Norm Macdonald and his contributions to comedy

The unexpected passing of the beloved comedian

Haley Jacob / Assistant Feature Editor / The USD Vista

Comedy fans around the world were shocked to hear about the passing of Norm Macdonald after it was announced that the famous comedian, actor, and writer lost his nine-year private battle with cancer at age 61 last Tuesday. Macdonald was best known for his role on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” in the ’90s, in addition to comedic movie classics such as “Billy Madison” and “Dirty Work.” While Macdonald’s impact on the comedy world will live on forever, his sudden and unexpected death has made for a difficult reality to accept.

Macdonald is survived by his son Dylan Macdonald, a USD alum and graduate from the English department. Dylan Macdonald enjoyed great success as a writer during his time here at USD. In 2015, he was awarded ‘Fiction runner-up’ for an original piece in the ‘2015-2016 Lindsay J. Cropper Creative Writing Contest.’ Dylan Macdonald also shared his father’s interest in comedy, forming a sketch comedy group with friends in 2011 and posting videos to their YouTube channel. 

Dr. Dennis Clausen, USD English professor, shared his memory of Dylan Macdonald’s talents.

“He was a student in my screenwriting course, and he wrote his screenplay about two comic slackers who could never get their lives together. It reminded me a lot of the movie ‘Dumb and Dumber,’ and I thought it had considerable potential if he followed through with it and developed it into a full-length screenplay,” Clausen said. “I did not know at the time who his father was, but perhaps the comedian background to his screenplay was inspired by his father’s experiences as a stand-up comic. Some of the details in Dylan’s screenplay seemed very authentic and quite humorous.”

Norm Macdonald is recognized by many as the “comic’s comic.” “Unapologetic” and “brave” are two words to describe his unique form of comedy. Macdonald had the courage to push boundaries that others dared not tip-toe. 

Professor Scott Ripley, Department Chair and Associate Professor of Theatre at USD, expressed his adoration for Macdonald. 

“I’m not interested in any art that’s not brave, and Norm Macdonald was one of the bravest comedians I ever knew,” Ripley said. “He was so true to himself. That kind of integrity is extremely rare because, as we know, we also have an ego, and we want success, and we want a quality life, and so we’ll back down, and he never did.” 

Professor Jacob Bruce, Lecturer in Theatre, shared his take on Macdonald’s individuality as a comedian. 

“Norm would walk the line between doing stand-up comedy and doing performance art. He would really test the boundaries of what he could do up there. And as a writer, too, it was the same,” Bruce said. “He would push it a little bit out of comedy and into performance art, just to sort of buck against the obvious story setup, punchline, resolution formula that everybody else was making millions off of doing at the time.”

Thanks to modern-day technology and media, future generations will get to enjoy Macdonald’s contributions to comedy. His viral Saturday Night Live bits, movie scenes, and late-night television appearances will forever live on through our phone screens. 

Professor Ripley shared a touching quote on Macdonald’s legacy, and the impact he has left on not only himself, but generations to come as well. 

“I know that I will never forget about Norm Macdonald. I’ve got my son watching him, and he’s gonna have his kids watching him, too,” Ripley said.

In the words of J.R.R Tolkien, “Moonlight drowns out all but the brightest stars,” and Norm Macdonald was, and never will be, one to fade out.