“This One Hurt” Canadian Comedians Reflect Upon the Life & Career of Norm Macdonald

Grief is the price of love. When the announcement that comedian Norm Macdonald passed away, what followed was an outpour of messages of love and mourning for the late comedy legend. Comedians across the world shared their feelings about his death, and more often than not, what was shared was “I don’t normally say stuff like this when a celebrity dies.” What I believe instigated the innate need to express grief at his loss was deeper than a fondness for his act - it was a love and respect for his craft, his integrity, and above all: putting the funny first. 

Norm Macdonald brought endless hours of entertainment to the masses, but he also inspired a generation of comedians who, like Norm, have invested their lives into the care and craft of a well-told joke. While he may no longer be with us, his legacy has left an impact that will not soon be erased. Following his death, I spoke with a number of comedians from across Canada about how Norm Macdonald’s life and career influenced their work. 

Taylor Carver

“Norm Macdonald was important to me for one reason, he has made me laugh more than anyone else, for a million different reasons with different styles of jokes in different mediums. But more importantly, Norm offers comics the sweet and soft lie: that joke is good, it's the audience that is wrong. This is rarely true, but there's a reason comics talk about ‘Norm-Holes’ on YouTube, hours spent watching Norm do what we thought we were doing, except he’s actually doing it. He made us believe maybe we were good, maybe the audience was wrong, and sometimes that's even better than the laugh.”

Bonez Poley

“When I first started doing stand-up, I was worried that I wasn't doing it "right". I felt like I wasn't following the rules. Then I saw Norm and realized that you don't have to. If you're good, you're good, and breaking the mold is really the ideal. I don't know if I would have found the confidence to be so unabashedly myself if I hadn't witnessed his success in doing so.”

Alan Shane Lewis

“The world got a lot less funny with the passing of Norm Macdonald. I owe a lot of my comedic style and timing to Norm. Watching him over the years I learned that a joke just had to be funny to you. Plain and simple. You can sit in that silence and enjoy it. And the audience can either join you and stay silent but to ultimately tell the jokes that make you happy. Be authentically you. His level of craftsmanship and playfulness was truly an inspiration to a lot of us and very few people have touched as many hearts and minds as him. He will be dearly missed.”

Brittany Campbell

“To be honest I've always loved everything I've ever heard Norm Macdonald say... truly a pro in all aspects. I do honestly love hearing his voice flow through other comedian's mouths, especially new comics. You could really see how far his reach and influence went. I don't even get mad, ‘cause if a comedian is going to be influenced by anyone's style, let it be Norm.” 

Ryan Dillon

“From seeing his stand up on syndicated Just For Laughs galas, stand out appearances in movies, being the, and I mean THE best talk show guest. I loved Norm because he was always committed to the joke. People will break and laugh, address the audience, but Norm always stayed in the joke. He didn’t care about anything else. I admire that so much. I want to be that. That makes me want to be a better comedian. What I will miss most about him is that when it feels like every comedian has to have a hook, or be personal, or political, Norm was just funny. That’s all that matters, and that’s all that should.”

Ashley Grace

“How does a mortal address the Pantheon? To me the success and lesson of Norm Macdonald’s comedy is in presenting the irony of reality with such a straight forward and unassuming humour that you can’t help but accept his well-meaning earnestness regardless of subject matter. He was so cutting and honest but never truly mean… (There was) something so understated and profound at once about him and his delivery… and whatta tall drink of water, too!!”

Travis Lindsay

“He just really made me laugh. I feel he's one of if not  the most rewatchable comics of  all time. Which is rare since so much comedy is dependent on surprise but with norm it was like listening to a song you really like.”

Rush Kazi

“Norm MacDonald was the king of deadpan. I didn't think a celebrity death would affect me like this. He was very influential in my formative years - the best thing about SNL, I would literally watch SNL for his weekend updates and he was basically the only reason to watch Mike Tyson Mysteries. Everyone in comedy has suffered a huge loss and it will be a while before we get a star like him again.”

Stephen Girodat

“I remember fondly the first time I saw Norm: It was the roast of Bob Saget. Every comic went up and made ruthless jokes about Bob sleeping with the Olsen twins all while Norm sat on the stage reading a newspaper. That alone had me dying with laughter. When he finally went up he did jokes that were so ridiculously outdated and strange the audience had no idea what was going on. The other comics on the stage were all tearing up because they knew Norm was just being Norm. From that moment I knew I wanted to do stand up, I wanted to be effortlessly funny like him. I watched every clip, video, radio interview and podcast that I could find with Norm on it. Those became my cure all. Through depression, fighting addiction and all my other human troubles, Norm’s comedy kept me sane ( for the most part). I honestly can’t express my gratitude for what he gave to me and so many others so freely. Norm was and always will be the comic’s comic, the truest purest and most uncompromisingly funny comedian to ever live. Thank you Norm.”