Norm MacDonald

Defying the timeworn archetype of the cigar-chomping, loud-mouthed insult comedian, Norm MacDonald delivers his pointed barbs from behind a veneer of amiable aloofness, allowing him to feign innocence even after the most incendiary barbs. As the best of the fake news anchors on “Saturday Night Live,” he eschewed innuendo and went for the throat. Where other comedians spoke of Michael Jackson in double-entendres, for instance, MacDonald simply called him “a homosexual pedophile.” Given the chance to play conventional insult comedian at a recent Bob Saget roast, MacDonald instead rebelled with a brilliant piece of performance art, delivering not the requisite, X-rated screeds but instead gentle, family-friendly jabs. The bit elicited only the sparsest applause from a celebrity audience completely unable to grasp the joke.