Norm Macdonald fielded questions from fans today in a Reddit AMA assisted by The Washington Post, and he dropped some pretty big news for fans of his podcast Norm Macdonald Live when asked why he seems “embarrassed” or like he hates to host the show. “I did my podcast in order to see if I could host a talk show,” Macdonald responded. “And I think I succeeded and have now been offered a talk show by Netflix. All the podcasts were rehearsals.” Macdonald later edited his response to clarify that the deal isn’t set yet: “To be clear, I’m only in negotiations. There’s no show yet.”
Some other notable answers from the AMA:
Is there any chance of his 2016 book getting a TV or movie adaptation? “Yes, a movie adaptation is worked on as we speak.” How close is he to becoming a late night show host? “Razor thin close.” Where does he get his ideas? “Ideas exist outside of man. And drift into one’s consciousness if one allows it. None of these ideas are mine, I only take them from the ether and put them back out in a more solid form.” Does he separate artists’ work from their behavior when it comes to comedians like Bill Cosby and Louis C.K.? “I separate their work completely from their transgressions. Everything about their work is extraordinary. Everything about their transgressions is utterly ordinary.” What’s his favorite Phil Hartman memory? “He returned to host the show when I was a cast member. And I did a character that pinched girls’s asses, and said ‘YOU LOVE IT.’ And he’s a great fan of it and thought it was going to be a huge character. And then it didn’t get past dress rehearsal. And he said, ‘That’s showbiz.’”What’s his “elevator pitch for the story of humanity”? “Imagine a woman in a sports car, impossibly beautiful, speeding down a winding road and looking out her window at a man who is skiing down a mountaintop. And then the man comes to a stop, snow flies from his feet. The two lock eyes. And both know each will be the other’s entire. And the car speeds off.”
Head over to Reddit to read the rest.
