Around 2016 I was working at a comedy club in San Francisco and finally got the chance to meet and spend a few minutes with Norm. He was as kind as I'd always hoped, and considerate as all get out. We had about 10 minutes together and we spoke about Dave quite a bit. He had recently done his final appearance on Letterman and I'd heard he was a little embarrassed at getting emotional in his goodbye, so I thanked Norm for doing that and told him millions of people around the world felt the same way, and also felt the same way about Norm. He gave me a big smile and a hug and then his phone beeped in his pocket and he pulled it out. That devilish grin we all know and love washed across Norm's face - and I can only assume he either told me the following to either a) mess with me or b) because he was earnestly proud and wanted someone to know - and he leaned in and told me "I just got a text message... from Jer-eee Sein-feld!" I paused and flatly responded "I've never heard of her." Norm yelled out "You fucker!!", socked me in the shoulder and burst out laughing. Just getting to meet him and make him laugh will forever be one of the greatest highlights of my life. Love you always Norm! Thanks for everything you old lump of coal. ❤
Congrats on the perfect retort to Norm. He was genuinely a good guy to let you enjoy the moment, without needing to "win" the exchange. What a great memory.
Maybe that was an invitation to do comedians in cars getting coffee, I think his episode came out right after his last appearance on letterman. Great story! RIP Norm.
Neither of my parents were fans of the “It’s me, Bob!” joke - or of twelve year old me hearing it- but that was the moment I became a fan of Norm’s comedy.
The poor guy is trying to get through his television debut, while holding his stomach more than a couple of times, and never once did I see him mention he had already fought stomach cancer, before his standup career had even begun. Such a mentally strong dude. Well, at least it ended up in a draw...
@@elmo2800 According to one source, Norm had stomach cancer circa 1985, and then his marrow & blood cancers starting almost 3 decades later. According to another source, he had also had some other cancer when he was a kid.
The first standup act I went to was Norm. I laughed so much my ribs were hurting and my face muscles were tired from smiling and laughing so much. Got to meet him after the show for autographs, picture, and a short conversation mainly about he noticed I was from the same town as that guy that killed his wife named scott peterson. I told him that I love him 3 times while talking to him and shook his hand which was one of the softest hands ive ever shaken.
The "It's me, Bob!" bit blew my mind when I saw this back then. I don't think younger people appreciate how repressive the mass media culture was at the time. Bart Simpson had just started badmouthing homework and people were whining about it in the press. Which was a literal paper that somebody threw in your driveway every morning. You couldn't say pants on TV and there were only so many channels. Letterman was subversive even earlier and helped promote amazing talents like Norm during what was also a golden age of comedy across genres and media. What I find really amazing about any Norm bit is how he's able to keep my attention. Somehow, I still don't know where he's going, but I've got to find out what he's up to.
When I'm in a funk I will lookup old Norm McDonald and David Letterman clips to cheer me up. I have seen this video several times and it never gets old.
I grew up watching Norm when he started covering the OJ trial on Weekend Update. I was a huge fan, I remember going to see Dirty Work in the theater and being super excited to see his sitcom as well as him voicing the "Death" character on Family Guy when that show first came out. It was wild how big he got out of nowhere, but he sort of fell off the planet after his sitcom went off the air. Then I found him again in the 2010's when clips of his cable sports show were surfacing online and he started his podcast. It was so crazy to find him again in my adult life and realize how he was even funnier than he was when I was a kid/teenager. Obviously I never knew or even met Norm, but he's the only pseudo celebrity figure that I genuinely cared for because of the positive affect he had on my life. Truly a legendary guy that was one of a kind.
Forever in our hearts 💕 Gave millions of us love & laughter. Wish he knows now how much he has changed our lives for the better. He gave us 3 epic things: importance of integrity, love is all that matters and life is fast, enjoy it.
Weird coincidence that one of the band members is standing in the shadows behind him and Norm makes a joke @2:01 about a “shadowy lurking character” on tv…
Now I understand why Norm wept like a baby on his last presentation on Letterman. Can you imagine the kind of shenanigans he and Chris Farley are doing together up in comedian's heaven?
The craftwork and careful use of language was the foundation of Norm’s comedy. Dave’s approach is the same. It is no wonder they admired one another so deeply. Note to the curators: would love to see Valeri Bromfield. She did a killer panel appearance in which she unleashed a mouse or mice which moved about under her sweater. It brought down the house and Dave was reduced to a puddle of laughter. Mighta’ been in the AM show or early in the LN series. Definitely in the early NBC period. Would also love to see and hear about how live, adulatory audience reaction drove the NBC News execs to move Ed Newman’s 90 second updates from the studio to the 5th floor newsroom cam. I had just started working for NBC News at the time and I remember this was the cause of much angst and argument in the News Division “C suite.”
Huh, I never saw Norm's early stand-up. I am glad he got better and than brilliant. His stories that he told later in his career are way better than this stuff.
The Devil joke could have been a real banger if Norm said "God" instead of "Bob"; but I think that would be too brazen for an American audience; especially on TV.
