WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL) — Nate Bargatze is growing in popularity and quickly becoming a household name in the realm of stand-up comedy.
After releasing his new hour-long special, “Hello World”, on Amazon Prime on February 1, 2023, Bargatze is set to embark on the “Be Funny” Tour with brand new material and stops scheduled all across the United States, including one at Memorial Auditorium in Wichita Falls.
Ahead of his performance on Thursday, February 23, 2023, Bargatze spoke with KFDX/KJTL Digital Reporter Josh Hoggard, where he touched on various topics.
Our interview with Bargatze can be found in its entirety in the video player above.
Bargatze travels all around the world, and it may be hard to believe, but he’s actually heard of Wichita Falls, Texas.
“So one of my buddies that’s on the road with me, Dustin Chafin, that’s coming out with me to that show, he’s from there,” Bargatze said. “At least, you have some sort of connection in the fact that one of my best friends is from there so that will make it fun, so that’s how I’ve heard of it.”
Bargatze, who is himself from the small town of Old Hickory, Tennessee, said Wichita Falls is by far not the smallest town he’s ever performed in. In fact, he said he enjoys performing in small towns.
“I definitely like coming to these smaller places,” Bargatze said. “Even if a thousand people show up, you’re like that’s a good percentage of the town, and the excitement level’s always a little more than some of the bigger cities, which makes it very fun.”
Family is one of the most important aspects of Bargatze’s life, beginning with his parents. His father was a clown and a magician, so it only makes sense that Bargatze finds himself making a living performing stand-up comedy.
“I get a lot of that from my dad,” Bargatze said. “It’s definitely something that I realize now. The fact that he was always very funny, it played into it a ton.”
Bargatze now has a family of his own. He and his wife Laura have been married since 2006, and together, they have a 10-year-old daughter named Harper. He said his family is one of his main sources of his jokes, as well as ordinary, every day situations and annoyances.
One of the defining characteristics of Bargatze’s stand-up routines is his deadpan delivery method, which he said was just how he talks in every day life.
“As close as I can be to how I am off and on stage, the better,” Bargatze said. “When someone meets you offstage you don’t wanna be just a completely different person. If I can just be myself onstage, it’s a good thing.”
To that end, Bargatze’s shows are profanity-free and family friendly. As the father of a 10-year-old, he said that also just comes naturally for him.
“I know as having a kid, it’s hard,” Bargatze said. “You have to turn a lot of stuff on when they’re around, so, it’s, you know, to have a 10-year-old, 8-year-old or whoever at a show with a grandparent, it’s something, you know, a whole family can come do.”
Bargatze’s hour-long specials “The Greatest Average American” and “The Tennessee Kid” are available to stream on Netflix.
Bargatze is set to perform at Memorial Auditorium, located at 1300 7th Street in Wichita Falls, on Thursday, February 23 at 7 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at the Texoma Community Credit Union Box Office and on the MPEC’s official website.
Learn More About Nate Bargatze
Hailed this year as “The Nicest Man in Stand-Up,” by The Atlantic Magazine and a “Rising Star,” by CBS Morning, 2021 Grammy nominated comedian and podcaster Nate Bargatze is selling out shows across the world.
An Old Hickory, Tennessee native, Bargatze followed in the showbiz footsteps of his father, a former clown turned world class magician, who’s influence is seen on his’s 2015 debut Comedy Central special, Full Time Magic and his debut album, Yelled at By a Clown, which reached #1 on the iTunes Comedy Charts and remained on Billboard’s Top Ten Comedy Charts for weeks.
Bargatze’s half-hour Netflix Special The Standups, premiered in 2017 and his first solo one-hour Netflix special, The Tennessee Kid, premiered globally with rave reviews in 2019. In 2021, he released his highly anticipated second Netflix special, The Greatest Average American, which received a Grammy nomination for Best Comedy Album.
In July 2020, the comedian teamed up with All Things Comedy to release his weekly podcast, Nateland. Nateland tackles the meaningless issues that we face day to day to give listeners a much-needed mental break from fighting the good fight. New episodes release Wednesdays, with video available on Nate’s YouTube channel and audio available everywhere you get podcasts.
Bargatze’s comedy is both clean and relatable, evident in his ten appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. He also appeared on Conan four times, was a recurring guest on @midnight, and had his own Comedy Central Presents in 2011. Off-screen, Bargatze was part of Jimmy Fallon’s Clean-Cut Comedy Tour, and has performed live shows for the troops in Iraq and Kuwait five times. In addition to touring the country as a headliner, Nate toured arenas with Chris Rock on his 2017 Total Blackout Tour. He regularly performs at Bonnaroo, SXSW, Oddball Comedy Festival, Sasquatch, Clusterfest, and the JFL Montreal Comedy Festival, where he’s received critical acclaim multiple years in a row.
Nate was featured as one of Esquire’s “Best New Comedians” by Jim Gaffigan, one of Marc Maron’s “Comedians to Watch” in Rolling Stone, one of Variety’s “10 Comics to Watch” for 2015, and as #1 on Vulture’s ‘50 Comedians You Should Know’ in 2015.
