Norm Macdonald on Germany

Ray “PODAN” Dorschner · 1.7M views · 2018 · 2:22

Open on YouTube

Stand-up & sketch comedycomedy

Why Hacker News recommends it

HN shares it as one of the greatest stand-up bits ever, and pulls it out whenever Germany, war or trade come up.

What it is

Norm Macdonald's 2015 appearance on Letterman's final Late Show, delivering a deadpan bit about Germany and its military history. Jerry Seinfeld reportedly called it Norm's best joke.

Recommended by 2 HN commenters across 2 different months, 2021 to 2025.

What Hacker News said

Strong rec ultramundane828 · 2021-09 · on “Norm Macdonald has died”

[this video] Bit starting at :43 (Germany) will easily go down as one of the greatest stand-up bits ever written and performed. And he was the perfect guy to do it.

Recommends paganel · 2025-04 · on “Trump exempts phones, computers, chips from ‘reciprocal’ tariffs”

> But this time, the trade war is against the whole world. Reminds me of this excellent Norm Macdonald sketch [1] on Germany of which I've learned only recently. [1] [this video]

Cites Eddy_Viscosity2 · 2022-03 · on “Germany plans to build Europe's largest military”

As much as I think Putin's actions justify increased military power in Europe, Germany does not have a great track record as a military super power. Norm has some good points: [this video]