Kriti Mehrotra
While comedy has always been a dynamic genre, the one thing most renowned professionals agree upon is that it’s also eternal owing to the way hope, joy, and peace often go hand in hand. Therefore, with them often placing Norman “Norm” Macdonald in the category of the funniest comic ever or one of the all-time greats, it goes without saying he was an icon in the industry. The same has since been explored in Netflix’s ‘Norm: The Tale of Norm Macdonald,’ delving into everything from his early SNL career to his co-hosting original shows to his fatal cancer.
How Did Norm Macdonald Earn His Money?
Although Norm Macdonald was born in Quebec, Canada, he primarily grew up in Eastern Ontario, Canada, alongside parents who never once hesitated to support their children or their dreams. Therefore, he had developed a passion for humor and comedy by the time he was a teenager, all the while focusing on his education, considering he had a really bright mind. In fact, he graduated from Gloucester High School at the age of 14 before attending Carleton University for a Bachelor’s degree in Math & Philosophy. He eventually dropped out, but he later also enrolled at Algonquin College for a chance to study Broadcasting and Journalism to see if it was a field he could pursue a career in.
Norm already knew he had an unwavering passion for stand-up comedy by the time the 1980s rolled around, so he became solely focused on that. He did take on a variety of manual labor jobs, such as digging ditches, working in brickwork, moving furniture, and serving as a chokerman for a logging company, to make ends meet. However, his primary ambition was to make people laugh, driving him to perform his material at stand-up clubs in Ottawa before he was asked to be a regular on amateur nights at Yuk Yuk’s in 1985. As time passed, his confidence grew, so he was glad to perform at the 1986 Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal before stepping away from the limelight for a while to battle stomach cancer.
Norm was back in the comedy scene again by the time the late 1980s rolled around, and he was even more determined than ever before to make a name for himself. He thus relocated to Los Angeles, California, and then New York City, New York, where his absurd and funny tales garnered attention from cable television personnel. That’s how he booked his debut network appearance on ‘The Pat Sajak Show’ in August 1989, followed by ‘Late Night with David Letterman’ in May 1990. His set during the latter turned his world upside down as the host loved it so much that they became a fan and ensured he was introduced to the right people so that he could further his career. That’s how Norm ended up serving as a writer on ‘The Dennis Miller Show’ in 1992 and ‘Roseanne’ in 1992-93 before moving forward to join the crew of ‘Saturday Night Live.’
Norm’s primary role at ‘SNL’ during his debut season in 1993 was as a writer, but he also impressed everyone with his comedic timing and impressions. He did impressions of Burt Reynolds, Clint Eastwood, David Letterman, Larry King, Quentin Tarantino, and many more before he was asked to anchor the satire segment “Weekend Update.” It has long been claimed that he coined the term “fake news” because his signature introduction for the segment was “I’m Norm Macdonald, and now, the fake news.” He didn’t shy away from any topic, and later revealed he deliberately focused on comedy that relied on absurdity, delivery, and uncomfortableness alone – he did no wordplay or anything. He soon became best known for his running jokes on prison rape, sex work, Sylvester Stallone’s brother Frank Stallone, Michael Jackson, and OJ Simpson.
While Norm’s comedy sometimes blurred the lines between absurd, ironic, or satirical and insensitive, his segment was arguably the most successful on ‘SNL’ throughout the mid-1990s. However, he was fired by a network executive in early 1998, leading to a lot of controversy as he didn’t shy away from expressing his shock and resentment, even when he returned to that sound stage as a host in October 1999. Things had changed for him by that point, though, as he had managed to secure some incredible opportunities – he had evolved into a film writer and an actor. He co-penned and starred in ‘Dirty Work’ (1998) before lending his voice as Lucky in Eddie Murphy’s adaptation of ‘Dr. Dolittle’ (1998). Less than a year later, he had his own sitcom called ‘The Norm Show,’ which was later retitled ‘Norm,’ and ran for 3 seasons from 1999 to 2001. He also reprised the role in both ‘Dr. Dolittle 2’ (2001) and ‘Dr. Dolittle 3’ (2006).
Norm subsequently did several more motion pictures and television shows, but he also continued honing himself as a stand-up comic by performing in front of a live audience whenever possible. His credits thus include ‘Screwed’ (2000), ‘Family Guy’ (2000/2017), ‘A Minute with Stan Hooper’ (2003), ‘Back to Norm’ (2005), ‘The Fairly OddParents’ (2005), and ‘Senior Skip Day’ (2007). He even released a comedy sketch album titled ‘Ridiculous’ in September 2006, all the while also doing commercials for the Canadian mobile-services provider Bell Mobility and AT&T’s GoPhone. As if that’s not enough, he guest-starred in several television productions and lent his voice to various animated characters over the years before agreeing to do a fake reality show. FX’s ‘The Norm Macdonald Reality Show’ was billed as a fake reality series wherein the comic would play a fictional, down-on-his-luck version of himself for laughs, but it was canceled midway through filming in 2009.
Norm then went on to make many appearances on talk shows, was featured on a handful of gaming shows, toured as a stand-up comic, and continued writing as well as acting. In 2011, he even hosted ‘Sports Show with Norm Macdonald,’ released his debut stand-up special on Comedy Central titled ‘Me Doing Stand-Up,’ and served as a commentator on Game Show Network’s ‘ High Stakes Poker’ season 7. Then came his audio-video podcast ‘Norm Macdonald Live’ in 2013, his guest stint on ‘The Middle’ (2010-2018), his 2016 semi-fictional memoir ‘Based on a True Story,’ and his 2017 stand-up special ‘Hitler’s Dog, Gossip & Trickery.’ That’s the same year Netflix also gave him a talk show called ‘Norm Macdonald Has a Show,’ which he followed with securing a voice role as Yaphit on ‘The Orville’ (2017-2022). Moreover, in 2020, Norm launched a dating app called Loko, and his final stand-up special was released posthumously in 2022. He had taped an audience-less dry run of his prepared material during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 just to test it out, and that’s what became Netflix’s ‘Norm Macdonald: Nothing Special.’
Norm Macdonald’s Net Worth
While Norm Macdonald had an incredible career spanning over 4 decades that earned him the unwavering respect of his peers, he never got much commercial success in mainstream media. Therefore, even with a total of 4 comedy albums/specials, 1 book, 3 television shows, 29 film credits, and 27 television appearances, and a slew of commentating and hosting jobs, his accumulated wealth isn’t astounding. He still managed to earn millions over the years, thanks to his hard work, reputation, and determination to focus on comedy above all else, but it simply wasn’t on par with some of his friends/fellow comics, like Adam Sandler and David Spade. The fact that his expenses admittedly included his gambling addiction and his treatment for multiple myeloma – a cancer of plasma cells, which he chose to keep secret from when he was diagnosed in 2013 to his death in 2021 – also impacted the same. Thus, taking all these aspects into account, along with his potential assets like his home in California, investments, returns, and expenses, we believe his net worth was $3 million at the time of his death on September 14, 2021.
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