A Review: “Based on a True Story: Not a Memoir”
We don’t appreciate something until it’s gone is a clichéd phrase but it’s also true. When I heard that Norm Macdonald had died of leukaemia in 2021 I had to pause and think for a little. Norm had been a regular visitor of the Late Night with Conan O’Brien show and his dry, acerbic humour in Billy Madison helped shape my own as a young teenager in Damascus. Desperately craving approval from peers and adults, humour was an outlet for me that I could use to gain attention, respect, and maybe even a girlfriend. He never made any blockbuster comedies or had as high a profile as his other SNL colleagues: Sandler, Farley, or Saget, but he was a force of nature of comedy and at some level it was comforting to still see/hear him in great shows like The Orville. His death made me stop and think of my own mortality in a way that few celebrity deaths had.
I realised that, till that point, I hadn’t actually listened to any of his comedy shows though I’d seen him in some shows. I started to listen to anything I could find on Youtube or Apple Music. I watched and rewatched his 1998 movie, Dirty Work. Finally, I got a hold of his book, “Based on a True Story: Not a Memoir” a semi-autobiographical work of fiction that just doesn’t fit into any kind of genre out there. The book is extremely well written, and Norm’s voice is strong and consistent throughout. The book’s laced with the kind of dark and twisted humour that Norm was famous for, but there’s also a tinge of sadness to it. On one level you can read the book and think it is utter tripe without any truth to it. But if you push past that and just enjoy the journey he takes you on, it charts his journey from Canada to Saturday Night Live and beyond.
The book’s “plot” is structured like any one of the comedy movies of the late nineties, of hapless heroes, comic escapades, tragedy, crises, and then redemption, all told through the point of view of a semi-fictional Norm. The events and characters of this story may be real, but he exaggerates the nature of these events to the point of the absurd, and if you’re a Norm fan you’ll love the way he does it, because it is masterful. As the book draws to a close Norm’s musings over mortality and fate seem genuinely sincere, and they give an elusive hint to the depths in his character. And that’s where I probably felt the kinship with him the most. The humour is a plus, and it’s genuinely funny at times, but as a reader you’re left with the impression that this is all a facade masking a deeper depth of character and spirit. We’ll probably never know. I had been surprised in my quest for Youtube interviews with him to find that the man had been a Christian, but perhaps not in the conventional sense. You get inklings of that spirituality in the book, but like the rest of the scenes, it is only a fleeting glimpse into his character. The book’s not easy to get and quite expensive now on Amazon, about £12 as I write this. But it’s worth it, and one which I’ll keep on my bookshelf for good.
I miss Norm and his humour, and I miss that whole period of my teenage years where comedy seemed so much crazier and darker. He was one of my comedy idols, along with folks like Bob Saget, Jim Carrey, Chris Farly, Adam Sandler and Conan O’Brien (whose show I grew to love a lot more than The Tonight Show) and whilst he was never as popular in the Middle East, I feel he influenced a generation of Third Culture Kids like me who had never fit in anywhere and felt like they were surrounded by crazy people. Rest in peace, Norm, and thanks for all the laughs.
