Norm Macdonald
The Last Dangerous Castmember
Here's
one of the all time greatest Norm Macdonald moments. As well as one of
the biggest audience laughs I have ever seen on Saturday Night Live.
It starts when Will Ferrell has just given a commentary where he has vomited all over the Weekend Update desk.
Including Norm's hand
It's a big moment, and it gets a big crowd pop. And afterwards, Norm is visibly amused.
But he's a little disturbed by the fact that he has fake vomit all over his hand and his desk now.
What the fuck do I do with all this?
But like the trooper he is, he decides to forge on ahead.
"Well,
in Albany, New York, Susan John was asked to resign as chairwoman of
the state assembly alcohol and drug abuse committee, following her
arrest on drunk driving charges. On the bright side for Ms. John, she
has been asked to chair the assembly's committee on irony."
There's almost no reaction to this joke at all. Much to Norm's chagrin.
So he just glares at the camera for a second
But Norm, as always, is quick on his feet with the ad-libs.
So out comes his trusty little tape recorder
And he hits us with:
"Note to self: Never ever follow a vomit-spewing guy with a joke."
The
audience laughs at this. But it isn't a big laugh, it's a polite
laugh. And Norm isn't satisfied with a weenie little polite laugh.
He knows there is one way he can still milk a big laugh out of this.
Uh oh. He just got the idea.
He reaches down. And he scoops up a handful of Will Ferrell's fake vomit.
And he eats it.
At this point, the crowd goes berserk.
This is one of the biggest laughs I have ever heard on Saturday Night Live. The crowd goes completely insane.
The picture on TV even starts shaking at this point, because the cameraman is laughing so hard
There's just total chaos in the studio now. Everyone in the audience is either cheering or laughing.
At this point, Norm has to yell just to be heard over the chaos.
"It's good! It's quite good!"
"Normally I don't like Will Ferrell vomit, but this is actually very good!"
And that's how you save a bit on live TV.
Ever
the professional, Norm even calls an audible and decides to skip the
last joke. Because how can you follow a vomit-spewing-guy being
upstaged by a-guy-who-ate-the-fake-vomit? He knows that you can't. As
George Costanza once famously said, you end on the big laugh and you
walk out.
"Let's just end it."
"Folks, that's the news. Goodnight!"5/10/97 - S22E19
And at the end of the day, that's what I hope we have all learned from the legacy of Norm Macdonald.
It's important to never ever follow a vomit-spewing guy with a joke.
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