Such a frustrating disappointment

Sadly Over-hyped

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

If I had to guess, the only times I've seen Norm Macdonald were on his Saturday Night Live appearances. Seems to me he was funny in those bits, but I had a bit of a tough time with this stand-up special. Macdonald had his moments, but there were also times when he seemed to just wind up standing there lost in thought and wondering what to say next. More so in the first part of his act, he hit a better stride in the second half. I like comics who focus in on the mundane and make it funny, and Norm does some of that here, but every now and then he would lament the fact that he was old. Not getting old, just being old. So much so that I had to look up his stats here on IMDb and he was born in 1959, so that only makes him fifty eight as I write this. Heck, I'm a decade older and feel a lot better about myself than Macdonald does. It could just be part of his schtick but the way he came across I don't think so. My favorite bits here had to do with the unknown astronauts who have walked on the moon, and Germany taking on the world twice in a losing cause. Those were pretty funny observations. For those who enjoy the more morbid, I thought his idea to blame someone else in a suicide note was kind of interesting. Don't think I'll try it though.

This is probably the best comedy special I have ever seen. I first randomly drunk watched it and couldn't remember who it was. I went all over the place searching the one joke I could remember until I was recommended to look up Norm independently. I've since totally immersed myself in Norm and this special and his podcast Norm MacDonald Live are his best work. I would say this is the best special I have ever seen. If not Straight White Male 60 by Dana Carvey.

I've always been a huge fan of Norm MacDonald.I've even been re-watching Norm for the last couple days.I usually laugh at everything he says but this special is by far the least funny thing he has ever done.He had some good jokes.There's one about auto-erotic asphyxiation that was really good(even though I saw the punch line coming a mile away) and a couple times he mentions all the horrible things happening in the world, like that it's raining in the forests. Those were the only times he was really funny in this special. The most disappointing part is that he reused a few old jokes.That's acceptable when you're doing a talk show but not when you're getting millions to do a Netflix special. While this was Norm at his worst, it's still better than most stand-up specials.

Norm MacDonald is a guy that's openly against doing specials, so it's nice that we actually get some televised stuff for the first time in six years (apart from a brief Letterman appearance). To start out with the good: Norm's still an absolute genius, making people laugh at the sheer absurdity of his premises. There are no rapid-fire punchlines, as the years progress Norm's increasingly comfortable with just having long, meandering stories and takes his time to set up a joke. The absolute best bit in the special is the one where he teaches us you never have to lie... if you say everything in a sarcastic voice. The way he acts that out is classic stuff.With that said, there are two somewhat disappointing elements about this special. For one thing, Norm doesn't like it when his performances get edited but this could have definitely used some editing. Some bits just go absolutely nowhere and just confuse the crowd. For instance, there's a bit on George Washington that just completely dies, and it makes you wonder if Norm really thought his delivery could save a bit that literally has no jokes. Norm's delivery and timing is amazing, maybe the best of all time. But you still need to write, even if you can make people laugh by mispronouncing the word 'capsule'.Another thing that's somewhat of a letdown is that a lot of this material is old. There are some decent quality bootlegs available from 2009 and 2010, and I recognised a lot of bits from those bootlegs. He's been doing these bits for seven or eight years now? For a guy who allegedly hates to tell the same joke twice, that seems pretty lazy. I can laugh at the restaurant bit a hundred times, but I was hoping I'd discover lots of new material. That didn't happen, I knew pretty much everything.However, it's good to see he's still having fun with this. He's a natural and an incredibly mysterious guy, so all the new footage you can get of him is a gem. Furthermore, I don't think I've ever laughed more at the ending of a comedy special, because it was just so perfectly in character for Norm. Overall I'd say this special is a little below 2011's "Me Doing Stand-Up", but certainly not by much.