During the summer of 2020, comedy venues across the nation were shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. So, SNL alum Norm Macdonald decided to prepare an hour’s worth of stand-up material, done in a single take while at home, and named it Norm Macdonald: Nothing Special. It would be his last gift of comedy to a world in dire need of laughter. Macdonald died on September 14, 2021. He was 61.
Netflix announced on Thursday that the never-before-seen stand-up special will premiere on May 30, 2022. Lori Jo Hoekstra, Macdonald’s longtime producing partner and executive producer of Norm Macdonald: Nothing Special, said:
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Macdonald, who had been privately battling cancer for nine years, was determined to record a comedy routine he had been working hard on and performed it alone in his living room. Following the posthumous special will be a bonus featurette with Conan O’Brien, Dave Chappelle, Adam Sandler, David Letterman, Molly Shannon, and David Spade. The group taped a discussion of their friend Norm earlier this month during a tribute to the late funnyman at Netflix is a Joke: The Festival.
“Norm worked so hard on a new hour of material and wanted it to be seen. While this version of Nothing Special was not originally meant to be the final product, COVID restrictions prevented him from filming in front of an audience. We want to make sure his fans see this very funny hour. He left this gift for all of us.”
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A veteran of SNL, Norm Macdonald helped create the long-running sketch comedy show’s Celebrity Jeopardy with Will Ferrell as Alex Trebek. Macdonald appeared in the skit often as a defiantly uncooperative Burt Reynolds. An SNL regular for five years, he was also known for his stint on the Weekend Update segment as an anchor where he frequently mocked O.J. Simpson during the former NFL player’s murder trial. After Simpson’s acquittal, Macdonald famously joked, “Well, it is finally official. Murder is legal in the state of California.” It has long been rumored that those O.J. Simpson jokes got him fired from SNL in 1998. Longtime friend of O.J. Simpson and NBC executive Don Ohlmeyer denied the reasoning and claimed Macdonald was fired simply because he was not funny. Nevertheless, Norm Macdonald was and is widely regarded in comedy circles for his dry deadpan deliveries and rambling stories.