He Broke Every Norm... R.I.P. Norm Macdonald

NBC. Getty Images.

On Monday I posted a repurposed version of Norm Macdonald's moth joke, one of his funniest jokes ever told. It was certainly shocking when the following day Norm succumbed to cancer, something he's been battling for years but chose to keep quiet and out of the press.

At first, I was upset about Norm's passing, and then, that I repurposed his joke a day earlier, one that was known for its incredible length and for being one of the most convoluted jokes ever told. So why did I do it?

I've been posting repurposed jokes under the title, "Lighten the Fuck Up!" since May 3rd. I've made it a point to use barroom and water bubbler-type jokes and not to use the original jokes of high-profile comedians. And that's exactly what I was doing until I was asked in one of the comments, yeah I read the comments, to repurpose the moth joke.

At first, I thought, what a daunting task, to repurpose a joke so well told by Norm Macdonald, one of my all-time favorite comedians. I wasn't even considering it and then I reversed course and decided to accept the challenge and do my best to repurpose it in a way I thought Norm would appreciate. I was thinking of him the whole time I wrote it…

I was unaware of Norm's health issues and it was just a total coincidence that he passed the day after I repurposed the moth joke. Yesterday afternoon I joked with Coley that Norm would want to make a joke out of this unusual coincidence and I believe it might've sounded something like this, "If you see that Vindog has repurposed one of your jokes you better get your house in order and make sure your will is up to date…"

Anyone who laughed while Norm told jokes and stories is in mourning. I am one of those people…

R.I.P. Norm Macdonald

Here's the story behind the moth joke…