There will never be another Norm Macdonald

The new Norm Macdonald documentary, Norm: The Tale of Norm Macdonald, directed by Judd Apatow, is excellent. That is partly because Macdonald, the Canadian comedian and actor, was such an extraordinary talent: a man with a distinctly novelistic personality, full of hidden depths, profundity, moral courage, pathos and wit. But also because the Nineties and early 2000s, when he was culturally prominent, were simply richer than today's America. They were more fun, less paranoid, freer and, somehow, more human.