Culture of Pop

Mark Normand’s YouTube Special ‘Out to Lunch’ is a Heaping Bowl of Hilarity

From the first moment, visceral comedian, Mark Normand, delivers a punch to the throat in his extremely funny, very insightful new special, Out to Lunch, which debuted May 12th via a different avenue than the standard comedy special: YouTube. 

But Mark Normand is not your standard comedian and that is evident in anything he does. From his last special, Don’t Be Yourself, which premiered on Comedy Central in 2017, to his podcast Tuesdays with Stories with fellow comedian Joe List, and including his many television appearances, Mark pushes the envelope, while inadvertently pushing the audience’s buttons, all the while shining under the comedy spotlight in a way that juxtaposes a delicate yet no-holds-barred type of vision. 

Bias Aside

I first saw Mark make people laugh at Good For You, the best free comedy show in Brooklyn, which took place in the backroom of a semi-fancy hipster Mexican restaurant. Ever since then, I have been a fan. However, apart from proclivity, anytime I have recommended the comic to others, his style has been accepted into two camps: 

  1. He is super funny
  2. He is super funny but walks the line of sometimes offensive

Both are true. 

Normand touches on situations and ideas that, while not everyone’s cup of jade citrus, illustrate just how dedicated Normand is to not only the delivery of his craft, and the quality of his jokes, but also to illustrating that the status quo constantly contradicts itself. Hence, if you go to a comedy show and get offended by comedy, you are missing the point altogether. 

A big glass of wry, clever examinations on the human condition, mixed with self-deprecation, topped with a splash of raucous ruse, and you’ve got yourself the Mark Normand cocktail. And after imbibing a couple of those puppies, you will be laughing all the way to the clinker. My only advice, and I believe the man himself may agree, is this is not comedy for your Aunt Linda…unless she is one of those fun-loving aunts that snuck you Manischewitz at the family Hanukkah Seder. 

A Hundred Jokes Per Minute

Mark’s delivery is sharp, tested and honed, like a slow, saucy knife into the kidneys. Out to Lunch deserves a second (or third or fourth…yada yada yada) watching just to catch the jokes you missed while you were looking at your phone, texting your Aunt Linda, or momentarily distracted by porn. 

It is an absolute shock the special wasn’t snapped up by Netflix. Jerry Seinfeld recently gave Mark a shout-out on a live New York Mets broadcast. His tag about Kevin Hart alone warrants praise across the pop culture cosmos. If you’re a comedy fan, then you probably already know who Mark Normand is, and if you’re a comedy fan and you don’t know who he is, chances are you aren’t a real comedy fan. Totally refreshing, whip-smart and completely irreverent, Mark Normand is the new Comedian’s Comedian.

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

To Top