There is not a single sit-down interview in Norm: The Tale of Norm Macdonald. No old friends on a sofa explaining what he was really like, no critics telling you why he mattered, hardly any guest commentary at all. Judd Apatow’s documentary for Netflix is just Norm, from start to finish, and that one decision is both the best and the most frustrating thing about it.
Jump to: Just Norm · A film for people who never knew him · What it leaves out · A documentary shaped like a Norm joke · Our verdict
Just Norm, all the way through
Apatow builds the film from archive: stand-up sets, talk show appearances, his years behind the Weekend Update desk on Saturday Night Live, and personal photos and home video. There is no narrator steering you and no talking head to tell you how to feel.
It might be the best way anyone could celebrate Norm Macdonald. For about two hours you simply watch him tell jokes and be himself. His timing, his long detours, the way he would commit to a bit long after the room had given up on it and then win them back. Very few comedians could carry a film on footage alone. Norm can.
There are also clips we had never seen before, and they are a real treat for anyone who has spent hours going through his talk show appearances.
A film for people who never knew him
The documentary is made in a way that even people who have never heard of Norm Macdonald would enjoy it. You do not need any background. You do not need to know about SNL, his feud with network executives or his place in comedy history. It works because the jokes work, and the jokes still work.
If you are coming to him fresh, this is a generous introduction. It shows you why so many comedians still talk about him the way they do. Byron Bertram, one of the comics we interviewed, named Norm among his comedy idols alongside Andy Kaufman and Bill Hicks. Read our interview with Byron Bertram.
What it leaves out
Fans, though, will want more. The one thing this documentary lacks is a chance to know Norm better, and for many of the people who press play, that is exactly what they came for.
The film only brushes past his personal life. Norm was famously vague about his own past: whether he went to college, and what jobs he did before comedy, changed depending on who asked. His gambling addiction is mentioned rather than examined. His controversial remarks are touched on and then left behind. Each of these could have been a window into who he was. Here they are footnotes.
Some of that is surely deliberate. Norm guarded his private life closely, and a film made entirely from his own words can only go where he was willing to go. But it means the documentary celebrates the performer far more than it explains the man.
A documentary shaped like a Norm joke
At times it feels like a YouTube search for “Norm Macdonald funny videos”. That sounds like a criticism, and partly it is. But it may be exactly what Apatow intended.
Think about how a Norm joke works. There is a long, patient setup that makes you believe it is going somewhere, that you are about to learn something new. Then it does not go there. The payoff is that there is no payoff, and somehow that is the funniest part.
This documentary plays the same way. It sets you up to expect revelations about the man, and then it just keeps showing you Norm being funny. You come out knowing roughly what you knew going in, and laughing anyway. As a tribute to Norm Macdonald, that might be the most fitting structure there is. If you are interested in how great comedians build that kind of patience into their material, see our piece on why timing is everything in comic delivery.
Our verdict
Norm: The Tale of Norm Macdonald is a unique approach that falls flat at times. As a portrait of the man, it is thin, and it skates past the parts of his life that fans most want to understand. As a celebration of the comedian, it is close to perfect: two hours of Norm doing what he did better than almost anyone.
Watch it for the jokes, the rare clips and the reminder of how good he was. Just do not expect to finish it knowing him any better.
For more on the comedians who shaped stand-up, read why George Carlin’s comedy survived the test of time and why comedians still can’t stop talking about Andy Kaufman, or browse all our comedian interviews.