He didn't like the joke where someone quoted the bible to that Harrison guy and his comeback was to quote Harry Potter. I thought the joke was funny, but Norm said its not because JK Rowling's work is actually based on Christianity?
shareNorm is UBER religious. He got into a Twitter war with atheists not too long ago. He said he didn't like the job, but in actuality, he was just offended. He's a horrible judge.
shareI am an atheist. Even though Norm Is UBER religious as you phrase it. I love him, his comedy and him as a judge. I think he is far superior to previous judges on the show. Disagree with him all you want, but he is by far one of the most respected comics among other comics.
sharenot to mention, norm is not uber religious. he has no problem joking about religion himself and in his own words, even "i believe in god, that's as far as i go"
shareMy boss is heavy and has had both knees replaced. A doctor shoulder have been blunt and said lose weight. So, it's a joke based on truth.
shareJK Rowling has said in interviews that the series IS based on Christianity.
http://www.mtv.com/news/1572107/harry-potter-author-jk-rowling-opens-up-about-books-christian-imagery/
Norm though could have been much more gracious and helpful to the comic to suggest that in light of this parallel, that the comic might consider using a different book series for contrast.
Norm was just a bitter ass tonight, more than usual. If I was a comic, I don't think I would put too much stock in the opinion of a guy fired from SNL, who also had a couple bombs are the box office, and seems to be suffering from early stages of dementia. Comedy is subjective, you would think Norm would know that more then anyone.
shareAgreed. I've wondered if his attitude is just part of his "act" but it's not funny and he's not helpful as a mentor. And, if he's trying to defend Christianity, he's doing more harm than good.
I've enjoyed Norm's work over the years, but I'd never heard about him being religious. I'm a Christian, but I've never read or watched any of the Harry Potter works. I wasn't offended by the comedian's joke, so I was kind of surprised at how offended Norm seemed to be. I wasn't sure if he was actually being serious in that moment because he has kind of a dry sense of humor.
shareI think some of you are taking this wrong. I don't think Norm was as much offended by the joke as he was offended at how stupid the comic was for NOT knowing the parallels between the bible and Harry Potter. It made the comic look stupid for building a joke that didn't make any sense if one knew the history of the Harry Potter story.
It was the same thing with the Asian guy last week. His joke was backwards and didn't make sense. Norm has no time for people who don't research and build their jokes correctly.
Norm MacDonald was 100% offended, it was a joke and a funny one that had the audience laughing. Norm has become a freaking weirdo. My wife and I hope he is replaced next year. Its so funny because if you wanted to bring out a really funny comedian that would really offend Norm, bring out 1997 Norm.
shareIts so funny because if you wanted to bring out a really funny comedian that would really offend Norm, bring out 1997 Norm.
I didn't laugh at the joke and I'm not religious. Finding out that Harry Potter was influenced by the bible made the joke moot. That's the point here, not whether or not it was funny. Norm was correct in his assessment of the comic. I believe I did say he was offended, but the greater offense was the comics lacks of knowledge not the joke itself. Comedy is subjective. You think it's funny. Good for you. It doesn't make it so.
shareno he wasnt correct
here was the gist of the joke
got into an argument with a guy on the subway
guys quotes his favorite book to me
so I quote my favorite book to him
thats it, simple, its a joke, not a great one but it has zero relevance if the writer of book B is influenced in book A - zero relevance
youre looking to deep, Norm was a giant asshat like so many uber sensitive religious martyr wanna be's are
Uh, it has 100% relevance if you understand how jokes work. The setup - which is the three lines you quoted - has to be short, simple, and unfunny. The punchline - which you didn't quote - has to be surprising, unexpected and funny. For the joke to be funny or even to qualify as a joke at all, the two books have to be very different. Norm's point was that the stories of the books are very similar and the author of Harry Potter even admitted as such. Therefore, the punchline is not surprising and even the guy's tagline ("one book is about a hero that sacrifices everything to save humanity and the other book is the Bible") also lose meaning / humor.
These people are telling only 10-15 jokes (of which the home viewer sees about only 3-4) on national TV in front of top comedians in a comedy contest: there is no excuse not to have every single joke be airtight.
By your logic, all jokes could be made moot. Do you really think all the stories you hear from comedians really happened as told? By your logic, Norm should have called out the Woman blowing on the Pilots neck for safety issues, or the guy for talking about parking on the sidewalk for endangering lives. Comedians just take reality and fabricate stories with minimal truth. Larry David has said his stories told on Curb are how his wish he could react, but in real life would be arrested/sued/punched in the face. Norm did not make the joke moot, he made himself moot for being offended by a joke as a comedy judge. I am a fan of 90s Norm, the guy was fired from SNL for being too offensive. Sad to see what a hypocrite he has become.
sharetrue
shareI don't think there will be a "next year."
shareNorm said to the very next comic, comedy is truthful but it doesn't have to be factual. The comic may have known that Harry potter was based on the bible, but that doesn't make the joke any less funny to him or anyone else who found it funny.
I'm really disappointed in norm as a judge.
That "one X is (adjective we think is describing A) while the other X is (A)" joke is a hack one-liner that's been around for years. I can't blame Norm for being pissed at having his time wasted. As soon as that joke begins anybody who's familiar with comedy is waiting for it to end because they already know how it's going to end. It's no longer surprising and thus no longer funny.
shareI understand that Norm made a good point but that didn't make the joke not funny anymore. I like that comedians material but I think his delivery was not great like maybe he could have given more background for why he found that person obnoxious and maybe tell his fat joke a bit more gracefully. I thought he was funny but he seemed a bit too venemous you could tell that despite her good feedback that Roseanne seemed pissed.
RIP Cory Monteith your fans miss you dearly
Hey Norm - it's called comedy.
I just saw a 1998 clip of Norm on Dennis Miller's show. He spends quite a bit of time talking about Bob Dole's c*ck. Then he jumps on George Michael's homosexuality. Dennis Miller jumps to Michael's defense. At the very end of the interview, he says that "OJ is a good guy". I guess he forgot about that old bible phrase about killing.....
So - a joke about the bible is offensive, but deriding Bob Dole and George Michael is okay.
I did enjoy Norm on SNL. He hasn't done anything funny since then. Last Comic Standing needs to send him packing.
First of all, there is a difference between the subject of a joke and the target of a joke. Bob Dole was doing Viagra commercials, so he was the subject of Norm's jokes about old people using Viagra.
Also, Norm was most definitely being sarcastic about O.J.! He targeted O.J. weekly on SNL's weekend update, to the point that rumor has it that's why he was fired from SNL. Some TV exec was friends with O.J. and put pressure on Norm to back down on the O.J. jokes, but Norm refused to back down and instead did more.
http://uproxx.com/tv/2015/02/norm-macdonald-snl-weekend-update-fired/
Finally, he's likely been asked to play the villain/Simon Cowell on LCS in order to create interest (let's face it, the show is pretty boring and most of the jokes are pretty bland) and provide a semblance of balance (the other two judges love everything).
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