SAN ANTONIO – Actor and comedian Rob Schneider will perform in San Antonio at the AT&T Center this Sunday, but he almost decided not to.
“I was thinking about not coming out, just like...but I don’t know. Norm wouldn’t want that,” Schneider said. “I’m going to go perform, dedicate it to Norm and I’ll do some of Norm’s jokes.”
Schneider was close friends with actor and fellow “Saturday Night Live” alum, Norm Macdonald. He heard Macdonald had passed away just before his SA Live interview with Mike Osterhage, but decided to do the interview anyway.
“I would be remiss to not talk about my friend, Norm Macdonald, who passed away this morning,” Schneider said on Tuesday afternoon. “He’s a comedy great legend and irreplaceable.”
Schneider said Macdonald stood up against the greats, likening him to jazz legend John Coltrane.
“You could tell a joke and it could get nothing, and he could tell that same joke and murder with it,” Schneider said.
Osterhage asked if Schneider and Macdonald engaged in friendly competition and learned from each other with their comedy.
“Of course. It’s like tennis,” Schneider said. “You want to play with somebody better than you, and Norm was the funniest guy in the room.”
“Norm would have this incredible ability to tell a joke and you have no idea where it’s going, and then you get lost and you think, ‘Oh man, I know where this is going,’” Schneider said. “But then the next thing you know, you forget. He was a master of turns and sleight.”
The last time Schneider performed with Macdonald in 2016, he didn’t know it would be the last time he performed with him.
“He did this thing about like - this joke - I just thought it’s just genius. He said (imitating Macdonald), ‘You ever find yourself in the middle of a lie and you realize - wait a minute - there’s no possible way I could benefit from this lie? Why am I lying? It’s like, hey, you see the new Star Wars movie?’” Schneider recalled.
Schneider said he will perform this weekend at the AT&T Center. The show is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Sunday in the Bud Light Courtyard. Tickets start at $38. You can find more information here.
Watch Osterhage’s interview in the video above.
Related articles: