Nate Bargatze

Nate Bargatze is a stand-up comedian known for his deadpan, monotone delivery and clean approach to comedy. Bargatze has developed a significant following through a style rooted in relatable, observational humor. He follows in the entertainment business footsteps of his father, a former clown turned magician. Bargatze began his comedy career by moving to Chicago to attend The Second City, an improvisational comedy troupe, before ultimately focusing on stand-up. He later moved to New York City, where he worked as a barker for the Boston Comedy Club, handing out flyers in Greenwich Village in exchange for stage time.

Bargatze's early career gained momentum when he won both New York's Comedy Festival and the Boston Comedy Festival and released his first 30-minute special as part of an episode of "Comedy Central Presents." He was featured as one of Esquire's Best New Comedians by Jim Gaffigan, as one of Marc Maron's comedians to watch in Rolling Stone and Paste Magazine, and was ranked No. 1 on Vulture's 50 Comedians You Should Know. He was also named one of Variety's 10 Comics to Watch, following his debut one-hour special, "Full Time Magic," which premiered on Comedy Central. Bargatze has made multiple appearances on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon."

Bargatze's national profile expanded with his appearance on Netflix's "The Standups." He released the hour-long special "The Tennessee Kid" on Netflix, which was recognized by Forbes. His second Netflix special, "The Greatest Average American," received a Grammy nomination for Best Comedy Album. His stand-up special "Hello World" was released on Amazon Prime Video and set a record for Amazon's most-streamed original comedy special. Bargatze later returned to Netflix with "Your Friend, Nate Bargatze," which received a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album.

Bargatze hosted Saturday Night Live, delivering one of the longest stand-up monologues for a stand-up on the show. Two SNL sketches in which Bargatze plays George Washington have been viewed more than a combined 42 million times on YouTube. He was the highest-grossing comic according to Pollstar, topping Billboard's Boxscore ranking with $82.2 million gross income from 1.1 million tickets sold across 148 shows, setting a new record for the largest one-year gross by a comedy performer in Boxscore history. His stint as host of the Primetime Emmy Awards on CBS was the highest-rated Emmys broadcast in four years.

Beyond the stage, Bargatze has expanded his creative footprint by unveiling Nateland Entertainment, a family-friendly content company producing stand-up comedy specials, showcases, sketches, and scripted episodic content for film, television, podcasts, and music. He released his first book, "Big Dumb Eyes: Stories from a Simpler Mind," and embarked on a 59-city stand-up tour. Bargatze has broken multiple venue records, hosted the Primetime Emmy Awards, written a No. 1 New York Times bestseller, and hosted two Saturday Night Live episodes with sketches that have become widely recognized. In 2026, he starred in the film "The Breadwinner." With his brand of deadpan, self-deprecating, observational humor, Bargatze is known for being a clean and apolitical comic, a distinction he embraces as helping unify audiences.