RIP Norm Macdonald

Comedian Norm Macdonald, an iconic Saturday Night Live cast member and a favorite comedian among comedians, has passed away at the age of 61 after a long and private battle with cancer. His management announced the news to Deadline this morning.

Macdonald had been battling cancer for ten years but kept his diagnosis private from the general public.

"He was most proud of his comedy," said his producing partner Lori Jo Hoekstra. "He never wanted the diagnosis to affect the way the audience or any of his loved ones saw him. Norm was a pure comic. He once wrote that ‘a joke should catch someone by surprise, it should never pander.’ He certainly never pandered. Norm will be missed terribly."

Macdonald made a massive impact as a cast member of Saturday Night Live, where his Weekend Update segments were notoriously barbed, biting, and very funny. He continued doing stand up for years after he left the show and was also famously one of Conan O'Brien's most unruly guests.

It's difficult to overstate Macdonald's impact on comedy in the decades after he was a national star. As a comedian, Macdonald was often challenging, sometimes eviscerating the real-life subjects of his jokes and other times meandering through painful, intentionally unfunny exposition while building anticipation for the punchline. Bits like his moth joke and his serial killer joke racked up millions of views online have been the subject of YouTube analyses which have themselves gained millions of views.

Macdonald's Comedy Central roast of Bob Saget is arguably the most memorable segment ever performed on the Comedy Central Roast series, particularly because of how he intentionally "bombed it." Whereas other comedians took brutal shots at Saget, Macdonald delivered a set of generic, PG-rated roast lines while the audience sat in silence while the other comedians howled with laughter. Macdonald later explained he had received a book of "roast" jokes from the 1940s as a gift and decided to simply read some jokes from the book at the event.

News of Macdonald's passing stunned social media, and fans and colleagues offered tributes, shock, and clips of his work.

Norm Macdonald was a comedians comedian. One I would listen to in the car at least once a month. His takedown of a school teacher who tried to heckle him will remain comedy gold for the rest of time. RIP Norm :( pic.twitter.com/ymz6nXPcII

— Kidbehindacamera (@Lyricoldrap) September 14, 2021

Have rarely laughed as hard as when Norm Macdonald did "Which Dougie Dancer Gets Hit by an Ice Cream Truck" pic.twitter.com/xmec3k9ldN

— UConn football endurer (@NoEscalators) September 14, 2021

Here's another clip of how great Norm Macdonald was at taking the most awkward comedy and making it so funny you couldn't help but laugh.

Norm is doing a bit about Steve Irwin (Crocodile Hunter) dying… 10 days after it happened. pic.twitter.com/bSP83bqQrg

— Josh Jordan (@NumbersMuncher) September 14, 2021

Have rarely laughed as hard as when Norm Macdonald did "Which Dougie Dancer Gets Hit by an Ice Cream Truck" pic.twitter.com/xmec3k9ldN

— UConn football endurer (@NoEscalators) September 14, 2021

No one could make you break like Norm Macdonald. Hilarious and unique. Fuck cancer.

— Jon Stewart (@jonstewart) September 14, 2021