Nate Bargatze Is Unrecognizable in His Hysterical First Tonight Show Stand-Up Set
The 2014 debut was The Nicest Man in Stand-Up's first of 13 appearances on the talk show.
Over the past decade, Nate Bargatze has made 13 appearances as a stand-up comic and guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
His The Tonight Show debut was on March 14, 2014, with a hysterical 5-minute set that had him telling the audience about being a self-professed "pretty lazy guy," the embarrassment of wearing Under Armour shirts (they "show the worst parts of your body"), and how surprisingly easy it is to purchase a tiger in America. Watch it below.
Bargatze has been performing standup for more than 20 years. His Be Funny Tour, which he kicked off in January 2023, has sold more than 1 million tickets. And in a full-circle moment, Jimmy Fallon himself opened for Bargatze when the comedian brought his tour to New Jersey's Prudential Center in January 2024.
RELATED: SNL Host Nate Bargatze's Father Is a Magician Who Opens for Him on Tour
Nate Bargatze broke a Saturday Night Live ratings record in 2023
On October 28, 2023, Bargatze had his biggest audience yet when he hosted Saturday Night Live for the first time — with Foo Fighters returning for their ninth time as Musical Guest. The episode was SNL's highest rated since Steve Martin and Martin Short hosted in 2022. While Ryan Gosling's episode on April 13 was ultimately the most-watched of SNL Season 49, Bargatze's"Washington's Dream" sketch was a popular highlight of the season, gaining 10 million views on YouTube.
RELATED: Watch Nate Bargatze's Hilarious SNL Monologue and Sketches from October 28
Between hosting SNL, his Hello World special on Amazon Prime Video, and his record-breaking tour, it has been an incredible year for "The Nicest Man in Stand-Up." His father, Stephen Bargatze, who is an actual professional magician, is one the opening acts on his Be Funny Tour, and he credits his dad for his work ethic when it comes to honing his comedy craft.
"My timing definitely comes from my dad,” he told Billboard. “He was working on his magic all the time. Even at home, he was doing it. So, subconsciously, you’re taking it in, like, ‘Well, if you want to be great at something, you have to do this all day long.’"
Bargatze's Be Funny Tour is now coming to a close, with his final shows kicking off September 20 in Mashantucket, CT, before heading to Las Vegas, NV on October 2 and ending in Highland, CA, on October 18.
Though Bargatze sells out arenas, he titled his 2021 Netflix special The Greatest Average American for a reason.
"I assume I’m like everybody in the audience, and I could be friends with everyone out there. We’re all the same," he told Variety in 2022. "We all have relatives, families, lives. It’s human-to-human interactions, the same problems. Start there."
