Nate Bargatze

Bargatze says he always goes on stage with prepared material and cannot really do crowd work.

“I go up prepared. I mean, I can't do the other. I can't really do like crowd work”

SmartLess: "RE-RELEASE: Nate Bargatze" (May 21, 2026) · Listen from 16:33

Bargatze argues that staying close to the laugh reduces pressure, since a long setup demands a bigger payoff.

“I try to never be too far from the laugh because the farther you are from the laugh, the bigger the laugh has to be”

SmartLess: "RE-RELEASE: Nate Bargatze" (May 21, 2026) · Listen from 18:30

Bargatze describes writing a stand-up hour as a movie in which he is the main character, with each joke leading into the next.

“The way I've looked at writing, it's a movie. So I'm the main character of this movie”

SmartLess: "RE-RELEASE: Nate Bargatze" (May 21, 2026) · Listen from 17:17

Bargatze says that because he talks slowly and is Southern, he had to learn to pull audiences into his rhythm quickly, especially after high-energy acts.

“I had to learn to get people into my rhythm very quickly. So since I talk slower and I was from the South”

SmartLess: "RE-RELEASE: Nate Bargatze" (May 21, 2026) · Listen from 15:24

Bargatze says merchandise is not a major revenue source in stand-up, unlike concerts.

“merch is not the biggest thing in stand-up”

SmartLess: "RE-RELEASE: Nate Bargatze" (May 21, 2026) · Listen from 34:26

Bargatze says arenas grow so quiet during his jokes that he could be heard without a microphone.

“I could yell with no microphone and the top person could hear me. It gets that quiet”

SmartLess: "RE-RELEASE: Nate Bargatze" (May 21, 2026) · Listen from 30:12

Bargatze recounts that Greg Garcia's input on his pilot was so strong the team rewrote the entire script around his ideas.

“we rewrote the whole script off just his ideas because they were so good”

SmartLess: "RE-RELEASE: Nate Bargatze" (May 21, 2026) · Listen from 48:44

Bargatze says he loves UFC for its honesty, because fighters and Dana White say what they want without the gamesmanship of other sports.

“the most, the honesty of it. With Dana White and the fighters, they can say whatever they want”

SmartLess: "RE-RELEASE: Nate Bargatze" (May 21, 2026) · Listen from 37:42

Bargatze says his SNL monologue made him more nervous because he had to deliver jokes to the camera rather than the crowd.

“it was very weird to deliver jokes to kind of a spot where no one's at”

SmartLess: "RE-RELEASE: Nate Bargatze" (May 21, 2026) · Listen from 31:31

Bargatze explains he avoids mocking audience members because they are simply trying to enjoy the show.

“But in the audience, I just always felt, you know, it's like, this person's just trying to sit there. They don't need it”

SmartLess: "RE-RELEASE: Nate Bargatze" (May 21, 2026) · Listen from 24:59

Bargatze says that when joking about his wife he learned he must also show love so audiences do not question the marriage.

“when you make fun of your wife at the beginning is you have to show love”

SmartLess: "RE-RELEASE: Nate Bargatze" (May 21, 2026) · Listen from 23:41

Bargatze jokes that winning a comedy contest whose prize was cruise ship gigs set his career back.

“I won a contest, and your prize was to set your career back five years and do cruises”

SmartLess: "RE-RELEASE: Nate Bargatze" (May 21, 2026) · Listen from 19:55

Bargatze says his father is a well-known magician who frequently opens for him on tour.

“he's very successful, he's very known in the magic world. He comes with me and opens for me a lot on the road”

SmartLess: "RE-RELEASE: Nate Bargatze" (May 21, 2026) · Listen from 10:51