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Norm Macdonald: Based on a True Story: A Memoir (2016, collins) 4 stars

Fictional Memoir. A Novel containing scattered facts which are interleaved into fictional stories creating a …

Good book but not a memoir

4 stars

Great book by a great comedian. As he points out himself, from memory; he has been doing standup at everything from small clubs in Ottowa, Ontario, to small clubs in Edmonton, Alberta. He has done standup all over the world except in Asia, Europe, Africa, and South America.

As a fan of the comedy of Norm Macdonald, I was really excited to hear he wrote a book. I am, however, not sure if it would be more funnier or less funnier if I hadn't known him before. He revisits a lot of his old funny material, which was not that entertaining. Except for some of it, and it was nice to get some bits from SNL, one chapter is basically just a list of bits from there.

The book is, as the front page points out, not a memoir, but swirls around a gambling story about himself, his sidekick Adam Eget, and a ghostwriter. I think the twist on this towards the end is both clever and funny but suffers from poor writing. Norm Macdonald was best on his live show, and I will continue to rewatch his jokes and look for material I have not yet seen and/or forgotten.