video to make first impressions. That summer, he had a standup set prepared for a final Netflix special, and he taped his run through, with the intention of filming it professionally to an audience. While the proper filming never materialized, the run-through was released as Norm Macdonald: Nothing Special on May 30, 2022. The special was followed with a discussion with Dave Chappelle, Molly Shannon, David Letterman, Conan O'Brien, David Spade, and Adam Sandler. Influences and views on comedy Macdonald said his influences included the comedians Bob Newhart, Sam Kinison, Rodney Dangerfield, Dennis Miller, and the writers Leo Tolstoy and Anton Chekhov. Speaking about Canada's homegrown comedy industry, Macdonald reflected that he would have liked there to have been more opportunity for him to stay in the country early in his career, stating: Reflecting on the state of modern comedy, he bemoaned the influx of dramatic actors into comedy and comedians into dramatic acting. While judging on Last Comic Standing, Macdonald criticised a contestant for a joke about the Harry Potter books and the Bible saying "I think if you're going to take on an entire religion, you should at least know what you're talking about" and after pointing out that JK Rowling was a Christian, he quoted her as saying "If you were familiar with the scriptures, you could easily guess the ending of my book." During an interview on CTV News with his sister-in-law Joyce Napier, Macdonald talked about his belief that imitation was the highest form of flattery and his distaste for the "low-hanging fruit" of Donald Trump jokes. Personal life In 1988, Macdonald married Connie Vaillancourt, with whom he had a son Dylan, born 1992. The couple separated in April 1999 and divorced later that same year. Macdonald reportedly dated model Elle Macpherson between 1997 and 1998. Macdonald had a gambling addiction that he stated was initiated by a six-figure win at a craps table in Atlantic City. In an appearance on the WTF with Marc Maron podcast in 2011, Macdonald revealed that he lost all of his money gambling three times, and the largest amount he lost at once was $400,000. It was reported by The Times that he went bankrupt twice. As a poker player, his best live result was cashing for $20,915 in the $1,000 Bellagio Weekly Tournament, in July 2006. In the 2007 World Series of Poker, he came in 20th place