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Norm Macdonald says you won't be offended at his comedy shows anymore .. but you also won't laugh your ass off. Such is reality and it sucks.

We got Norm Friday afternoon at LAX and asked if he's walking on eggshells given his propensity to push the envelope and offend his audience. You'll recall Norm caught tons of backlash for defending Roseanne and Louis C.K.

Norm tried to dig himself out of that hole ... but things got worse before a mea culpa on "The View."

Fact is ... Norm trying to please the PC police has severely dented the comedic process. And, btw ... Howie Mandel agrees. Norm longs for the days when a comedian could go way over the line, rein himself back to the line ... but not go over it.