Norm Macdonald Secretly Filmed Netflix Stand-Up Special Prior to His Death

Norm Macdonald filmed a secret hour-long stand-up special for Netflix during the height of the pandemic in the event of his death from a procedure.

May 12, 2022

Norm McDonald performs his standup set. — Norm McDonald performs during KAABOO Del Mar.
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An hour-long stand-up special privately shot by Norm Macdonald over a year before his death will come to Netflix later this month.

Norm Macdonald: Nothing Special was recorded during the summer of 2020, prior to him going into the hospital to undergo a procedure. Macdonald, who passed away in September at the age of 61 after privately “battling cancer for nearly a decade,” wanted to have a recording of himself delivering his new material in the event of his death.

“His test results were not good, so during the heart of COVID-19 pandemic and literally the night before going in for a procedure, he wanted to get this on tape just in case – as he put it – things went south,” Lori Jo Hoekstra, his longtime producing partner, told The Hollywood Reporter. “It was his intention to have a special to share if something happened.”

The special was filmed in a single take in Macdonald’s living room. After his procedure turned out to be a success, the tape was kept in a closet until his health worsened a year later. “He ended up getting sicker last August and September and he remembered he had shot this and asked me to find it so he could watch it,” Hoekstra said. “He ended up watching it before he passed away.”

Nothing Special, a title Hoekstra said Macdonald came up with, is set to premiere on Netflix on May 30, and will feature commentary about the late comedian from Adam Sandler, Dave Chappelle, David Letterman, Molly Shannon, and more.

“It makes me so happy that I can share it, but also so sad that we can’t share it with him,” Hoekstra said. “He didn’t do this for the shock that it exists. He shot it because he loved his material and was so proud of his material. He worked so hard and it really would’ve bothered him to have done all that work and not been able to show everybody. He did it for the stand-up. I just hope people appreciate that he did this.”