Comedian Norm Macdonald, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2012 but kept his illness private, died Sept. 14 in Los Angeles at the age of 61. Photo courtesy of Netflix
May 12 (UPI) -- Netflix announced Thursday that one final, posthumous stand-up special from comedian Norm Macdonald will arrive on the streaming service later this month.
The special, titled Norm Macdonald: Nothing Special, was secretly filmed in the late comedian's living room, according to a press release from Netflix. Macdonald recorded the performance alone, and he delivered the special in a single take.
The stand-up special will premiere May 30 on Netflix.
"Norm worked so hard on a new hour of material and wanted it to be seen," Lori Jo Hoekstra, Macdonald's longtime producing partner, said in a statement. "While this version of Nothing Special was not originally meant to be the final product, COVID restrictions prevented him from filming in front of an audience.
"We want to make sure his fans see this very funny hour. He left this gift for all of us."
Macdonald, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2012 but kept his illness private, died Sept. 14 in Los Angeles at the age of 61.
Before his death, the former Saturday Night Live star was working on new material for a Netflix special when he had to go into the hospital in the summer of 2020.
"His test results were not good, so during the heart of the COVID-19 pandemic and literally the night before going in for a procedure, he wanted to get this on tape just in case -- as he put it -- things went south," Hoekstra told The Hollywood Reporter. "It was his intention to have a special to share if something happened."
Macdonald was able to make it through the medical procedure and the private footage was subsequently tossed aside. The comic, however, became very ill a year later -- before his stand-up special could be filmed in front of an audience.
"He ended up getting sicker last August and September, and he remembered he had shot this and asked me to find it so he could watch it," Hoekstra recalled. "He ended up watching it before he passed away."
The stand-up special will include clips of Adam Sandler, Dave Chappelle, Conan O'Brien, David Letterman, David Spade and Molly Shannon discussing Macdonald during the recent Netflix Is A Joke Fest.