5 ms·

It's worth noting that Norm was a committed fabulist (I say this as his #7 fan). He would lie about anything and everything, to the point that it's impossible f

by defen 5y ago

It's worth noting that Norm was a committed fabulist (I say this as his #7 fan). He would lie about anything and everything, to the point that it's impossible for an outsider to tell what is the real Norm Macdonald and what is the character "Norm Macdonald". He has at least 2 "meeting Bob Dylan" stories that are completely different.

josefrichter 5y ago
Yeah that’s why everyone says now “I didn’t even know he was sick” – Norm couldn’t really tell anyone even if he had wanted. No one would believe him. I also clearly remember him saying “I’m 68 years old now” in one of his standup, getting a round of applause in return.
- rectang 5y ago
  That happened with Andy Kaufman, too — long after he had passed, many people maintained that the cancer was a long-con put-on and he was in fact still alive.
- rgoulter 5y ago
  Norm MacDonald made a dumb joke where "I didn't even know he was sick" was the punchline. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVswkvCK6_0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVswkvCK6_0
- dereg 5y ago
  This is not true. Norm has said publicly in a radio interview that he thought that talking about cancer in a stand up act was the height of narcissism. In regards to Norm's age, Norm incorrectly listing his/others' ages has been a recurring bit over the past three decades in many, many appearances in both his standup sets as well as television appearances. It's a meta joke poking fun at the idea that the specific age even matters.
ethbr0 5y ago
It's like he understood how the Internet would work, before there was an Internet. :)
SV_BubbleTime 5y ago
This was the point of his book (one of?) that he wanted to tell some stories but probably legally couldn’t, so he sprinkled some truths in and called the whole thing made up. It’s pretty practical way to be a celebrity IMO.
- defen 5y ago
  I asked him about this once. The primary reason it was structured the way it was, was that he wanted to write a novel but couldn't get any publishers to take him seriously as an author. They only wanted a memoir, so he published a metafictional one.
  - cool_dude85 5y ago
    He also claimed at one point on twitter to be writing a novel under a pen name. Wonder if that's true and if it'll ever be outed, if so.
    - a_bonobo 5y ago
      Similarly, he once met 'with the world's greatest novelist', 'He sees noone', but wouldn't say who: https://twitter.com/normmacdonald/status/899367320006443008?lang=en https://twitter.com/normmacdonald/status/899367320006443008?... It could've been Thomas Pynchon or it could've been Cormac McCarthy, and now we might never know.
    - defen 5y ago
      https://twitter.com/normmacdonald/status/953794118139826176 https://twitter.com/normmacdonald/status/953794118139826176 (Terence Keane was the "ghostwriter" of his novel)
monocasa 5y ago
"Never let the truth get in the way of a good story"
- olivermarks 5y ago
  Reminds me of Frank Abagnale, Jr. ('Catch me if you can') who despite making up the story of his life is actually a security consultant and has made millions out of his 'life story' https://whyy.org/segments/the-greatest-hoax-on-earth/ https://whyy.org/segments/the-greatest-hoax-on-earth/
  - mcot2 5y ago
    I’ve always wondered about this after seeing him recite his story a couple of times. A talk for Google is on youtube.
- mxmilkiib 5y ago
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oU81p6RN6b8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oU81p6RN6b8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEVjYb5HkG0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEVjYb5HkG0
throwawaynorm 5y ago
if you listen to the conan podcast where they reminisce about norm, the producer indicates that norm actually did stay with bob dylan and hang out at his place. so this could be true and removed at dylan's request. what's up in the air is whether or not the producer got his info from norm / real events, or twitter/entertainment news...
IAmGraydon 5y ago
I’ve known a few people like this and I always got the feeling that it was a defense mechanism and they were deeply afraid of people finding out who they really are as a person.
- kjaftaedi 5y ago
  I think you misunderstand the art of storytelling. It's not about trying to give an accurate historical account, the focus is primarily entertainment. It's been like this for thousands of years.
  - mastax 5y ago
    To the great frustration of Historians.
    - staticautomatic 5y ago
      Except when the fabulists are historians. Have you ever read Herodotus? It’s hilarious.
    - sellyme 5y ago
      The trick for that is to realise that what actually happened millennia ago isn't really too important most of the time, and that yarns and fables reveal extremely important cultural information beyond what could be gleaned from a dry factual account. Hell, even in the modern era there's loads of things that absolutely unequivocally did not happen, and everyone understands and agrees with that, yet collectively goes "but it's better if we pretend it did though". There's some old adage about truth and good stories...
      - DiggyJohnson 5y ago
        I’m actually writing a book about this in the context of MMORPGs and the generation of “real” story and narrative. Can I reproduce this comment, it’s just too on the money to ignore. I know this is a weird question, but I’ve been having fun playing around with the idea of exposing the workflow and research behind the book as opposed to restating context from others (and limiting my area of generation to the novel arguments.)
throwawayboise 5y ago
His "I'm a deeply closeted gay man" bit was hysterical. He had Larry King completely confused when he did it in one of his interviews.
- prvc 5y ago
  See also: Moore's Paradox.
- dereg 5y ago
  Note that the bit could also have alluded to the fact that he was a deeply closeted cancer patient. There's almost a decade of Norm content that has to be totally recontextualized.
emmelaich 5y ago
Two things that indicate for me the fabulism. 1. Book of Job favorite book? Not impossible but. ... 2. References to the "original" Book of Job. No such think AFAIK. 3. The three friends in the story match the three others in the book of Job. 4. Elihu possibly matches the old man with the funny story.
- SOMA_BOFH 5y ago
  due to the seemingly incomplete ending of the book of job, many people suspect the original ending was too extreme and was omitted later. how extreme and in what direction has been debated for a long time.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
metagame 5y ago
The joke here is that this is something he only told by text, that was initially on his Twitter account, and it was a long-winded, typed story that ended with "don't be fooled by typists."
dereg 5y ago
There's no reason to doubt the veracity of his story. As Norm has said before: "It’s not facts, but it’s truth."

by defen 5y ago

josefrichter 5y ago

Yeah that’s why everyone says now “I didn’t even know he was sick” – Norm couldn’t really tell anyone even if he had wanted. No one would believe him. I also clearly remember him saying “I’m 68 years old now” in one of his standup, getting a round of applause in return.

rectang 5y ago
That happened with Andy Kaufman, too — long after he had passed, many people maintained that the cancer was a long-con put-on and he was in fact still alive.
rgoulter 5y ago
Norm MacDonald made a dumb joke where "I didn't even know he was sick" was the punchline. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVswkvCK6_0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVswkvCK6_0
dereg 5y ago
This is not true. Norm has said publicly in a radio interview that he thought that talking about cancer in a stand up act was the height of narcissism. In regards to Norm's age, Norm incorrectly listing his/others' ages has been a recurring bit over the past three decades in many, many appearances in both his standup sets as well as television appearances. It's a meta joke poking fun at the idea that the specific age even matters.

ethbr0 5y ago

It's like he understood how the Internet would work, before there was an Internet. :)

SV_BubbleTime 5y ago

This was the point of his book (one of?) that he wanted to tell some stories but probably legally couldn’t, so he sprinkled some truths in and called the whole thing made up. It’s pretty practical way to be a celebrity IMO.

defen 5y ago
I asked him about this once. The primary reason it was structured the way it was, was that he wanted to write a novel but couldn't get any publishers to take him seriously as an author. They only wanted a memoir, so he published a metafictional one.
- cool_dude85 5y ago
  He also claimed at one point on twitter to be writing a novel under a pen name. Wonder if that's true and if it'll ever be outed, if so.
  - a_bonobo 5y ago
    Similarly, he once met 'with the world's greatest novelist', 'He sees noone', but wouldn't say who: https://twitter.com/normmacdonald/status/899367320006443008?lang=en https://twitter.com/normmacdonald/status/899367320006443008?... It could've been Thomas Pynchon or it could've been Cormac McCarthy, and now we might never know.
  - defen 5y ago
    https://twitter.com/normmacdonald/status/953794118139826176 https://twitter.com/normmacdonald/status/953794118139826176 (Terence Keane was the "ghostwriter" of his novel)

monocasa 5y ago

"Never let the truth get in the way of a good story"

olivermarks 5y ago
Reminds me of Frank Abagnale, Jr. ('Catch me if you can') who despite making up the story of his life is actually a security consultant and has made millions out of his 'life story' https://whyy.org/segments/the-greatest-hoax-on-earth/ https://whyy.org/segments/the-greatest-hoax-on-earth/
- mcot2 5y ago
  I’ve always wondered about this after seeing him recite his story a couple of times. A talk for Google is on youtube.
mxmilkiib 5y ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oU81p6RN6b8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oU81p6RN6b8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEVjYb5HkG0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEVjYb5HkG0

throwawaynorm 5y ago

if you listen to the conan podcast where they reminisce about norm, the producer indicates that norm actually did stay with bob dylan and hang out at his place. so this could be true and removed at dylan's request. what's up in the air is whether or not the producer got his info from norm / real events, or twitter/entertainment news...

IAmGraydon 5y ago

I’ve known a few people like this and I always got the feeling that it was a defense mechanism and they were deeply afraid of people finding out who they really are as a person.

kjaftaedi 5y ago
I think you misunderstand the art of storytelling. It's not about trying to give an accurate historical account, the focus is primarily entertainment. It's been like this for thousands of years.
- mastax 5y ago
  To the great frustration of Historians.
  - staticautomatic 5y ago
    Except when the fabulists are historians. Have you ever read Herodotus? It’s hilarious.
  - sellyme 5y ago
    The trick for that is to realise that what actually happened millennia ago isn't really too important most of the time, and that yarns and fables reveal extremely important cultural information beyond what could be gleaned from a dry factual account. Hell, even in the modern era there's loads of things that absolutely unequivocally did not happen, and everyone understands and agrees with that, yet collectively goes "but it's better if we pretend it did though". There's some old adage about truth and good stories...
    - DiggyJohnson 5y ago
      I’m actually writing a book about this in the context of MMORPGs and the generation of “real” story and narrative. Can I reproduce this comment, it’s just too on the money to ignore. I know this is a weird question, but I’ve been having fun playing around with the idea of exposing the workflow and research behind the book as opposed to restating context from others (and limiting my area of generation to the novel arguments.)

throwawayboise 5y ago

His "I'm a deeply closeted gay man" bit was hysterical. He had Larry King completely confused when he did it in one of his interviews.

prvc 5y ago
See also: Moore's Paradox.
dereg 5y ago
Note that the bit could also have alluded to the fact that he was a deeply closeted cancer patient. There's almost a decade of Norm content that has to be totally recontextualized.

emmelaich 5y ago

Two things that indicate for me the fabulism. 1. Book of Job favorite book? Not impossible but. ... 2. References to the "original" Book of Job. No such think AFAIK. 3. The three friends in the story match the three others in the book of Job. 4. Elihu possibly matches the old man with the funny story.

SOMA_BOFH 5y ago
due to the seemingly incomplete ending of the book of job, many people suspect the original ending was too extreme and was omitted later. how extreme and in what direction has been debated for a long time.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

metagame 5y ago

The joke here is that this is something he only told by text, that was initially on his Twitter account, and it was a long-winded, typed story that ended with "don't be fooled by typists."

dereg 5y ago

There's no reason to doubt the veracity of his story. As Norm has said before: "It’s not facts, but it’s truth."