One of my most enjoyable gigs while doing Extra work in Los Angeles was appearing on the sitcom "Norm." I don't talk about it all the time, but it's in my top three, I'd say (the others being FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS, and either SPIDER-MAN or the hillbilly cultists episode of "X-Files"). "Norm" was a sitcom with SNL alum Norm MacDonald, Laurie Metcalf, and Artie Lange about troublemaking social workers.
It was one of those shows shot before a live studio audience, and while we rehearsed it before the actual shoot, I was unprepared for just how funny the dialogue was that we, the background, were supposed to ignore. If I recall, we did the scene multiple times (even with the live spectators) because of crack-ups, and people trying alternate lines, and then . . . it was over, people were applauding, and we got to go home. I only worked on four or five sit-coms the whole time I was an extra (and "Frasier" didn't count because it was a taped remote at the Staples Center), but that was my favorite.
And now, Norm MacDonald has died at the age of 61. Cancer again, even in the midst of a pandemic.
I knew him from his work on "Saturday Night Live," where he anchored the Weekend Update desk, and would often throw the same joke into multiple episodes (about David Hasselhoff or Frank Stallone) to reward people who were paying attention. He was pretty great, until he was abruptly fired for making a few too many O.J. Simpson jokes, and replaced by the staggeringly unfunny Colin Quinn.
After SNL, he starred in multiple Adam Sandler productions, got his own movie (DIRTY WORK) that my roommates and I saw on opening day, did some television work (he had his own talk show, apparently), but mostly did stand-up and guest appearances on talk shows, where his talent was best displayed. He had a unique delivery and a rambling, seemingly-lost style, and I'll never forget his appearance on the last week of Letterman, where he ended his set with a tearful goodbye, despite admitting that "Mister Letterman is not for the mawkish, and has no truck for the sentimental," which are words of such Shakespearean poetry I've never forgotten them.
As usual, it has been nice to hear people who knew him go on about the man, and share funny stories or clips that make me laugh just as hard if I'd seen them before.
Sit-ups Today: 125
Sit-ups In September: 1563
Push-ups Today: 219
Push-ups In September: 1923
Words Today: 683
Words In September: 10,195
No comments:
Post a Comment