Name: Norm Macdonald on Canada AM (2015) 'I don't know what full circle means'
Uploaded: 2020-04-06T00:36:23.000Z
Description: Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Norm Macdonald on Canada AM (2015) 'I don't know what full circle means'' from Happy the Dog on Comedy Buff. Published 2020-04-06. Transcript available.

Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Norm Macdonald on Canada AM (2015) 'I don't know what full circle means'' from Happy the Dog on Comedy Buff. Published 2020-04-06. Transcript available.

From late-night TV to Twitter to the stand-up stage, comedy legend Norm MacDonald
is keeping the jokes coming big time.
He recently became the newest judge on NBC's last comic standing, and he's in
Montreal to host the Sunday's Just for Laughs gala.
Norm joins us now. Hello.
Hi, Marcy. How are you?
I'm very well. Okay, you know what I just did?
I just checked my Twitter feed because I tweeted you a wake-up call about an
hour ago,
and you've gotten back to just about everybody but me, Norm.
What's up?
I don't check my Twitter that early.
Oh, okay, so that's what it's at the time.
I mean, maybe I would have if it had been Norm.
What was his name? Norm Perry.
Norm Perry.
Is he still?
Norm Perry.
Is he still working?
Well, we're not here because now it's me and it's Bev and it's Jeff and with
Todd and Denise today.
We're the new school candidates.
Yeah, you guys are way better than Norm Perry.
Well, I can't believe you said that out loud.
No, I only assume that he'd retired 30 years ago.
Let's talk 30 years ago, okay?
And where you were, because about 30 years ago, you're this 21-year-old kid who
went to Just for Laughs and killed it on stage.
Does it kind of feel like a full circle thing now back to host this gala?
No.
What's it feeling like?
It doesn't.
Well, any meager success I've ever had, I can trace back to the gala at
Montreal and before that, the great Mark Breslin and Yuck Yucks Comedy Club.
But I guess I don't know what full circle means.
But it was at the gala, I keep saying gala.
It was at the Montreal Comedy Festival.
It was at, yeah, exactly.
You say tomato and I say tomato, which doesn't work on paper if you just read
it.
That's true.
That's a very good point.
Can we talk about your cap for a second?
Because I just looked at your Habs cap, which makes me love you even more.
Les Abitans.
Les Abitans.
Les Abitans.
You know, I want to ask you about your David Letterman appearance, the final
appearance in May, because it was an emotional one.
And I have to say, I was kind of surprised to see you like that.
Are you guys besties?
Do you keep in touch still?
Jeez, my hat got short shrift.
We can go back to that.
I just looked down and thought, oh, a Habs fan, so I really like him.
And then I thought I'd segue over to David Letterman.
No, David Letterman and I are not friends.
But, you know, we've seen each other socially.
But he was my hero growing up.
So, you know, you're not friends with your heroes, you know, or you shouldn't
be.
But he was always my role model in comedy.
So, yeah, I got a little emotional.
It was really cool that they asked me to be the last stand-up to ever do the
show, you know.
So that was really an honor to do.
And I got a little caught up in the moment.
Yeah, and you know what, though?
You're really humble because people, you know, throw out words like legend and
all of these things.
And, you know, you talk about, you know, the meager success.
But really, you've been so successful.
And we're so proud to call you Canadian.
And now you've got this last comic standing gig.
You're joining Keenan Ivory Wayans.
You already have it started.
And Roseanne.
But I want to ask you this.
What's it like as a comedian to judge other comedians?
Is that hard?
Yeah, it's pretty hard.
What I try to do is just help them with anything that I learned over, because I
never stopped doing stand-up, you know, for 30 years.
I never took a week off from doing stand-up.
I think the longest I ever took off is like nine days in 30 years, you know, so
that's pretty good.
So I kept learning and learning stuff, and I'm still learning.
So I just like to help people, help young kids out that may not know the craft
as well as I do.
See, I think that means so much when you say that you're still learning.
You know, my ears kind of peaked when you said that, because here you are.
You've been in this business so long.
But that's the key right there, that you're still learning every day, getting
better every day.
Having said that, is there anything, when you think back now to the career, of
course, and the career that still continues, that you regret?
Maybe a joke or something you said, and you thought, hmm, wish I could take
that back.
Oh, yeah, yeah, lots of them.
You know, people always say, like, is there anything off-limits and stand-up
and everything?
And there's different answers to that.
But to me, almost everything is off-limits in stand-up comedy to me.
But it wasn't always that way.
When I was younger, I was more psychopathic when it came to just the joke
before anything else.
And then I realized that, you know, there's lots of things to joke about.
And, you know, there's that saying that a comedian should, you know, afflict
the comfortable and comfort the afflicted.
And so I guess I've learned, one thing I've learned is that you should pick
your targets.
And, you know, so I don't do any jokes about homeless people or anything like
that, you know.
You could call it the evolution of Norm MacDonald.
The education of Mike McManus.
There you go.
You know what?
Before I let you go, I have to ask you a favor because our business anchor at BNN
loves you.
Do you mind giving a shout-out to Michael Caine?
Oh, sure, yeah.
Michael Caine?
He's fallen this low?
Different Caine.
This is Caine with a K.
Yes, I would love to.
Yeah.
Can you just give us, give maybe a shout-out to Michael?
You'll make his life, seriously.
Yeah.
Hey, listen, Michael.
I love you, buddy.
There you go.
You know what?
That did it right there.
I love you too, Marcy.
Oh, thank you.
And thank you for having this old chunk of coal from the Ottawa Valley on your
Big City program.
We are so pleased to have you with us, Norm.
All the best.
Have fun hosting the gala, okay?
Thank you, Marcy.
You take care, huh?
You too.
We will have a link to the Just for Laughs festival on our website.