# RIP Norm MacDonald **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** celebrity-death\ **Created:** [September 14, 2021, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-norm-macdonald/950662 "2021-09-14T18:36:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2021, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-norm-macdonald/950662/82 "2021-09-21T14:08:54Z")
He’s got a point there, being an artist and committed to his craft. As a viewer/listener, I don’t much care what is art/not-art. They all hit different bones for me. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2021, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-norm-macdonald/950662/83 "2021-09-21T14:10:15Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > MacDonald’s point was that simply stating “I am depressed” isn’t an artistic accomplishment, or else everyone talking to their therapist is engaging in art. [Basically, songs like “How Did This Happen To Me” were not great achievements in his book, at least not lyrically.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y983TDjoglQ) ---
**Author:** ![SunUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SunUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunUp)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2021, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-norm-macdonald/950662/84 "2021-09-21T14:28:50Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Basically, songs like “How Did This Happen To Me” were not great achievements in his book, at least not lyrically. I wonder if he would have liked “Weird Al” Yankovic’s [Why Does This Always Happen To Me?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHRGqJDA1zk) ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2021, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-norm-macdonald/950662/85 "2021-09-21T18:43:43Z")
The fact that he was _always_ performing is really obvious in this video–he had been on tour with a bunch of comics, some pretty big names–Adam Sandler, David Spade, Rob Schneider who sucks, and a less known comic. Norm totally dominates the interview, you can just tell everyone, including the guys who had been traveling with him for months, keeps going back to him. [Norm Macdonald steals the show! 😂 - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gL3-U0brUHc) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2021, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-norm-macdonald/950662/86 "2021-09-21T18:52:49Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > Rob Schneider who sucks God, you’re not kidding – in that interview, he’s absolute garbage. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2021, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-norm-macdonald/950662/87 "2021-09-21T19:06:28Z")
What’s with the makeup? A drunk 17-year-old? So much white/pale blue sparkling powder around their eyes. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2021, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-norm-macdonald/950662/88 "2021-09-22T02:50:47Z")
Norm’s StarSearch routine was also pretty funny. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2021, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-norm-macdonald/950662/89 "2021-09-22T06:18:39Z")
R.I.P. That sly, infectious-as-damn smile. Almost a hero to my brother. May youtube hits never stop raining down. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2021, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-norm-macdonald/950662/90 "2021-09-22T13:44:10Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > His jokes are hilarious. The moth joke (and several others) laid me out, sent me right out of my chair so I could roll around on the floor. Just an incredible bit with all the embellishments and misdirection _that you know is misdirection_ but you listen to it all anyway because it’s so absurd that it borders on surreal and you just have to find out where he’s going with this… and then, of course, he goes _there_. 😃 To paraphrase a comment I made in the Death Pool thread, the thing about the moth joke isn’t that he’s dragging out a joke with a lame punchline. It’s _how_ he drags it out that makes it so hilarious. It’s about the journey, not the destination. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2021, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-norm-macdonald/950662/91 "2021-09-22T14:24:22Z")
Are people really that unfamiliar with the humor genre known as the “[shaggy dog story](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaggy_dog_story)”? > [@](#): > > In its original sense, a **shaggy dog story** or **yarn** is an extremely long-winded anecdote characterized by extensive narration of typically irrelevant incidents and terminated by an anticlimax. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2021, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-norm-macdonald/950662/92 "2021-09-22T14:30:21Z")
Hey, fuck you, clown! In the case this gets misunderstood, it’s the punchline to a well-known shaggy dog joke. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2021, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-norm-macdonald/950662/93 "2021-09-24T13:18:36Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Are people really that unfamiliar with the humor genre known as the “[shaggy dog story](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaggy_dog_story)”? > > > [@](#): > > > > In its original sense, a **shaggy dog story** or **yarn** is an extremely long-winded anecdote characterized by extensive narration of typically irrelevant incidents and terminated by an anticlimax. Going by this definition, would the infamous "Aristocrats’ joke be considered a shaggy dog story? A shaggy doggy-style story, maybe? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2021, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-norm-macdonald/950662/94 "2021-09-24T13:26:07Z")
Yes, I would definitely call the Aristocrats a prime example of a shaggy dog story. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2021, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-norm-macdonald/950662/95 "2021-09-24T16:40:27Z")
A doggie shag story? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2021, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-norm-macdonald/950662/96 "2021-09-24T16:58:32Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > re people really that unfamiliar with the humor genre known as the “[shaggy dog story](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaggy_dog_story) The Moth Joke isn’t technically a shaggy dog story because it’s actually a conventional joke. You can tell the difference by just telling it in ten seconds: _A giant moth walks into a podiatrist’s office and says “Doctor, I’m so depressed… my wife hates me, my life is a disaster. I want to kill myself.” The podiatrist says “That’s horrible, but I just work with feet. You need a psychiatrist. Why did you come here?” The moth replies “Cause the light was on!”_ It’s not a great joke but it’s a straightforward joke. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2021, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-norm-macdonald/950662/97 "2021-09-24T23:28:38Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > A doggie shag story? 👏 👏 👏 ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2021, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-norm-macdonald/950662/98 "2021-09-25T00:08:40Z")
If I posted my favorite Norm jokes, I’d probably get banned. So, take this instead. A 'Tribute". Hear it in Norm’s voice… _“What do Lance Armstrong and Donald Trump have in common?”_ _“They are both Assholes.”_ ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2021, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-norm-macdonald/950662/99 "2021-09-25T01:35:00Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > You can tell the difference by just telling it in ten seconds: How short is this drive?! ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2021, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-norm-macdonald/950662/100 "2021-09-25T02:38:06Z")
Just down to the pharmacy for some aspirin. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2021, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-norm-macdonald/950662/101 "2021-09-25T02:57:34Z")
Yeah, but it’s turned into a shaggy dog story. (And the original version I heard involves a dentist – not that the details matter. It was told on an episode of Scrubs before Norm told the Colin Quinn extended version on Conan.) While most shaggy dog stories have a completely unclimactic ending, I don’t think the presence of a conventional, but corny, punchline disqualifies it. It’s the whole long, drawn-out part and the performance thereof that defines the shaggy dog, to me. If it’s not technically a shaggy dog story, I can live with that, but it’s certainly very closely related. Maybe call it a shaggy dog joke, as it is a conventional joke, dressed up in shaggy dog story form. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-norm-macdonald/950662.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-norm-macdonald/950662.md?page=6)