Norm Macdonald: Hitler's Dog, Gossip & Trickery

This is one of my favorite specials, I can't believe I haven't reviewed it yet. Sadly Norm isn't around anymore so this is the last one to commemorate his genius, unique comedy style.

With his charm and witty plot-twisty jokes he keeps the laughs going till the end. I guess if you're some simpleton who can't grasp his humor, you might feel like this isn't as funny as it really is, but he always loved having 50% of the audience laugh and 50% of the audience confused, that made the others laugh even harder.

Legend, like Patrice O'Neal and other great ones that are now gone but the world really needs, because true, funny, pure comedians who REALLY just want to be comedians and not preachy douchebags who exploit political topics for that Netflix frontpage are really a minority nowadays.

(Flash Review)

Norm is on point in this one. His set is full of a steady barrage of solid jokes delivered only as Norm can. The one knock I'd have is here occasionally there are some pointless and forced cursing. Felt out of place. He could also lose the formal suit. If you like Norm you'll enjoy this.

I am a little surprised at the negative reviews. I thought the whole thing flowed well and was an enjoyable hour. He had a lot of subtle jokes and observations that I was entertained by. He is able to riff on mundane subjects and make humorous observations. He had a few very funny jokes. This isn't the funniest thing I have ever seen Norm Macdonald do but I would watch again.

Norm MacDonald's genius is in the expectations of where his anecdotes and observations will take a turn. The finale of this special is a key example as he starts with saying a deep and true thing that with all the problems in the world and so on loving one another is the most important thing... And this leads into describing (in a first person imitation as Norm can do) of Hitler's dog and how much he loved the guy because... Well, dogs love people and don't judge.

I almost feel weird explaining a joke like that, or how he'll take apart things like Wikipedia or how we use our phones (they didn't used to be 'magic' is the premise of that bit) or the absurdity in the commandment "thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's ox." Nevermind the fact that no one in like 500 years has seen an ox let alone referred to that commandment that way - that I think is part of the joke - so much of the laughs, and I found as many and as hearty to be had as in the best of the Chappelle or Louis CK specials (also new on Netflix in 2017.

The key I think is that Norm comes off so... Unassuming. He's not a comic that has a rapid fire or super-high energy delivery, he takes his time with every bit he does, and it's like being drawn in to a trick (again with the subtitle of the special). There's a YouTube reviewer called the Nerdwriter who goes more in depth but the key thing is that there's a magic level to what Norm does, and not in a cheesy way, I mean that you are pulled in little by little as he does each movement of thought and winds up at something that is .... Whoa. His comedy is absurd and wholly delightful, and the intelligence behind it could cut through ten plates of glass.

If nothing else his bit about bringing back the word 'score' ala Abraham Lincoln and George Washington cutting down the tree would get this three stars by default. There's more though so it gets the bump up to just shy of 5 (maybe a couple of minutes fell flat for me but only a couple).

I can't get enough of Norm McDonald. Norm needs to do more specials. I have watched this multiple times, and it's still great.