This is a great summary of what made him stand so far apart from other comedians and entertainers. He was fundamentalist in his dedication to the art of comedy

This is a great summary of what made him stand so far apart from other comedians and entertainers. He was fundamentalist in his dedication to the art of comedy. He could easily tell a clean dirty-joke or a dirty clean one and he never pandered to the audience. The other part about Norm that I'm not sure everyone knew was how compassionate and well read he was. This came out on his podcast frequently. Not only could he deliver a multi-layered joke on the fly but could casually pull references to art & literature. I always appreciated his reverence toward his guests. Even during Jim Carrey's infamous and awkward flame-out on his show, he was never fazed or allowed it to affect his conduct towards his guests. Unless he had extra special reverence for them, in which case he might give them a harder time. He's the only celebrity loss I can remember being brought to tears over. An absolute legend.