Review: Norm Macdonald, “Hitler’s Dog: Gossip & Trickery” on Netflix

I had the opportunity to speak to Norm Macdonald right after I had previewed his new Netflix hour, Hitler’s Dog: Gossip & Trickery. We had a great chat and I’ll post that shortly.

But first, my thoughts on Macdonald’s Netflix special. He agreed with me on this part:

Toward the end of his first Netflix hour, Norm Macdonald downplays his importance, comparing himself instead to “some cheap magician” and invoking the subtitle for the comedy special. “Nothing I have said, really, is of substance,” Macdonald says, to big laughs from the crowd at the Wilbur Theatre in Boston. “I find, and it’s not just me. Like, most of my act is just, you know, gossip and trickery.”

But Macdonald’s always contains much more than the simple sleight-of-mouth illusions that define most other stand-up comedians. His misdirection, in sharp contrasts, often contains no sharp turn at all. While others zig, Macdonald doesn’t zag, but instead chooses to plow straight ahead. His observational comedy can focus so narrowly on the target that it strikes the true bull’s eye of the premise.

Read the rest of my review of Norm Macdonald’s Netflix special, via Decider.com.

 

Sean L. McCarthy

Editor and publisher since 2007, when he was named New York's Funniest Reporter. Former newspaper reporter at the New York Daily News, Boston Herald and smaller dailies and community papers across America. Loves comedy so much he founded this site.

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