Nate Bargatze

Nathanael Bargatze ( ; born March 25, 1979) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He has been called a clean comedian, and has been noted for his deadpan, monotone delivery. Bargatze was the highest-grossing stand-up comic in 2024, with over a million tickets sold across his shows.

Early life Bargatze was born in Nashville, Tennessee, to Carol and Stephen Bargatze, on March 25, 1979. Stephen was a clown, member of the International Brotherhood of Magicians, and motivational speaker, After a troubled childhood, Stephen had initially studied to become a preacher, but ultimately graduated from Trevecca Nazarene College with a bachelor's degree in education, 10 years after leaving high school.

Raised in a devoutly religious Christian household, Bargatze is one of three children. His father practiced magic tricks with him while growing up, and Bargatze stated he performed in skits with his church group, beginning when he "was around 11".

Bargatze then attended Volunteer State Community College in nearby Gallatin for a year. During this time, he had various jobs, such as working in construction, manning a cellphone kiosk at Walmart, and delivering furniture. He enrolled in Western Kentucky University, but flunked each of his courses and dropped out. One of his fellow meter-readers, Michael Clay, also had an ambition to become a comedian, and together they decided to quit their jobs and both pursue a comedy career. Bargatze's parents were supportive of his decision and attended his first open mic event.

In 2004, Bargatze moved to New York City, where he became a barker for the Boston Comedy Club, handing out flyers in Greenwich Village in exchange for stage time at night in the club. Bargatze also worked as a dogwalker and a FedEx delivery driver during the day to support his comedy career. While at the Boston Comedy Club, he saw comedians such as Dave Chappelle, Louis C.K., Patrice O'Neal, and Bill Burr perform live. He co-hosted a podcast, It Could Be Better, with Chris Laker and Yannis Pappas from 2009 to 2013. He won both New York's Comedy Festival and the Boston Comedy Festival in 2010, and released his first 30-minute special in 2011, as part of an episode of Comedy Central Presents.

Bargatze decided to move to Los Angeles in 2012, taking inspiration from Jerry Weintraub's quote "as soon as you feel comfortable that's when it's time to start over". He released his first comedy album, Yelled At By A Clown, in 2012 on Aspecialthing Records. Bargatze received effusive praise from Marc Maron, and appeared on the WTF with Marc Maron podcast in 2012. He was booked on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon in 2013. He also was part of Jimmy Fallon's Clean Cut Comedy Tour that year. Speaking of his participation in the tour and his choice to be a clean comedian, Bargatze said: "I grew up watching clean comedy. Starting out, I wanted my parents to come watch me. I still think that way, even though I'm a parent now. I'm a clean comic, but I don't really want people to notice it. ... A good compliment for me would be, 'I didn't even notice that you were clean.' That's my goal."

In 2014, Bargatze developed a deal with NBC Universal to create a sitcom based on his life, with Fallon serving as producer. NBC ultimately scrapped the project. Also in 2014, he auditioned for The Daily Show and made it to a final shortlist of two. Jordan Klepper was hired instead of Bargatze. His first hour-long special, Full Time Magic, was released in 2015 by Comedy Central. The album version of Full Time Magic reached No. 1 on the Billboard Top Ten Comedy Charts. The special premiered on the same night as Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao. Bargatze said, "Nobody watched my special that night. I didn't even watch it, since I wanted to see that fight so bad."

Breakthrough Bargatze had a breakthrough in 2017, when Netflix launched The Standups, a series with each episode containing a 30-minute set by a different stand-up comedian. Bargatze was featured in the first episode. In 2019, Bargatze released an hour-long special, The Tennessee Kid, on Netflix. Sarah Aswell of Forbes named it as the best comedy special of the year. Also in 2019, Bargatze filmed a pilot of a multi-cam sitcom for ABC based on his life. Katie Aselton, Debra Jo Rupp, and Kurtwood Smith were cast as Bargatze's on-screen wife, mother, and father, respectively. The pilot was not picked up. Bargatze recalled in 2024 that "I don't think there was a lot of entertainment made for people not on the coasts during that period," and said that while his subsequent success led to renewed interest from networks, "I don't know if I'd do a sitcom now." Netflix released Bargatze's next stand-up special, The Greatest Average American, in 2021. It was filmed outdoors at Universal Studios Hollywood and was nominated for the 2022 Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album. Also in 2021, Bargatze was featured in an article in The Atlantic that called him "The Nicest Man in Stand-Up". In 2022, he voiced the character Grady in the Portal spinoff game Aperture Desk Job.

Bargatze's stand-up special Hello World, filmed at the Celebrity Theater in Phoenix, Arizona, was released in January 2023 on Amazon Prime Video. It set a record for Amazon's most-streamed original comedy special, receiving 2.9 million viewers in its first 28 days. Bargatze stated that after his show he took a chair from the arena to his house to prevent anyone from breaking his record.

Bargatze hosted Saturday Night Live for the first time on October 28, 2023, and for a second time on October 5, 2024. In those appearances, he attracted attention for his portrayal of George Washington in sketches that mock the American language and system of measurements. Also in 2024, he performed at the Netflix Is a Joke Festival at the Hollywood Bowl. Bargatze said hosting SNL led to a "giant, giant leap" in his career. He was the highest-grossing comic in 2024 according to Pollstar. Bargatze returned to Netflix to release his next special, titled Your Friend, Nate Bargatze, which premiered on Christmas Eve 2024. It received the 2025 Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album.

Bargatze hosted the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards in September 2025. During the ceremony, he introduced a $100,000 donation counter to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America that would be reduced by $1,000 for every second that an award winner's speech exceeded 45 seconds. This resulted in controversy, with criticism that the money counter "overshadowed" the winners' speeches; Bargatze later personally donated $250,000 after the counter had reached $0. Bargatze had the highest-grossing comedy tour of 2025 according to Billboards Boxscore rankings, with gross income of $56.7 million from 677,000 tickets sold across his 76 shows.

Expansion In March 2025, Bargatze stated that he would make his first feature acting role in The Breadwinner, a film he co-wrote with Dan Lagana. It was released on May 29, 2026. The Breadwinner was unprofitable during its box office run, generating $20.2 million against a $25 million production budget.

Bargatze began hosting The Greatest Average American, a game show on ABC, in February 2026. Named after his comedy special, the show was produced by Bargatze's media company, Nateland Entertainment, alongside Walt Disney Television Alternative and John Quinn's Da Da Productions.

Influences Bargatze has named Jerry Seinfeld, Steve Martin, Brian Regan, Bob Newhart, and Bill Cosby as being some of his comedic influences.

Personal life Bargatze married Laura Baines on October 13, 2006. Bargatze is a Christian.

Although he did not attend Vanderbilt University, Bargatze has been a lifelong fan of the Vanderbilt Commodores. Bargatze's second cousin, Ronnie Bargatze, was an athlete who became a basketball coach at Vanderbilt in the 1970s and was inducted into the TSSAA Hall of Fame in 2018.

Bargatze drank heavily while starting as a comedian and has said he was close to sabotaging his career due to alcoholism. Bargatze participated in the pro–am of the Simmons Bank Open golf tournament in 2023. He is friends with professional golfer Brandt Snedeker.

In 2024, Bargatze contributed $1.15 million to the development of an indoor athletic facility at Donelson Christian Academy, his alma mater. The school subsequently named the facility in honor of him.

Bargatze attended the UFC Freedom 250 event held at the White House.

Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 2025 Are We Good? Himself Documentary film The New Yorker at 100 2026 The Breadwinner Nate Wilcox Also writer and producer

Television Year Title Role Notes 2008–2009 Late Night with Conan O'Brien Himself 2 episodes 2011–2013 Conan Self / Comic guest 3 episodes 2024 John Mulaney Presents: Everybody's in LA Himself (guest) Episode: "Helicopters" Nate Bargatze's Nashville Christmas Himself (host) 1 episode 2025 77th Primetime Emmy Awards Television special 2026 The Greatest Average American Himself (host)

Standup specials Year Title Network 2011 Comedy Central Presents Comedy Central 2015 Full Time Magic 2019 The Tennessee Kid Netflix 2021 The Greatest Average American 2023 Hello World Amazon Prime Video 2024 Your Friend, Nate Bargatze Netflix

Awards and nominations Year Award Category Nominated work Result Ref. 2021 Grammy Awards Best Comedy Album The Greatest Average American 2026 Your Friend, Nate Bargatze 2025 Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded) Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special

Discography Yelled At By a Clown (Aspecialthing Records, 2012) Full Time Magic (Comedy Central, 2015) The Tennessee Kid (Netflix, 2019) The Greatest Average American (Netflix, 2021) Hello World (Amazon Prime Video, 2023) Your Friend, Nate Bargatze (Netflix, 2024)