Name: Norm Macdonald Attitude on Bombing
Uploaded: 2022-06-19T12:00:33.000Z
Description: Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Norm Macdonald Attitude on Bombing' from I'm not Norm on Comedy Buff. Published 2022-06-19. Transcript available.

Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Norm Macdonald Attitude on Bombing' from I'm not Norm on Comedy Buff. Published 2022-06-19. Transcript available.

One time I went on, it was like a dance floor, and they gave me a Mr. Mike, do
you know what a Mr. Mike is?
Of course.
So I'm holding the speaker and the mic, and talking, and then a guy comes in
from the street, you know?
Yeah.
And there's no sign advertising for me or anything, so he thinks I'm a psychotic,
you know, person,
and so he starts approaching me, you know, like you would say, "Give me the gun,"
you know?
And I'm like, "No, no, I'm the performer, I'm the entertainer."
We were on the road with, it was Adam and Rob Schneider, Norm and a bunch of us,
and some nights he would, yeah, he'd flip the whole set,
but some nights he would do like the bomb set, and he would just walk people,
and he would do it almost on purpose.
You know, some nights he would say, "This is the set you're getting."
But here's Norm, this goofy Canadian accent, really telling these long, weird
bits for eight shows.
And he probably bombed three out of eight shows.
Whenever he killed, which was, he would kill, when it was a sophisticated crowd,
he would get him and he would kill.
He would just go backstage, he'd pull out a deck of cards, and he'd make me and
Rich Voss play poker with him.
When he bombed, Norm would go to the exit and say goodbye to every single
person who left.
Just to be weird and make us laugh and be awkward for the people.
He would thank everyone for coming after he bombed.
Courtesy of Jim Downey, who did "Update" with Norm, said,
I mean, it's the thing that stuns me, is he used to, there's "Dress" for "Saturday
Night Live,"
and then there's "Air," and Norm would do his set for "Update" in front of the
"Dress" crowd.
And there'd be certain jokes that got absolutely nothing.
Now, a sketch can maybe do better on air than it did, but a joke, if it bombs
at "Dress" in that format, it will bomb on air.
It just will.
So he had undisputed proof that his joke was going to bomb, but he liked the
joke.
And he'd turn to Downey and say, "Yeah, we're doing it."
And Downey would say, "Oh, that's a great joke."
"Yeah, yeah, we're doing it."
-Across the Great Plains, harsh weather and hungry boll weevils
are the cause of one of the worst cotton harvest in years.
Or so the Germans would have us believe.
Last Sunday's National Hockey League game between the Buffalo Sabres and the
Tampa Bay Lightning
was postponed due to record snowfall in Buffalo.
Or so the Germans would have us believe.
-Now, that -- I -- I like to do well.
And if I'm handed absolute proof that I will fail, I will change course.
-Sure.
-I will admit it.
I'm not -- that guy, there's something in him that's unbelievably fearless.
-What you're describing there, when I would watch those segments, they were
delightful.
There was something more exciting and interesting about the silence and Norm's
joy
at having landed the dud.
-Yeah, yeah, yeah.
-And holding a smile.
-It was thrilling.
-Yeah, yeah.
-It was heroic.
-He was telling us, "This is a good joke.
And I'm sticking with it."
And his eyes would just light up when he was getting nothing.
And you got what I'm serving tonight.
This is what we're serving at the restaurant.
And this is what you're eating.
And you're going to -- there you go.
-Yeah.
-You know?
-That's a perfect way to put it.
It's like a master chef.
Ah, what do you know?
Well, fuck your taste buds.
-The sushi restaurant where they go.
-Yeah.
-You don't do California rolls here.
That guy is certain.
And his sensibility.
It's fun to watch.
-You get more than a joke and a laugh.
You get that tone.
You get that attitude.
There is that invisible connection.
Yeah, we know what you're up to, Norm.
And this is what we love.
-It's like why rock and roll is cool.
The swag.
She's just doing it.
He's hip, bro.