Transcription
You were on the road with Norm and a lot of us when Norm passed. We were, uh, shocked. And I kept thinking, "Oh, I must have been the only person that didn't know." Oh, and people all thought, well, Conan, you knew Norm, and he was, does his classic appearances on your show and D. And I was like, "I know. We were desperately trying to get him back. I desperately wanted Norm on my last episode. We were trying to get him and not getting an answer back." And I thought, "Well, he just doesn't want to come." And I was bummed about it, but thought, "He's probably got other things to do. That's too bad. He's an all-time great guest." And then he, he dies. And I just thought, "Well, I didn't know, but everyone else must have known."
And then Jim Downey called me and said, you know, more or less, "Conan, you for not telling me about Norm." He said, "Jim, I didn't know." And he, and Jim Downey said, "I would think Downey might know." No, Jim didn't know. Did you know? I did not know. And I, and you were touring with him? Well, I'd done some gigs with him and then, uh, before COVID, him and Dennis Miller was our last one together. But great, super fun, obviously. And then, um, but, but you know, we would talk and he, it was more about coming over for dinner. Same thing where he didn't tell me. He'd go, "No, I can't." And then I, he goes, "I go, 'Well, it's just me and you sitting 10 feet apart, but something to do.'" And he's like, "Yeah, okay, for sure." And then that night I go, "Where are you?" He goes, "David, it's COVID." And I go, "What is it? So, you're not coming? We're not supposed to leave the house." I go, "I know, but we've talked about it's like you're allowed to go places." And then, "Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, well, let's do it next week then." And then he just did that routine and then until it was too late, but I didn't know. So, I don't know who knew. I think Gervais knew and maybe, um, I think Gervais, I think that's about it. And, and I think, I mean, I, I think two things about it, and they're diametrically opposed. One is, I wish I had known, 'cause I would have told him what he meant to me. And there's that feeling of feeling, uh, "Why, I wish I had known." And so initially, I was mad that I didn't know. Yeah. And then there's the other side, which is great respect for him wanting to keep it private. Yeah. And him not wanting people to treat him any differently because he was sick. Yeah. I don't know. I, I, so I, I have both feelings at the same time. Yeah.
I feel the same way. Like, I, it was just so overwhelmingly horrible that I just, like, then I, later, it took me how it affected me where, like, it was, I was mad at him. Yeah. But I'm, by the way, just not to lighten up the lo, the feel here, because I know it's getting sad, but when we were at the memorial or whatever that special was for Norm. Yeah. Where we watched, were you? We were watching the special. Remember that? We watched his special. That's why the cameras are there. That's a separate. That was, that was a thing. Wasn't that an after-memorial? You're talking about two different things. No, there was, um, there was a, a kind of a eulogy for Norm that I sort of spoke at and brought people up. And then there was a separate thing where Norm had made, he was planning to do a, he was pl, it was fascinating. He was planning to do, um, an hour, and he had an hour together or 50 minutes, and he really had it in his mind. And he knew, I think, I believe, and Lori Joe would know better, I don't want to speak for her, but I think he was planning to go into the hospital for what he thought was going to be something routine, maintenance, routine maintenance treatment for his condition. So what he did was he said, "Before I go into the hospital, I want to record." So he recorded using similar technology, way like, just a, literally just a camera there. We're doing here is far more sophisticated. And he did, from memory, his whole 50 minutes. And it was really funny and great. He goes into the hospital and he dies. And then Lori Joe found the tape. Yeah. And they thought to round out the special or to give it something else, let's have you, me, Sandler, Chappelle, Letterman. Who else was there? Was it more? Molly. Molly was there. Molly Shannon. A bunch. That was it. Might have been it. It was. And had us watch it. We hadn't seen it. Watch it in real time. Weird. And then filming us. Yes. And then talk about it right afterwards. And that part, um, I mean, I think it came out really well, but I remember being, it's, it was very powerful to be in a room and have everyone else leave and shut the doors and then show, and then suddenly Norm was there. Yeah. And he's, he's being hilarious and we're laughing and loving it. And then it's over. And then I think we just started talking. Teared parts though, because you can, you're just watching him going, and then you start drifting your mind going, "Okay, it's over. This, it's right before." And then we talk. And then it's funny because we're all talking and then also we're like, just a weird scene.
Will that ever be released, do you think? It was an, I didn't realize that. Yeah, it was, I think it's on Netflix. Okay, sorry. Oh. Oh, your mistakes get out. That's nice. Um, yes, it won a, uh, No, it, uh, Can you edit out me laughing at 9/11? No. No. Okay, 'cause we never forget. It's called Nothing Special. We never forget. Who called Nothing Special? Yeah. It's called Nothing Special. And it won an Emmy. Uh, was it called Nothing Special? What's that? Was it called Nothing Special? Yeah. Norm, the thing that you guys are watching is aired. Or the whole his material? No, no, no. Just. And just so we're listening. This is his first podcast. He won, he won a contest. Yeah. Is he a contest? Contest winner. He got to fly in and we didn't. He told him not to talk. And then he, microphone isn't even real. Um, no, it was the special was, you see, uh, it plays Norm's special, and then you see our reaction to it. So that's the whole. So you see both. Sorry. No, that's okay. Don't be sorry. I, I, and that's humanity. You should feel terrible about your crimes. We should edit. Um, you know, at, at the memorial, the first one with the dolly shots, whatever that one was, that you were falling everywhere. Um, I did, when people die, and I'm, I'm mourning them, I tend to do a tumbling act. Also, by the way, I think it was like four inches and the next one was like nine inches because everybody their toe hit that thing. I'm still mad about that step. But I left in between that and then there was like a part two, or maybe it was the, I'm confusing him, but I had to come back. Yeah. So I had to b, or I just left during it because it was getting too sad. So I ran out. This is when I went to McDonald's. And in the Amazon special, I talk about that exact thing. I went to McDonald's in my suit and was in line, and the crazy guy comes out of the bushes and starts, takes off shirt, says, "Smacking." Yes. The guy ordering. Yep. So I go, "Let's back up, but let's park. I don't, I want to watch." So I went in, and that whole thing takes place from the Norm McDonald thing. I didn't. Okay, so that happened from the Norm thing. That's a real story. And it was really happening. And I did get scared when he came in because I thought we were getting in a fight.
You, um, first of all, I want it noted that someone you were very close to, a colleague and a cherished person, passed away, and you were present at the memorial, but walked out halfway through to go to McDonald's. But also, but then something funny happened which you could use in your special, Dandelion. So, I guess we got them all set. Yeah, you did your set. So, then you're out of there. I scored, and now it's time for some chicken McNuggets. Maybe I'll get. I try to sound real, and it's, it's too many comics there, and I'm trying to sound like, "Say nice stories about Norm." Everyone's just looking for a punchline. It's such a weird scene because it's all comedians, and you're just like, "I'm just going to leave here, and everyone's going to be like, 'Who did well?'" You know what I mean? It's like, that's everything it is. Okay, let's talk about this. This is a real phenomenon. Where a funny person dies. Yes. Who do they, who are their friends? Other funny, professionally funny people. We get together. When people pass on, when they die, and there's a gathering, people speak, but you've got a room full of people who are competitive about getting up and being funny. And it's a strange phenomenon. These things are weird because you think, "Nope, it's not about that." But there's some part of you that wants to do well, and there's some nerves and some awkwardness. And I think it started, I went to Gary Shandling's, yep, funeral, and then everyone was like, "Bill Maher did great." And I kept going, "Can I say something?" Maher used props, and that, and I, he had a lot of balloon. He was doing balloon work. I don't remember that. I remember it clearly. And he had, um, a whole trunk like, like Gallagher, or Gallagher 2, that was being filmed too. Yeah, I think Napot. Yeah, they had. Is that filming for something? For a documentary? Oh, I thought Gallagher was. Sorry, I got confused. I thought I thought you guys are here to help. We're. She's throwing confusion. I am. You should do Gallagher 3. Do you know what Gallagher 2 is? Gallagher 2 is his brother. Yeah. And he does Gallagher's act, right? But I think. Are they? Have they both passed on to their reward? I think Gallagher won. Well, according to this podcast, I'm sure they did, because everyone's dying so far that we talk about. I know you guys are dying a lot. Well, I'm sorry, but I'm sorry we're jinxing everyone. We are two survivors here, you know. So, you and your are young people. You don't know what it's like. We, we have been through the. We're like guys that were in war together. We're like in the Titanic. We're just talking about SNL together. I don't think that's a lot like the Titanic. SNL. Yeah. Oh, God. We talk about SNL forever. It's so embarrassing. But it, it is something to talk about, right? He said, doodling. Hey, if you're bored, just let me know. I think this is, I actually love talking about this stuff, and it's meaningful to me. And we were both there. If you want to take a break and go to McDonald's, go ahead, and I'll just keep talking. You can get yourself the McGriddle, whatever it's called.