It might seem hard to believe comedian and fan-favorite SNL veteran Norm Macdonald passed away only two days ago considering the countless hours of touching stories and memorable videos of the star we’ve seen in such a short time, but it just goes to show how universally adored the comedy icon was. Among the countless friends and fellow comedians paying tribute to Macdonald is his life-long friend and Full House star Bob Saget, who took to YouTube to share an emotional, 37-minute long video called Remembering Norm. Saget shared the video earlier today, “when most of you who loved Norm won’t be awake and the people close to him will be up because we’re f*cked up and just can’t sleep,” the actor solemnly joked.
In the video, Saget recalls his friendship with Macdonald throughout the years, starting from their early days in Ottawa comedy clubs and working on the 1998 movie Dirty Work, to the final words they said to one another. Saget emotionally confessed the pair were still making plans to go out and do things prior to Macdonald’s passing, and called the loss “a f*cking knife in the heart for all of us who were close to him and all of you who loved him.”
Saget also shared the true story behind an iconic Macdonald moment: his 2008 Comedy Central roast. According to Saget, in the week leading up to his roast, he spoke with Macdonald and was told by the comedian, “I can’t say mean things about you because you’re my friend.” Saget then said Macdonald warned him that if he was called to roast him, he would instead “read jokes from a ’40s joke book,” and sure enough, that’s exactly what happened. Saget recalled that his jokes were met with complete silence by the audience and ultimately his segment was cut from the show, before remarking, “I can’t accept that he’s gone.”
According to Saget, he had a feeling Macdonald’s health had taken a dip recently based on the way he had been communicating. A week before Macdonald passed away, the pair shared this exchange:
“Last week, I got a text and it just said ‘I love you.’ And I didn’t say much back. I just said ‘I love you Norm.’ And that was my [final] communication with him…One of the gifts of my life is that he loved me, and that I loved him.”