Here at Aaron Torres Online we like to keep things light, but sometimes there are serious topics that even we can't avoid. One happened today, when the news broke that famed comedian Norm MacDonald passed away at the age of 61 from cancer.
The news was first reported by Deadline Hollywood.
Put simply there isn't anyone who grew up in the early to mid-90's who doesn't remember Macdonald from his famed Saturday Night Live days, as the host of "Weekend Update." He always knew how to deliver a joke with that wry smile, then awkwardly sit and let it sit in, just to make it hit that much harder... and make you that much more uncomfortable.
Still, instead of mourning what is obviously an awful piece of news, let's instead celebrate a guy who was truly a comedic genius.
Since this is a sports site, let's start with the time he hosted the ESPY's in 1998. We clipped some of the best parts. It's especially funny to re-watch in hindsight since literally no joke is off limits, an especially ironic deal because, well, it's ESPN.
Of course with that said, before we go further - if you're easily offended - you might as well go ahead and click out of this link right now.
After opening with a joke that would absolutely get him cancelled in 2021 on Anthony Mason, here is Norm on meeting Jerry Jones.
Then there's after making fun of Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley and a bunch of other of sports' top athletes was this dig on an East German speedskater. Again, 100 percent cancel-able in 2021, yet the audience then found it hilarious (mainly because it was).
And finally, Norm was probably best known for his OJ jokes.
Here he throws one in on an unsuspecting Charles Woodson, who had just won the Heisman Trophy that fall.
Speaking of OJ, as the Deadline Hollywood article mentions, MacDonald made his bones - and may have lost his Weekend Update anchor job - because of his refusal to go easy on OJ in the early and mid-90's.
Here are a few different videos of MacDonald on both Weekend Update, going after OJ and finally, in a round of those old school "Celebrity Jeopardy" skits, that still hold up today.
Again, there was never a comedian quite like Norm and he will be missed by anyone who enjoyed his work.
Enjoy the laughs.