STAND-UP
The word on the street is that Mark Normand shopped his specials to a number of different streaming networks such as Netflix and Amazon, only for no one to be interested in picking it up. To all of the networks who said no the first time, well, let’s just say their mistake (and it was a mistake) will hopefully be short lived. His latest special Out to Lunch was apparently not worthy of streaming on a paid prescription platform, so Normand graciously decided to upload the special for free on YouTube. With more than four million views since he aired it, it’s safe to say who’s getting the last laugh now.
Out to Lunch was apparently not worthy of streaming on a paid prescription platform, so Normand graciously decided to upload the special for free on YouTube.
In seeing the special, it may not be a secret why they’d have been reluctant to take it on. Part of it is probably that Mark Normand has nothing to fear onstage. He’s willing to talk about literally anything, and does; Men and women, sex, school shootings, race, transgenderism, phobias and forms of discrimination, drinking, the state of comedy in the present day, and even pedophilia. His topics of interest would be quick to make even the most secure person jump, and though his intention is clearly not to hurt anyone’s feelings, he is definitely not afraid to do it if the result ends with a laugh. Normand makes it important to remember that everything he talks about are jokes which unfortunately shouldn’t have to be said out loud as he is a comedian, but nevertheless, welcome to the 2020s.
Mark Normand is ‘on’ the entire set without ever losing momentum. His greatest strength is in how precisely tailored his comedy shows itself to be. It’s as though he writes his jokes from a template, yet in a formula that never seems to fail. His setups are coherently constructed to land his punchlines on near flawless cue every time he moves from joke to joke. He operates to the beat of his own rhythm, dictating how fast or slow the set needs to move as well as how long he can milk jokes in relation to specific subject matter. He reads his audience like a book and he does so in a manner that appears to be without effort. Whether or not this comes easy to him is irrelevant because of how it makes it look, that is to say, he makes it look like he was born for no other purpose in life.
Truth be told, he doesn’t need streaming platforms or network television. They need him. He could continue to work like this forever if he were to choose to do so. YouTube surely benefits from his content, so why should he need to ask anyone else to buy his work? Whatever he needs or wants however, he is sure to get. Out to Lunch is still free on YouTube, but with Normand’s rise there is no telling for how long. Don’t waste another second to indulge in his smart, vulgar, and charming performance at no extra cost.
