Almost nobody knew that NORM MACDONALD was battling cancer for the past nine years. But if we were listening, maybe we would have figured it out. Because he practically admitted it in an interview a few years ago.
A clip is going viral on YouTube right now, where Norm talks extensively about people having cancer. And he says he doesn't think it's brave for people to go through it publicly.
In fact, he calls it the "height of narcissism," and says it's just a way to, quote, "garner sympathy for yourself."
He adds that it seems much braver to KEEP IT TO YOURSELF. He brings up the example of actor RICHARD FARNSWORTH, who made a movie called "The Straight Story" while he was battling cancer.
He never told anyone he was sick . . . not even after he got an Oscar nomination and could have possibly won with the sympathy vote.
Eventually, he took his own life before cancer could, leaving behind a note for his loved ones. Norm says, quote, "That, to me, is courageous, like, you're not being a burden to your family, they know nothing about it, and then you're gone."
He also talked about not getting too personal in his standup . . . but sticking with things that are universal to everyone.
Quote, "If I had a specific ailment . . . and possibly I do, you don't know . . . I would not talk about it . . . I hope that I would not discuss it." (And boy, he wasn't kidding.)
This all happened on a podcast with Chris Hardwick from 2016 . . . several years after Norm was diagnosed. So he was basically tipping us off to his whole deal, and nobody knew it.
You can listen to the whole podcast here.