Norm Macdonald jokes about death in last special: ‘He left this gift for all of us’
Norm Macdonald’s final stand-up special, filmed before the comedian’s death in September, has made its way to Netflix with fellow funny people paying tribute to the late icon.“We are honored to bring you Norm Macdonald’s last special, followed by reactions and commentary from a few of his special friends,” Netflix wrote in the opening credits for “Norm Macdonald: Nothing Special,” which was released Monday and includes appearances from David Letterman, Dave Chappelle, Molly Shannon, Conan O’Brien, Adam Sandler and David Spade.The special shows Macdonald, who died in September 2021 after a private nine-year battle with leukemia, wearing a baseball cap and headphones and talking into a mike, pandemic Zoom style, in a nondescript room where dogs can be heard barking.“Norm was working hard preparing material for his Netflix special — until COVID shut things down,” another title card read. “In the summer of 2020, he was scheduled to undergo a procedure and as he put it, ‘didn’t want to leave anything on the table in case things went south.’ “The special concludes with Letterman, Chappelle, Shannon, O’Brien, Sandler and Spade gathered together to watch “Nothing Special” and honor their longtime pal.Netflix said Macdonald “shot this in one take” while “at home, the night before going in.”“Hey everybody, it’s Norm Macdonald and this is my comedy special,” he began.