Variety - July 20, 2022

42 Pages·2022·11 MB·English

Nate Bargatze Brings
Full
Time
Magic
Comic wins over audiences
with Southern charm and
humor rooted in daily life
Just for Laughs
Festival turns 40
10 Comics to Watch

Spotlight shines
on new talent
Nick Nuciforo

Agent powers
live-show revival
For 20 years NATE BARGATZE
has been entertaining audiences
with his Southern charm
n
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t
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v
By Holly Gleason
Photographs by Jim Wright
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cul-du-sac 25 minutes south of Nash-
ville, Nate Bargatze lives in sprawling
two-story brick house that doesn’t
stand out. He’d owned the house for a
couple years before the neighbors real-
ized the man Jim Gaffigan told Esquire
was “one of the top up-and-coming
comics” and Marc Maron told Rolling
Stone was “a comic who should be big”
lived down the street.
For the preternaturally likable come-
dian, whose template is the foibles of
his own life, that’s the way he prefers
it. Not one to crave the spotlight, the
man whose “The Greatest Average
American” Netflix special yielded a
2022 Grammy nomination for comedy
recording is more than happy being
just like his audience.
The way he sees it: “I assume I’m like
everybody in the audience, and I could
be friends with everyone out there.
We’re all the same. We all have rela-
tives, families, lives. It’s human-to-hu-
man interactions, the same problems.
Start there.”
Bargatze has been a comic for 20
years, and created a style uniquely his
own by recognizing the humor in small
things. But it also nails just about every-
one else, too.
He makes it sound so simple. Two
decades into a career in which the
soft-spoken Everyman has created a
world from musing about a life that
could happen to any suburban 20-,
then 30-something, he quietly carved
out a profound space in comedy.
Two Netflix specials — 2019’s “The laughter,” says Nick Nuciforo, UTA’s co-head of comedy touring, of the unconventional approach
Tennessee Kid” and 2021’s “Greatest to continue Bargatze’s growth during COVID. “We innovated and built a tour of drive-in movie
Average American” — are the tip of theaters and socially distanced parking lot shows. That tour helped set up his Netflix special,
the achievements, alongside his 2015 ‘The Greatest Average American,’ which was shot outdoors at Universal Studios Hollywood
special “Full Time Magic.” Beyond theme park. Nate was fully prepared and totally unfazed by the elements, which included several
countless comedy festivals, he’s played helicopters flying overhead while taping the special.”
numerous music fests, including Bonn- Bargatze now has a film in development, a September special slated to be shot at the Celebrity
aroo and South by Southwest. Theater in Phoenix and his weekly “Nateland” podcast, billed as “all things comedy.” “Nateland”
His ability to get out there and mix it features the comic and friends musing on topics from aliens to candy, maps to hotels, deep
up makes Bargatze the kind of comic diving into what could be termed “Nate Think.”
people want, or even need, to see. Anyone who watches Bargatze’s deeply personal comedy knows a great deal about him. He ght
During the pandemic, he adapted, per- believes the less distance between the man onstage and the actual human creates the best con- Wri
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7 it was. But that’s what makes you dif-
p ferent; it’s more intriguing. I learned
a lot of comedy is taking that side of
how things are.”
His stint working at Applebee’s is a
cornerstone joke of his earliest suc-
cess. When he tells Laura Baines, the
woman he would marry, that he wants
to be promoted to waiter, she teases
him about dreaming big. Eventually,
he moves on to meter reader at the
water company.
Bargatze, who recently realized he’s
dyslexic, says: “I worked for the county.
I had great benefits. I wasn’t the best at
school, so this was a solid job you can
have for the rest of your life.”
Except the kid raised by the clown/
magician/motivational speaker had
seen the world through a much dif-
ferent prism. As a high school senior
he was asked where he would be in 10
years: “I said, ‘I’d play Zanies,’ and it was
kind of a joke.
“But if you say it, a lot of stuff hap-
pens. You put it out there, and ...”
While still dating the sassy Apple-
bee’s waitress, he heard about comedy
college in Chicago. It seemed crazy,
but why not? He’d never had a job
he couldn’t come back to, so he and
his friend Michael Clay took the leap.
Looking back, he recognizes their
motivation.
“You’re making people laugh. The joy
is a gift you’re giving with that relief. ...
There’s really not much better.”
Class met once a week. Eight-week
sessions. All people trying to figure
out how jokes work, timing, tension.
“Every Wednesday, you’d show up.
Then the Lion’s Den on a Monday at
first, then Tuesdays, Wednesdays, try-
ing to get spots.”
Initially, waiting tables shaped his
approach to making people laugh.
Dealing with customers taught “a
sense of urgency, because you’re
solving the needs of the people at the
“You’re
school with around 300 in pre-K through fourth grades. He loved Vanderbilt sports, where his
cousin was a coach and his mother worked in the ticket office. He moved to Donelson Christian
making
Academy, where his father, a nationally renowned magician, had a day job teaching history.
“I could only go there because he was a teacher. We couldn’t afford that,” he says. “I was never
in his class. But they called him ‘Mr. B’ and he’d do magic in the classroom. He also was in the people laugh.
TSSAA, which is the NCAA of high school sports where they do all the rules for the past 20 years.
He’d do his magic show and motivational speaking about not drinking or doing drugs.”
Bargatze didn’t fall far from the tree. At age 5 or 6, he remembers telling his favorite joke to The joy is a
his father: “‘Waiter, there’s a fly in my soup,’ and the waiter says, ‘Don’t worry, the spider on the
bread will get it.’”
gift you’re
He never thought about being a comedian, stand-up or otherwise, but in high school, he made
a group of friends laugh at a party and carried on for 30 minutes.
“The next weekend, we were with a different group of kids from another school. My friend giving.”
said, ‘You should tell that story,’ ” he remembers. But this time, he bombed. “I thought, ‘It was
doing so good before, how do I get them to laugh?’ [The kids from my school] filled in the blanks,
so I realized the first thing to get people to laugh is connect with them.”
Joking that Donelson was “a blue-collar private school,” he references the 1985 Mazda 626 NATE BARGATZ E
he drove as a 1997 graduate. “It was the oldest, not-cool car there. I called it ‘Old Blue,’ because
table. Everything gets put on you, in
terms of their experience. Doing com-
edy, I can put the weight of the world
on me. ... In my stand-up, everything
will go wrong in my world. That’s fine.
I can make it funny.”
Hosting a weekend as a fill-in at
Zanies in Chicago led to gigs at Zanies
Nashville, which paid for trips home.
Eventually, New York City beckoned.
Bargatze made the move and became
more aware of the differences on that
highly competitive circuit.
“At that point, I was obsessed,” he
confesses. “I tell people you have to be
obsessed. With obsession, you don’t
give up.”
Working as a barker for the Bos-
ton Comedy Club, handing out fliers
and trying to get people inside in
exchange for stage time, he marveled
when comics such as Dave Chappelle
— then at his peak — dropped in and
people on the street wouldn’t believe
him. “You’d say, ‘It’s three steps up, just Nate Bargatze’s
low-key, obser-
look.’ It was crazy.”
vational style
Bill Burr, Patrice O’Neal and Brian has made him
a star on the
Regan were starting to hit. Hannibal all of them, they laugh. Like ‘The Simpsons,’ he writes for very, very smart people, but it works
stand-up circuit.
Buress and Pete Holmes were circling, for everyone.”
too. If a 2007 Country Music Television Buck can still recall specific bits to the smallest detail, marveling at a 2013 booking in which
special didn’t help, a 2008 “Conan” slot, his closing was reading a text exchange with his wife.
plus the Just for Laughs Festival began “I was worried it wouldn’t have the energy, taking his focus from the people to his cell phone.
to move the needle for Bargatze. “I fig- But it came alive, seeing a man onstage reliving this ‘thing’ on TV. He’d gone out and was respond-
ured I can make $20,000 a year doing ing a little bit tipsy, only now he’s reading what he’d said. People weren’t used to it, so hearing
stand-up. If I can make what I’m mak- the back and forth, it was so awkward and funny.”
ing at Applebee’s … why not?” That aw-shucks willingness to make himself the punchline is his secret sauce. He demurs a bit
Reading Jerry Weintraub’s “When when asked about his gentler approach, in which delivery is more ruminative than full frontal.
I Stop Talking, You’ll Know I’m Dead,” “If you try to match energy that’s not yours, it goes bad. I once tried to follow Rory Scovel at a
Bargatze decided to make the move comedy festival where he destroyed. I tried to do that, and it was like ‘What are you doing?’” he
to L.A. “[Weintraub] always knew any recalls. “I’m from the South: I talk slower, and people aren’t always used to that. I’m clean, don’t
time he was feeling comfortable, it was do sex jokes or drug jokes, so I’ve learned to work the opposite of what those folks are doing.
time to make a change. I could play In New York or L.A., they might be laughing at you — and in the middle of the country, they’re
everywhere, do spots at all the clubs. laughing with you. Either way, they’re laughing.”
“New York taught me the tightness: He pauses. “At this point, I’d like to be a place people can go where they know this is what you
you never want to be too far from the get. With me, when the world’s too heavy, people can come and know you aren’t going to get an
laugh,” he continues. “The farther opinion. They just want to hear about the horse that’s not dead. A lot of people come up after
you get from the laugh, the bigger the shows, saying they’d been depressed and ‘You made me feel better.’
laugh has to be. You learn to stay close “What’s better than that?”
to the laugh. Nuciforo agrees. “The accessibility of his material to all audiences means he can play myriad
“In New York, it’s just be funny, make gigs from corporate shows to state fairs, and everything in- between. It also translates to great
the jokes and get the laugh. You have to ticket sales in major metropolitan areas as well as small towns across America. His comedy is
win them over immediately, where in universal, and his potential is limitless.”
L.A., they’re gonna go with you more. Like Tyler Perry or Adam Sandler, Bargatze hopes his name can be a landing zone for people
L.A.’s your crazy aunt, saying, ‘Follow seeking an ironic look at regular life. He’s producing and directing a special for his friend Mike
your dreams. Write your screenplay. Vecchione (“I told him when I started I didn’t want people to think about me being clean, just
Start a podcast.’ In New York, it’s more funny. All he had to do was work clean”) and looking for more projects to develop.
‘Why would you do that?’” With Brillstein Entertainment’s Alex Murray and Tim Sarkes helming the management side
Being Southerna meant his obser- and UTA’s Greg Cavic and John Sacks on the talent side, plus Joseph Schwartz shoring up tour-
vational style was different. He spoke ing, 20 years in, there’s much ahead.
slower, and being a craftsman, he In a world where nice guys finish last, Bargatze smashes the rule. With zero irony, the comic
really thought about his jokes — and who sold out the iconic Ryman so quickly they added two nights at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry
he started catching ears. says, “I never wanted to get in trouble with my parents, never wanted them to feel weird about
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jokes, but even if the people don’t get pandemic — you can feel the relief when you hear them laugh.” Gre

10 ● INSIDE COMEDY ● JUST FOR LAUGHS 07.20.2022
Back With a Landmark Birthday
Just for Laughs turns 40 and returns in person
By Stuart Miller
Year). Other shows include Vari-
ety’s 10 Comics to Watch, featuring
Moses Storm, Rosebud Baker and
Jay Jurden and a series of galas
and multi-comic shows hosted
and curated by big names like Pat-
ton Oswalt, Chelsea Handler and
Ronny Chieng. The annual key-
note addresses will be delivered
by Neal Brennan, Amanda Seales
and Sophie Buddle.
The festival’s signature New
Faces series that showcases talent
for the industry and the public is
ever evolving, adds Kaszor. This
year, JFL adds another variation
to its New Faces lineup with a
show featuring international
talent. There’s also “New Faces of
Comedy,” a show devoted com-
pletely to unrepresented talent
(hosted by Holmes, who will also
host a show called “Pete Holmes
and Friends.”)
“We want to knock down that
wall for people who need rep-
resentation,” says Hills. “More
than ever, it’s the discoverability
that makes us stand out from all
This year, Just for Laughs has very different roles. Tomlinson that we see,” says Robyn Kaszor, other festivals. The people who
plenty to celebrate. After the is receiving the Breakout Comedy vice president of festivals. have launched their careers
COVID pandemic forced the leg- Star of the Year award. JFL, along with its Off-JFL and here — that’s really what we do
endary Montréal comedy fest to Yet, even though the past will ComedyPro panels and other for a living.”
go completely virtual in 2020 and be present throughout this year’s events, takes over 25 venues all To advance that cause, Kaszor
a hybrid of virtual and live — but event, president Bruce Hills says within walking distance of each says, they’re going to keep New
with some shows shipped out to this is not the time for looking other for two weeks, creating a Faces online the way they did
New York and Los Angeles — in backward. “This is largely about sense of community and a “sum- during the pandemic. “We want
2021, Just for Laughs is back in full our next 40 years and putting mer camp” atmosphere, Hills says. to expose those comics to audi-
force in its hometown this July. ourselves in a great place for There’ll be 250-300 comedians ences and industry around the
And it’s a milestone: this is the years to come.” performing and, if the weather world with as big a platform as
40th anniversary of the iconic The festival, while keeping its holds up for the free outdoor possible,” she says.
festival, with a star-studded gala focus on finding and promoting shows, attendance could grow Hills says they are adding more
show planned for July 30 as a cap- stand-up comics, also strives to well into seven figures. ComedyPro events available
stone on the event. anticipate and influence where Headliners with solo shows online. “We learned during the
JFL continues adapting to the things are headed. include Hart, Bill Burr, John pandemic that putting things
streaming world in the pandem- “Comedy is always changing Mulaney and James Acaster, as online does not cannibalize but
ic’s aftermath and will celebrate and we want to help set the trends well as this year’s award winners rather enhances the comics and
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and Taylor Tomlinson, who got edyPro conference panels — and hhiasst oar ylo wngit h Just Comedian of the Year) and Jerrod we can do to reach more comedy drew
early breaks there, returning in we also are investing in trends for Laughs. Carmichael (Comedy Special of the fans worldwide.” An