The Light Was On

When I met RJ I asked him who his favorite comedian was.

It didn't take him long: Norm MacDonald.

I couldn't believe my ears. He was mine. RJ and I were that attuned.

Norm MacDonald was a rarity. They called him a comic's comic. All I knew was Norm was very unique. Just when you thought you knew what he was up to, you didn't. And you came out belly-laughing. Hysterics, so absurd.

I'd been watching Norm since my 20's, when he first appeared on SNL. He was always a rebel, all defiance. I loved his smirk, disarming in a way. As if whispering, "You don't know what's comin'", or "Gotcha, sucka!"

And there is that hint of vulnerability mixed in with pain that comes from the struggles in life. Norm was an enigma. In interviews, late night talk shows, you were never sure if he was being serious. Norm shared exactly how much (or little) he wanted to. He didn't believe in confessionals. He didn't owe you.

Which made him brilliant - not having to rely on displaying his life like an open book, and still winning laughs and admiration like the devil. 

A lot of people didn't get him, didn't appreciate his sense of humor. I don't get people who don't get Norm MacDonald.

Norm MacDonald was the first stand-up comedian I saw in person. I felt starstruck. He left me wanting more. I'd try to get tickets whenever he was in town. I followed his Twitter account.

(I think) the year before COVID, I learned last minute that he was going to perform in Vegas. On a whim, at my behest, RJ and I flew to Vegas, stayed a night, for the sole purpose of seeing Norm perform (neither of us care for Sin City much). The spontaneity was highly uncharacteristic of me.

But it's Norm! So worth it, even if I was once again painfully aware of the amount of cigarette smoke at the casino (which you'd have to walk through).

Just months later, Norm was slated to come to a city near us again, in March 2020. I facepalmed, lamenting, "Oh! We didn't have to make that Vegas trip, had we known."

As fate would have it, later the show was cancelled on account of COVID. Tickets were refunded.

I was bitterly disappointed. No one had yet grasped the devastation COVID was going to cause. No one knew at that point in time Norm was immune-compromised. He had every right to put his well-being first. (Even if he was in perfect health, who were we to demand an artist put his audience first?)

No knew knew at that point in time Norm was dying.

Turned out the Vegas show was the last live performance of Norm's we would have ever seen.

Life is funny that way.