots at a suspect in a stolen vehicle, senior officers were telling parliamentarians that organized crime groups are recruiting people as young as 15 in the city to steal cars so that they can be shipped overseas.
Police in Sault Ste. Marie charged a 22-year-old man with animal cruelty following an attack on a dog Thursday morning.
The Senate legal affairs committee has rejected a motion calling for members to take a $50,000 field trip to the African Lion Safari in southern Ontario to see the zoo's elephant exhibit.
Ontario Provincial Police have landed a suspect following a fishy theft in Beachburg, Ont.
Group of Seven foreign ministers warned of new sanctions against Iran on Friday for its drone and missile attack on Israel, and urged both sides to avoid an escalation of the conflict.
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.
Molly Knight, a grade four student in Nova Scotia, noticed her school library did not have many books on female athletes, so she started her own book drive in hopes of changing that.
Almost 7,000 bars of pure gold were stolen from Pearson International Airport exactly one year ago during an elaborate heist, but so far only a tiny fraction of that stolen loot has been found.
When Les Robertson was walking home from the gym in North Vancouver's Lower Lonsdale neighbourhood three weeks ago, he did a double take. Standing near a burrow it had dug in a vacant lot near East 1st Street and St. Georges Avenue was a yellow-bellied marmot.
A moulting seal who was relocated after drawing daily crowds of onlookers in Greater Victoria has made a surprise return, after what officials described as an 'astonishing' six-day journey.
Just steps from Parliament Hill is a barber shop that for the last 100 years has catered to everyone from prime ministers to tourists.
A high score on a Foo Fighters pinball machine has Edmonton player Dave Formenti on a high.
A compound used to treat sour gas that's been linked to fertility issues in cattle has been found throughout groundwater in the Prairies, according to a new study.