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New York Post
Nate Bargatze interview: The comic tells all about his ‘Be Funny Tour’
By Matt Levy,
3 hours ago
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Even though stand-up comedian Nate Bargatze regularly sells out arenas, he’s still a joke craftsman at heart.
“Right now I don’t have a new hour,” the 45-year-old told the New York Post in an exclusive interview. “So in these final shows on my ‘Be Funny Tour,’ I’m adding a few new things.”
The workhorse comic doesn’t have a full hour at the moment because he’s churning out specials at a breakneck pace.
His last hour “Hello World” hit Amazon Prime in January 2023; the next one that he recorded in early 2024 is due out sometime later this year, hence the need for new material.
And, while other comedians may not enjoy the process, Bargatze revels in it.
“The fun part is when you get done taping, you’re like ‘oh my God, what else is there to talk about’ but then you find stuff and get laughs on new jokes. I have one I like about DoorDash that I came up with right after the special.”
If you want to see Bargatze work out new material — and what this brand-new DoorDash bit is all about — now’s your chance.
“We’re going to clean Atlantic City up,” Bargatze joked. “There’s enough language on the casino floor already. I’m hoping the kids come out and I get them into gambling.”
After that, he’ll head north to Jamestown, NY’s National Comedy Center on Saturday, Aug. 3, for the Lucille Ball Comedy Festival.
Bargatze isn’t going it alone, either.
At all shows, fans can expect to see stand-up vets Julian McCullough and Derrick Stroup kick off the festivities.
Just know that, no matter what, Bargatze is going to bring the goods.
“The last special did really well and the last tour was very big. The people know what to expect. So I want to keep expectations where they are and keep evolving as a stand-up. I don’t want to go down.”
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Nate Bargatze tour schedule 2024
A complete calendar including all tour dates, venues and links to buy tickets for all remaining ‘Be Funny Tour’ shows can be found here:
“My tour last year was going great but after SNL, it got even bigger. it was wild to feel the change in real time.”
Although he doesn’t tell stories about his 30 Rock week onstage, he did do a bit about his experience on the road following his hosting gig.
“After SNL, I would go to every town and say I met the Foo Fighters (the musical guest from Bargatze’s episode). Then I’d say ‘Dave Grohl’s from here.’ Truth be told, I don’t know where Dave Grohl’s from ( editor’s note: the Foo Fighters frontman hails from Warren, OH ).”
Perhaps the most interesting story Bargatze had in his back pocket though related to his now classic “George Washington” sketch, which almost didn’t make it to air.
“When we did a table read, I wasn’t way into it,” he shared. “My timing is based off of crowds. So George Washington didn’t look like it was going to be a good sketch and then Lorne let me do it during the dress rehearsal. It was the last sketch. He knew I liked it and was like ‘let’s see what it’s going to be’ and it destroyed.”
Bargatze was happy to give credit where it was due, too.
“Streeter Seidell and Mikey Day wrote the George Washington sketch. I did it just as they wrote it. It’s written in my voice so well that people think I was involved with the process,” he smiled.
“That’s the first time I did anything where it was words that I hadn’t written which was new. That’s just how good they are to be able to do that. Especially someone like me who only does words that I write.”
As for what didn’t make it into the show, there was only one piece Bargatze wishes saw the light of day.
“There was one sketch I liked that I wish could have got on, but it didn’t even make it to dress rehearsal,” he told us. “It was about this assistant coach that keeps bringing up that he needs the team to pitch in 50 dollars for uniforms like ‘hey, I didn’t get all the money from everybody.'”
“If I’m fortunate to get asked back, maybe we’ll try that one,” Bargatze added with a smile.
Personally, we were most charmed by the singalong “Lake Beach.”
Once again, the comic was happy to point out who was responsible for the laughs and even share a surprising backstory.
“That was James Austin Johnson. He’s originally a stand up comedian from Nashville. Funny enough our dads know each other from college. I’m older than him but saw him when he first started in Nashville. So that was a song I think he was doing on the road.”
At first, he was hesitant to show off his pipes.
“They asked me “do you sing” and I was like, ‘absolutely not,” Bargatze laughed. “Then, when they did the sketch at the table read, I saw them do the song. And I was like, ‘alright. I can do that. I don’t have to be Adele.'”
“With SNL, it’s just all about commitment. I just told myself every time to go all in or it’s going to be weird.”
Nate Bargatze comedy specials
The oft-soft-spoken and occasionally absurd Bargatze has been rather prolific over the past few years.
As noted above, Bargatze is a truly tireless performer, which makes his observations about performing and generating new punchlines indispensable.
When it comes to working on new material, he had a few thoughts.
“Once you have one joke that you think you could close with, that helps you build the new hour because you’re like, ‘worst case scenario, I have something that is actually good.'”
Still, there’s a bit of room for improvisation when you’re trying to develop original bits.
“Last night, I came up with some stuff on the spot,” Bargatze noted. “You stumble into some things. I don’t do crowd work or anything, but you will riff a couple of things and if it’s getting the laughs. Then you’re like, ‘oh!’ then you say a couple of other things.”
“To me, it’s always you got to know how to get out of the joke so you can riff. You can riff stuff as long as you know the ending. As long as you start the joke, then you can play and have a dismount.”
“I drew up a set list for my show last night, so I at least have direction of where I want to go. If I do that, I can get work done. I go out there and just mess around.”
More than anything, he appreciates the freedom to be free at smaller clubs, which you don’t get to do when you’re performing at massive venues.
“When you do arenas and these big shows, those are intense. It’s not as easy to throw in a new idea when there’s 20,000 people. You’re like ‘this all need to be ready to go.'”
Still, he’s just happy when he’s not on a stage that’s in the round.
“There is a relief when you’re like, ‘well, no, one’s behind me.’ It’s a break when everyone is in front of you.”
Nate Bargatze opening acts
On the road, Bargatze tries to keep things light with his pals.
At past gigs, he brought his magician dad on tour with him but these days, he’s taking host Julian McCullough and opening act Derek Stroup along for the ride.
“I’ll make it so it’s like a fun hang and feels like the old days when we were starting out,” he told us.
“Julian McCullough has been on the road with me forever. He’s from New Jersey. We think he has a gambling problem. So that’s why we picked A.C.,” he quipped.
Nateland Podcast
If Nate is your cup of tea, you may enjoy his Nateland Podcast he co-hosts with touring comics Brian Bates, Aaron Weber, and Dusty Slay.
However, with 200+ episodes online, it may seem daunting to jump in.
Bargatze assured us that’s simply not the case.
“We have a couple Best Of podcasts and we always tell people to go to that.”
Post-SNL, it may seem like the next natural step for the funnyman is to dip his toe into the acting world. When we asked if that was in the works, he stayed tight-lipped but gave us a few subtle hints about what may be on the horizon.
“I’ve got a few things we’re trying to get going,” he teased. “I want to hopefully get into movies.”
He’s mostly excited to relax after this final leg of his sprawling tour.
“I gotta get home, get into some fights with my wife, do the regular stuff to come up with material,” he chuckled. “We’ll take a good break, and then we’ll have a big tour later in 2025.”
Huge comedians on tour in 2024
Nate not headed to your neck of the woods this year?
Here are just five comics with similar sensibilities that may be coming to a venue near you these next few months.
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