Norm MacDonald shoots secret finale Netflix special before death – The Hollywood Reporter

One of the greatest modern comedic talents made a special last stand before his death—and it’s been kept a secret, until now.

Norm MacDonaldWorld Health Organization Die Last September, at the age of 61, he privately shot an unreleased one-hour special.

acclaimed Saturday Night Live The well-known comedian was diagnosed with cancer in 2012 but kept his illness a secret. He was working on a new material for Netflix Especially when he had to go to the hospital in the summer of 2020.

“His test results weren’t good, so during the turn of the COVID-19 pandemic and literally the night before going through a procedure, he wanted to tape this just in case — as he put it — things went south,” Laurie Joe Hoekstra, McDonald’s longtime product partner, says. long The Hollywood Reporter. “He intended to get a special to share if something happened.”

The result was a special shot of standing in the living room at McDonald’s. The actor captured the entire hour in one take. “It looks great and the materials are great,” Hoekstra says.

As it turned out, MacDonald made the medical procedure just fine and the footage was literally dumped in a locker. But MacDonald fell seriously ill a year later, before his own movie could be properly shot in front of an audience. “He ended up getting sick last August and September and remembered he shot this photo and asked me to find it so he could see it,” Hoekstra says. “He ended up watching it before he died.” MacDonald even suggested a distinctive, self-deprecating title for the watch: nothing special.

Netflix will launch the surprise program – Norm MacDonald: Nothing special‚ On May 30th.

The stand-up hour is probably a first in the world of comedy – a final post-mortem joke and testimonial from a comedian who enjoyed challenging the feud. “Through the various conversations I have within our circle of friends in comedy and production, no one has ever heard of any comparison to this [situation] — not even close,” says Hoekstra, plus nothing special, He also produced the sitcom for ABC’s McDonald’s standard And his Netflix talk show Norm MacDonald has a show

The program will include clips of Adam Sandler, Conan O’Brien, Dave Chappelle, David Letterman, David Spade and Molly Shannon discussing McDonald during the latest Netflix Is a Joke Fest.

“It makes me so happy that I can share it, but also so sad that we can’t share it with him,” Hoekstra says. He didn’t do this to the shock that he exists. He shot it because he loved his material and was very proud of his material. He worked so hard and it would have really bothered him to do all the work and not be able to show it to everyone. He did it in order to stand up. I just wish people would appreciate that he did.”