Nate, short for Nathan, which itself is short for Nathaniel, as we learn in this hour, also informs audiences who aren’t caught up with Bargatze’s bio that his father still works as a professional magician, which may or may not represent a step up from his dad’s previous career in clowning. As a young child, Nate saw his father drive back home with The Easter Bunny in the passenger seat of their car. “That’s the first thing that I remember, to my life. If you want to know how you get into comedy, that’s a pretty good nudge?”
However, whatever forces pushed Nate Bargatze into performing stand-up, we’re all the better for it.
Even if, and perhaps precisely because, as Bargatze will remind us, he’s not the brightest bulb. He second-guesses himself a lot. Which holds the key to his comedic insight. By not taking a situation at face value, he digs into his psyche, wrestles with his lack of background knowledge and comes out the other side with jewel after laugh-inducing jewel.