Nate Bargatze Proves Clean Comedy Has a Huge Draw

Published: July 25, 2023

Nate Bargatze Proves Clean Comedy Has a Huge Draw

By Movieguide® Contributor

Nate Bargatze’s comedy has exploded in recent years and his plans for what he will do with his expanding platform have only grown larger.

While Bargatze has been a comedian for over 20 years, he didn’t start to become popular until just before the pandemic. Bargatze got into comedy in 2002 when he quit his job as a water meter reader to start taking classes with the improv troupe The Second City. Quickly realizing that improve wasn’t for him, Bargatze began standup comedy, performing at open mics in Chicago for the next two years.

Inspired by the 2004 documentary COMEDIAN, Bargatze moved to New York to continue to work on his craft.

By the time him and his family moved to L.A. eight years later, Bargatze had started to make a name for himself in comedy. He landed an occasional role in commercials and started making infrequent appearances on Jimmy Fallon’s THE TONIGHT SHOW.

At this point in his career, Bargatze had carved a path into a cutthroat industry, but he was only getting started. His first breakthrough came when Netflix launched a standup series which featured a 30-minute set from six different up-and-coming comedians; Bargatze was the very first episode.

Following his debut on Netflix, Bargatze noticed an immediate change in his audience.

“I remember I did some jokes, and then they didn’t hit as much as they usually do,” Bargatze told The Tennessean. The audience had already heard them on his Netflix feature.

“I was like, ‘Wait, are you all here, like, because of me?’ They’re like, ‘Yeah.’ It was the first sign of panic, where you’re like, ‘Oh, I gotta write new material. People are coming,’” he recalled.

Bargatze was able to make this adjustment in stride, writing a new set, and landing a full Netflix special in 2019. Just as he was launching into full time tours, the pandemic lockdowns put everything on hold, but Bargatze came up with new ways to share his jokes. He started performing at drive-in theaters, something he realizes really helped bring joy to people when there was a lot of despair in the world.

During the pandemic, Bargatze also launched his “Nateland Podcast,” which he cohosts with fellow comedians Brian Bates, Dusty Slay, and Aaron Weber.

Continuing to grow, and now known across the nation for his clean comedy, Bargatze released a second special through Netflix in 2021 and started up a second tour.

Earlier this year, Bargatze fulfilled his most lofty dream, headlining Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena in April. Though is highest goal has now been fulfilled, Bargatze has no plans of slowing down. He hopes to create a comedy empire – similar to that of Adam Sandler.

“I’m a giant, giant fan of what [Sandler] does,” Bargatze said. “I want to create the world that he has created with his movies. That’s what we’re trying to do with Nateland. He’s a huge inspiration for me.”

While this may seem like an outlandish goal, Bargatze is working hard to make it happen. The last couple years have shown him that his most impossible dreams can come true. Now that his fantasy of performing at Bridgestone Arena has come true, why not reach for something even greater.

Movieguide® previously reported on Bargatze:

Bargatze keeps his stand-up material clean because he still feels like he would “get in trouble” with his parents if they heard him telling a dirty joke. 

“I don’t want to disappoint my parents,” Bargatze went on, saying he would also feel “mortified” and “very uncomfortable” using inappropriate material in front of them. 

He continued, “I just can’t imagine cursing in front of your parents. Still, even now, I’m 43-years-old and I still just couldn’t do that. So that’s how I write. I think I write my comedy to—a lot of it is to make my parents laugh. I want them to be proud and be like, ‘Oh, come watch my son do comedy,’ and not be offended by it. I just don’t have that in me to want to offend someone or make someone feel bad.”

Bargatze also said his Christian upbringing has contributed to his commitment to staying clean onstage.