On 3/18/2017 3:25 PM, wrote:
I think for all of us that watched "Norm" that MacDonald can be a jarring experience. Norm was quiet, solitary, thoughtful and soft spoken. His tools were the type of tools we might have in our own shops, some of them modified to his own specs (like his famous miter saw table) and the only really innovative tools I recall him having during his show was the powered mortiser and a drum sander. When he visited our local Woodcraft (25?) years ago, the manager at the time and I were friends. As is the custom, the managers and wives took out Norm for dinner and they said he was EXACTLY the way you saw him on TV. He taught classes at a shop that was almost identical to the set shop, and most of the finished pieces she showed up front so you could see a finished product first were built in his 2nd shop where he also taught. Watching Norm on Saturday was like sitting down on a comfortable sofa to take a nap.

About 15 years ago, David Marks came to Woodcraft and spent a day here chatting with customers off and on. Woodcraft staff said he was an OK guy, pretty good with the public, pretty blunt when in private, and made no apologies for his "craft" being a business. I overheard him say that the TV and books were nice, but were part of the income puzzle. He said that without his own custom pieces and teaching classes he wouldn't make it on what he made from PBS/cable.

And now "T'Mac".

http://handmade-business.com/tommy-boy/

To me, that's impressive as a background. A driven young guy that made things happen. I like the story behind him and his show. I haven't seen him make anything of note on his own, but as the piece above notes, he has had a great deal of professional training. That's probably how he met and knows a great deal of the folks that are on his show, including some of the teachers from the furniture schools he has on.

Everyone seems to have a good time on his show, him being the biggest kid there. I have no doubt that the new shop was folded into the show for a reason. Teaching and light manufacturing would be the obvious reason. Maybe he is going to teach furniture building, and as one of his offerings teach folks how to build and operate a production cabinet shop. Obviously a facility of that type isn't for a home shop, or even a small cabinet shop. Good for him to find a way to help pay for it by using it as a season long prop. No doubt /somebody/ will get inspired to build a small shop or even an outbuilding of some sort, just without $200K of tools.

I feel like I should like that show, but I just don't. Not sure why. I haven't even seen that TM brag (unlike some of the more famous craft people), be self effacing for the camera's benefit, and he doesn't seem to try to be more than he is as he never hesitates to "call in an expert". I remember that Norm had legions of detractors in his day, some downright hateful. There were quite a few here. That never bothered me, even though I thought some of his detractors had their points.

Not sure why TM rubs me the wrong way, but he does. I don't even have his show on for background noise anymore.

Robert


Part of what rubs me the wrong way is the big-kid "Tommy-boy" image, the
speech patterns, the hair. He's over 50! It's just hard to take him
seriously enough to bother listening.