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When a comedian asks another comedian for their favorite comic, the answer is often Norm Macdonald.
He only got laughs his way.
But what made Macdonald one of the all-time greats was his utter, mind-blowing originality.
Macdonald delivered jokes in a way no one else did before him.
The first time you hear it, his odd intonation stops you in your tracks.
You cant place it: Hes from Canada, but it isnt iconically Canadian.
Its just …odd.
Macdonald did none of this; instead, he seemed to actively defy the speech conventions of stand-up.
Or that, in I.D., I is short for I and D is short for Dentification.
Macdonald simply saw things differently than almost everyone.
I first encountered him when he was a guest on Dennis Millers HBO show in 1997.
Miller asked Macdonald why he quit smoking, and he said, Its bad!
His sort of wise idiot persona immediately grabbed me.
A pork sandwich is delicious, said Macdonald, but adigestedpork sandwich?
I was rolling off the couch, and so were all my roommates.
Most comedians discover one or two of these in their whole career.
To watch a Macdonald set is to see him roll out one after another like its nothing at all.
Macdonald could just pinpoint the funny in things the way a seismograph detects fault lines deep below the earth.
His impressions were not at all magic-trick perfect in the way hisSNLcastmate Darrell Hammonds were.
They werent even the exaggerated abstractions of Dana Carvey.
Macdonald saw things that were part and parcel of his subjects persona that others could not.
until it was funny just to hear it.
It was more true to Daves essence than even the best straight mimicry would be.
It didnt matter, because Macdonald absolutely nailed the effortless swagger that made Burt Burt.
I am forever grateful that our unknowable universe somehow produced the unique thought process of Norm Macdonald.
I am even more grateful that he had the desire and perseverance to share those ideas with the world.
