Norm Macdonald: Nothing Special (2022 TV Special) User Reviews

A little rough but Normheads will love it!

[KinoBuff2021 · 7/10 · 30 May 2022]

Well the old chunk of coal is back it again one last time. This special was certainly special for the fans and especially Norm as its a one-take stand-up special without an audience. The lack of an audience does make the rhythm unique as you don't hear any cheering or laughing to interrupt the flow. The material is a little rough in some spots but any fan of Norm can guess how the jokes could've turned out had Norm spent more time on it. But the jokes hold-up and the remembrance by some his friends at the end of movie make it so much more endearing as you can see how much he touched people.

All in all, I would recommend this special for any fan of Norm as well as anyone who could use a mood lifter as the final discussion from Norm's friends make the tribute all the more delightful.

A very Norm special. A beautiful goodbye.

[rrfpaf-99858 · 9/10 · 2 June 2022]

There's no real way to organize this so I'm just gonna spitball a few things

Norm in my opinion was always at his best when he was in a room with people who hate his guts. Many of these jokes were edgy enough to get him in trouble but not so edgy that it's hateful. I wish she had the time to perform the set live because it would be incredible with half of the audience booing him.

Norm has always been the biggest clown in the room, but there's a brief moment where you see how serious he took his craft. About halfway through the special, one of his dogs starts barking for a moment. The character he creates would make you think that he would get distracted or make a mention about it, but for a brief moment he broke character. He was completely unfazed. For a few seconds we got to see that everything he's ever done on stage has been on purpose.

I laughed a lot. It also made me sad. There are some moments he talked about things like mortality where you realize he understands his time is limited.

Like I said I don't really have a format for this. I just know that I really enjoyed this and I will be watching it again.

A Wonderful Postscript

[fischer_patrick · 7/10 · 17 February 2023]

Norm Macdonald's final comedy special was filmed during Covid lockdown, with no audience, and while the comedian and SNL legend was fighting a secret battle against cancer. Released posthumously, the special carries an emotional weight unlike any special before it. Given the circumstances of Norm's health and the ongoing pandemic, we will never see a special like this again. The comedy set covers topics ranging from casinos, cannibalism, living wills and why you have to be ready to deal with life as it comes. The special has a rawness and realness as it was filmed in one take with the occasional interruption of a barking dog and a ringing cell phone. The last act of the special is a round table discussion of Norm and his unique sense of humor by some of Comedy's biggest stars including David Letterman, Dave Chappelle, Molly Shannon, Conan O'Brien, Adam Sandler, and David Spade. It serves as a fitting analysis of a great comedian who will be long remembered and sorely missed.

GREAT set, emotional yes, but GREAT set

[mgentalen · 10/10 · 30 May 2022]

As a big fan of Normie, I was eagerly waiting for the drop of this set. Norm had hoped to get back to stand up once Corona was done, but unfortunately, that didn't happen. Norm shot this special at home in his mind practice for a set in front of an audience.

The material is classic Norm; you go from laughing non stop to feeling emotional and crying. We as the audience can tell he was struggling in pain, he talks in detail more about death and what will or could happen.

The show has a thirty minute I want to say " post show, " but Netflix isn't calling it that, more of a analysis of Norm's life; Sandler, Spade, Molly Shannon , Letterman and Dave Chappelle share moments about Norm.

This is definitely a special you need to watch more than once as there are small things you will miss between viewings.

Love ya Normie, Rest in Peace.

From baffled to crying with laughter in loops

[culinamarija · 10/10 · 30 May 2022]

Norm, we just love you. You are the best. And we miss you dearly. On account of you're dead and all. We still love you.

This was a painful reminder why we who love Norm will miss him - there is so much about his style that is so unique and so special and could not be done by anyone but him.

Just don't start here, ok?

[vonnoosh · 6/10 · 19 February 2023]

You know it's a bad sign when people say a comedy special made them cry. Yes, this is Norm MacDonald doing a show (sort of) but it's like when I saw George Carlin perform live in Red Bank in 2007. Carlin walked on stage looking feeble with a script on a stool he used as a reference. The entire show ended up feeling like it was just a rehearsal for doing the show live as the HBO special the following March. Here, Norm MacDonald is basically practicing to do the show that would be the real special which he hoped to film. The timing is a little off. He has no audience to gauge the quality of one joke compared to another. Performers aren't born with the gift to be perfect every time they perform, it takes A LOT of preparation and hard work and this show is an example of that work and not Norm at his best during the real specials filmed

I feel like I have to make that point since Norm MacDonald was far more popular and nearly ubiquitous 25 to 30 years ago. A generation has grown up and another is growing up since then. If you are relatively uninitiated, this is not the place to start even if it is the one getting the most press.

All that said, it is nice seeing a hopeful Norm practicing his material and yes, it is poignant knowing he was doing this material while also facing such an ordeal like cancer. The value of work is it gives you purpose to keep fighting, otherwise you just rest and try not to think about being sick.

Last special for the great Norm Macdonald

[pancakeman-00174 · 10/10 · 30 May 2022]

It's bittersweet to see him one more time after hearing about his death from cancer that he held secret from friends. The special isn't normal stand up but more just classic Norm being Norm. The end when David letterman, Dave Chappelle, Molly Shannon, Conan, Adam Sandler and David spade talk about him is just beautiful... Just shows the type of man Norm was. Rip to my favorite Comedian.

Nothing beats a show with an audience.

[deloudelouvain · 6/10 · 10 October 2022]

I like Norm Macdonald and he will be missed by a lot of people but this wasn't the best I've seen from him. It's the format I guess, a stand-up comedy show is just better in front of an audience. But I get it that Norm wanted to do a final show before his passing, and unfortunately the so-called pandemic made it impossible. It was kinda sad to watch him like that. The show ends with a debate or homage, it's how you want to call it, by other comedians or people that crossed his path, and to be honest that part was just boring to watch. Besides a couple good anecdotes nobody really cares about their opinions. In short it was nice to see Norm one more time, too bad it wasn't on a stage where he really shined.

Hilarious.

[jonahe123 · 10/10 · 31 May 2022]

I personally don't think this needed an audience or a stage. Presentation doesn't matter only the material. And in my opinion the material is fantastic and had us laughing really hard.

Would've been much better with an audience

[hazzaboombatty · 6/10 · 30 May 2022]

Shame he wasn't able to get a live audience organised for this material.

It's more of a podcast style monologue than a comedy show. Definitely worth a listen if you like his stuff, I checked it out while cooking and I liked it overall but the absence of an audience really doesn't help. Some of this material is incredibly sharpe and some not so much, but if you like norm stick with it through to the end.

Rest in peace norm. You'll be missed.

Norm's final bite of the "special" apple

[rcf-42234 · 10/10 · 1 June 2022]

It was fantastic to see the old chunk of coal's face come on the screen, to hear his voice and inflections. But fans of this would do well to go on youtube and listen to his old full set recordings (bootlegged by fans) :

All of the material is years old & well road tested. There is nothing new about Nothing Special.

That isn't a knock on Norm, The stupid plague robbed us (as Dave mention's in the commentary his Covid set a day before lockdown is incredible) and robbed Macdonald of the right setting & health to allow him to work out a proper special. This is like being in the writers room which is a cool insight. I can't imagine what it is like facing the end and wanting to get stuff done in your art (or craft as he would call it) but all the way until he couldn't he wanted to make people laugh.

That makes it his richest special of the three he did.

The sit down

[inacan-90-894261 · 6/10 · 27 June 2022]

I loved Norm and we as a society will miss him. The routine is unique as it's a man laying bare his existence. It's worth watching for his friends recapping it and sharing warm stories of friendship and Norm being Norm. You'll like it cause you like Norm and you'll like it more once you have time to let it sink in.

What could have been

[OhLawdyLawdy · 3/10 · 31 May 2022]

Take the overall score with a grain of salt. The majority of people throwing tens at this are doing it as some form of a sympathy tribute. While this is good material that probably would have made a pretty good special; the reality is in its current form, it's a kind of awkward hour long zoom call.

I didn't even know he was sick

[sethkells-19153 · 10/10 · 31 May 2022]

It's norm. If you love norm you'll love this, if you don't, its norm, so you're most likely wrong.

Great fun and old fella rambles on and it's very funny. Sucks that this is most likely his last special but it'll do! RIP Norm.

If you're familiar with Norm McDonald, you should love this.

[drohmark · 10/10 · 4 June 2022]

However, very few fully knew Norm and those likely closest to him, Letterman, Chappelle, Shannon, Spade, Shannon, Sandler, added greatly to the appeal of this very Special show. Mostly comedy with shades of tragedy, it is a Must See for his current and new fans. The discussion afterwards is as rewarding as the at home performance itself (see if you hear David Spade's slip of the tongue). Highly recommend this Special.

R.i.p. To the greatest comic voice ever.....

[ginogallo · 10/10 · 30 May 2022]

Norms not the greatest stand up ever......Howeverhe is a top 20, He is however the best panel guest ever and his norm macdonald live show was the best ever......Norm's full comedic body of (Especially his book) work solidifies him as one of the most prolific and greatest comedians ever, EVER.....This special was just average for him, Considering there is no Audience, You can kind of tell he's laboring at times, And knowing what we kno now, Some of the jokes make u sad rather than Laugh...........Watch this as a memorial for the GOAT and listen to Chappelle, Sandler, Conan, Molly Shannon Letterman and Spade tell stories about Norm and Regale the people with how brilliant Norm truly was.

A Fitting Tribute

[hamidious-13272 · 10/10 · 7 June 2022]

The only bad thing is this is the last set Norm has given us. Thank you Norm, what a parting gift.

The realization that there is no longer a Norm Mcdonald in the world, the best comedian in my view, feels too grim a realization.

He seemed like he was deeply closeted, but I love it.

[pdjoynt · 10/10 · 2 June 2022]

I found myself pressing pause and waiting a day to continue, thinking... This will be it, the last words I'll ever hear from the ol battle axe. I loved every minute of it. This poetic stand up/sit down was true art as it gave us a break from our idea of the regular old routine of a comedy special and performed it while saying goodbye to the world. This is something that has never been seen until now, because it had never been done.

Thank you Norm.

Intelligent But Hard Too Watch

[tkdlifemagazine · 4/10 · 30 May 2022]

This was taped at home by Norm MacDonald during COVID in preparation for a, hopeful, eventual Live show. Unfortunately he did not survive the battle with cancer and this show never happened. It is interesting to watch him work out the process but not the same as Norm working with a crowd. I love Norm and this was bittersweet but not fun to watch. The post set panel discussion was better than the special.

A beautiful farewell to a beautiful mind

[duoversity · 10/10 · 31 May 2022]

Norm Macdonald has always been a super unique comedian, his jokes are all about the journey and where the hell he's going to take you with it. If a joke didn't have to end, it wouldn't in, and that's something you've got to admire about his style.

This final farewell from Norm is truly special, much like his style of humour and delivery, he used this to reflect his journey on how the world has changed around him, in amazing style, and expressed his love through it...and in a fashion unlike his usual style, he finally ended the journey, with a beautiful heartfelt farewell to his mother.

R. I. P. Norm.

Genius

[radhrh · 10/10 · 3 June 2022]

Unique comedy special where instead of performing in front of a live audience, Norm does his set directly to camera from his home in a single take. It's beautiful, moving and intimate as if Norm is performing just for you. It's also very funny in a way that other recent Netflix specials recently have failed to be.

I didn't bother watching the discussion afterwards, what more was there to say?

Serene troubles instead of troubled serenity

[polkabike-38413 · 10/10 · 5 June 2022]

This review is really just for me because I have to make a record of it. What mister Macdonald did here is illustrate that even though he had terminal cancer and then died of terminal cancer, it's his colleagues left alive, filmed commenting on this work, that are worse off then dead, contorting inside self-imposed cages in needless, useless, stifling agony of chaotic, dishonest "composure" and "tact". For what? For fear of losing the illusory comforts and privileges of what amounts to a spasmatic personal hell. They were the ones hard to watch, not the terminally ill and then deceased mister Macdonald. He, instead, walked a fine line between bitterness and christ-like gentleness throughout the whole thing, doing it with an almost-angelic ease, but always bobbing toward gentleness, with a final triumphant hooray of love. I don't know of anyone who approaches and dismantles cynicism with such kindness and wit, without fear of or hatred of it, illustrating that the choice between the two might be much easier then it's portrayed. I am not a religious person, but this wonderful, mindfully complex human being has enriched a part of me that can most accurately be described as soul. Thank you forever Norm.

Brilliant!

[Millers-Retro-Drive-in · 10/10 · 5 June 2022]

A brilliant send-off to the greatest comedian of all time! Very very funny, yet also very sad. The jokes are top-notch, only wish he could've had his audience. Miss you Norm, RIP.

I cried

[jakenightmore · 10/10 · 15 June 2022]

I'll miss you Norm. I am thankful I got to see you live one day. This performance was unbelievable given what he was going through. I'll keep watching it over and over throughout time.

A cashgrab. I blame Netflix.

[stevenkawleski-93675 · 4/10 · 2 June 2022]

I listened to Norm Macdonald clips pretty much every day on youtube for years before he died. A couple months ago I heard rumors that he had filmed a set to be released upon his death. This was clearly not that. This was a homevideo recording of Norm organizing his jokes for an upcoming live show. It was one take.. I'm sure one of many.

If you expected any slip of the mask from Norm as he looks back in his final years, you'll be disappointed.

It feels like Netflix bought all the videos Norm made while practicing his cadence and joke order, saw that one was 50 minutes long and said.. that'll pass as a special! They clearly knew this was unfinished raw footage because they paid celebrities to close out the special at the end... not one of them praised a single joke. They just shared memories, stories we've all already heard. The panel was made up of Conan, Spade, Sandler, Chapelle, Letterman and Shannon (probably just because they wanted a woman)

• Dave Chapelle had an interesting perspective but you could tell that he hadn't spoken to Norm in years.

• Molly Shannon might as well have not even been there, she added nothing.

• Notably absent: Gilbert Gottfried, Bob Saget, Adam Eget, Attie Lang, Nick Swardson, Rosanne Barr, Laurie Metcalf, Louie CK.