STAND-UP GREATS: Nate Bargatze on His Rise, Hosting 'SNL,' and Building the Nateland Empire

Summary

Podcast Summary

Sunday Sitdown with Willie Geist

Episode: STAND-UP GREATS: Nate Bargatze on His Rise, Hosting 'SNL,' and Building the Nateland Empire
Date: November 22, 2025
Live at: City Winery, New York City

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Episode Overview

In this special live episode, Willie Geist interviews one of stand-up comedy’s biggest current stars, Nate Bargatze. With a sold-out crowd in attendance at City Winery, Nate opens up about his journey from humble beginnings in Tennessee to selling out arenas, hosting Saturday Night Live twice, building his Nateland entertainment empire, and sticking to his roots—clean, self-deprecating humor and strong family values. The conversation is authentic and full of laughs, as Nate shares stories about failure, fame, and the vision he has for the future of comedy and family-friendly entertainment.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Nate’s Journey: From Old Hickory to Arenas

• Vanderbilt Fandom and Early Ties (07:14 – 10:47)

  • Both Nate and Willie bond over years of supporting Vanderbilt sports — before it was “cool” to do so.
  • Nate’s mother worked in the Vanderbilt ticket office; his uncle coached and commentated.
  • “[Being a Vanderbilt fan]…you’re rooting for that team that’s not always gonna win. And then when they get on these runs…it’s fun. Greatest times of my life.” – Nate Bargatze (10:47)

• Making It to the Top (11:26 – 13:19)

  • Nate reflects on 20+ years of grinding in comedy before his “overnight” ascent; how the sudden fame almost doesn’t feel real.
  • “All takes very long, but then it happens very quick… you just try to stay as good as you can possibly be.” – Nate (13:19)

• Flight Trouble & Road-Heroes (04:47 – 06:10)

  • A missed flight almost jeopardized Nate’s attendance at the live show; he rented a van and drove from Pennsylvania with his team, proving comedian road-warrior spirit is alive and well.
  • Humorous reflections on gas station snacks: “A gas station on the road… there’s nothing in there that’s not gonna give you diabetes.” – Nate (05:52)

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SNL, Breakthroughs & Viral Moments

• Hosting SNL Twice & the “George Washington Dream” Sketch (13:19 – 17:45)

  • Hosting Saturday Night Live in October 2023, then again in October 2024—an unusual honor for any host.
  • Nate fought for the now-famous “George Washington” sketch despite lukewarm table read reception. The sketch later “destroyed” during rehearsal and was moved up in the running order.
  • “I knew it'd be funny… once I get in front of a crowd, it's gonna be great. That blew up and…became what it all became.” – Nate (14:01–15:37)
  • The sketch’s mainstream reach introduced Nate to millions and directly impacted ticket sales and tour size.

• Word-of-Mouth Career (16:23 – 18:08)

  • Nate’s growth is described as organic—his audience comes from people bringing friends to shows rather than viral fame or a single breakout hit.
  • Post-SNL, he had to reschedule and add arena shows to meet demand.

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Roots, Influences, and Style

• Family & Magic Roots (19:25 – 24:40)

  • Grew up outside Nashville; his father is a magician who incorporates comedy—Nate credits his sense of timing and showmanship to these roots.
  • Childhood jokes, magic, and supportive parents set Nate on a creative path.

• Working Clean & Making Parents Proud (30:18 – 31:38)

  • Nate made a conscious decision to work clean out of respect for his family and their values.
  • “I write everything I write... for them. I just want… them to see it and be proud.” – Nate (30:33)

• Influences and Comedy Heroes (33:05 – 35:06)

  • Major inspirations include Seinfeld, Brian Regan (whose CD made him “pull the car over from laughing so hard”), and Jim Gaffigan, now a friend and fellow clean comic.

• Self-Deprecation & Not Being Mean (36:21 – 38:25)

  • Nate avoids mean-spirited humor; the joke is almost always on himself.
  • “I don’t want anybody to think I’m ever better than them… I’ll make fun of me. You can laugh with me or at me; it doesn’t matter.” – Nate (37:20)

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The Nuts and Bolts of Comedy

• Bombing and The Grind (56:06 – 58:13)

  • Nate shares early stories of bombing, including performing for one audience member and being haunted by the memory of a tucked-in shirt set.
  • “You bomb a lot at the beginning… once, one guy was the only one in the crowd… it was pleasant, but…” – Nate (56:06)

• Breakthrough Moments: Fallon and Conan (40:10 – 41:32)

  • Conan and Jimmy Fallon provided early national television exposure; Fallon personally invited him on after seeing him perform, which helped open major industry doors and led to developing a show together.

• Process and Memorization (66:35 – 69:17)

  • Building an hour-long act is like “learning a song”: things flow in a sequence.
  • Old jokes are hard to recall once he’s moved on.
  • “Sometimes you have to just bail on a bit mid-set—you just say, ‘I don’t remember how that goes.’” – Nate (67:39)

• Ripening with Age (57:18 – 57:35)

  • On comedic success: “You either make it at 20 or 40… you gotta grind it out otherwise.” – Nate (57:27)

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The Nateland Vision & Nashville

• Building Nateland—A Family Entertainment Empire (47:59 – 54:24)

  • Nate’s goal is to create family-friendly, trustworthy content under his Nateland umbrella, driven by what he feels Hollywood neglects.
  • He envisions Nateland as a sort of “alternative Disney,” with movies and projects that families can trust.
  • “If you see Nateland, you might not like it, but you can at least trust that I’m not going to… make you uncomfortable… I want you all to watch it as a family.” – Nate (48:29)
  • He discusses the need for Hollywood to better nurture young talent and create “the next Star Wars,” not just sequels.
  • Plan to step back from stand-up after one or two more big tours and focus on producing.

• Nashville & Hometown Roots (43:49 – 45:29, 69:28 – 71:14)

  • He opened a new gym and athletic center at his old high school.
  • Favorite Nashville spots? Nate: “San Antonio Taco Company (SatCo) on 21st;” Willie: “Station Inn in the Gulch.”
  • “My high school – Donaldson Christian Academy. Graduated with 56 people and still didn’t make the basketball team. Half were girls!” – Nate (45:00)

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Family, Success, and Life Balance

• Support System: His Wife (59:00 – 59:58)

  • Nate and his wife met working at Applebee’s: she was a server, he a host.
  • “She’s been much more important than I probably realized… The only way I would even have success.” – Nate (59:18)

• Using Family & Real Life in Material (64:49 – 66:08)

  • With his daughter growing up, Nate is even more careful to ensure nothing from his act would embarrass her.
  • “I just want to get old enough so she can understand why I’d be saying [a joke about her] and that it’s not anything.” – Nate (64:56)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On SNL and confidence:
  “I knew once I got in front of a crowd, it’s gonna be great. Not everybody has my confidence; they thought I was out of my mind!” – Nate (14:01)

• On touring & overnight success:
  “It all takes very long, but then it happens very quick… you just try to stay as good as you can possibly be.” – Nate (13:19)

• On working clean:
  “I have Catholic guilt without any of the fun, and the strictness of Baptist… I walk a pretty tight line.” – Nate (31:03)

• On self-awareness:
  “You can laugh with me or at me, and it doesn’t matter.” – Nate (37:20)

• On stand-up’s process:
  “It’s like a song… an hour-long kind of song.” – Nate (66:35)

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Audience Q&A Highlights

• First realization he was funny:
  “High school party, telling a story, people start laughing… first kind of standup set I felt like I did.” (55:35)

• First time bombing:
  “Bombed for a crowd of one; another time, bombed in front of a sold-out crowd, blamed my tucked-in shirt.” (56:06)

• What keeps him going:
  “I kind of felt I was supposed to be doing this… As long as every year got a little better…” (57:46)

• Man crushes:
  Nate: Kiefer Sutherland (“He told me ‘I love you, buddy’—I don’t think he knows who I am!”) (61:38)
  Willie: Paul Rudd

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Timestamps of Major Segments

• 03:58 – Arrival of Nate, audience welcomes
• 07:14 – Vanderbilt fandom shared history
• 13:19 – Reflections on career arc, SNL host stories
• 16:23 – The “George Washington” SNL sketch
• 19:25 – Growing up with a magician father
• 22:16 – Early comedy influences, family support
• 28:19 – Getting serious about comedy; move to Chicago
• 30:18 – Decision to work clean
• 33:05 – Seinfeld, Regan, and Gaffigan as heroes
• 36:21 – Not being mean on stage, self-deprecation
• 40:10 – Career breaks: Conan and Fallon
• 47:59 – The Nateland vision: family-friendly entertainment and building the next empire
• 53:48 – Need for new young entertainment talent in Hollywood
• 59:00 – Wife’s central role in his journey
• 69:28 – Favorite Nashville places

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Tone & Atmosphere

The entire episode is casual, upbeat, and deeply funny—true to both Bargatze and Geist’s playful, self-mocking sensibilities. The live audience lends energy, while the personal stories and reflective tone offer unexpected substance behind the laughs.

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Summary prepared for listeners who want the wisdom, laughs, and warmth of Nate Bargatze and Willie Geist—without missing a beat.

Transcript

[Nate Bargatze]

I was at a Chase Sapphire lounge and I saw a burger on the menu.

[Willie Geist]

I took a bite and I was like, whoa. I think this is one of the.

[Nate Bargatze]

Best burgers I've ever had.

[Willie Geist]

Access to Sapphire Airport lounges with Chase Sapphire reserve now even more rewarding. See More [e-mail] Reserve IT cards issued by JP Morgan Chase bank and a member FDSE subject to credit approval term.

[Nate Bargatze]

Supply Cheese noches mas brigantes momentos mas.

[Willie Geist]

Intensos y tu aroma debe Desta Cartanto.

[Nate Bargatze]

Como 2 La Collection Azzaro wanted ofrese fragancias audaces calidas esensuales parada temporada the most wanted Eau de parfum intense tenu naroma magnetico deliciosamente seductor conotas de toff forever wanted Elixir combina notas e cuero.

[Willie Geist]

Y framuesas con elegancia entencidad es la.

[Nate Bargatze]

Conos dos descubre azaro y esta tempurada be wanted compraya.

[Willie Geist]

Hey, guys. Willie Geist here with a very special episode of the Sunday Sit down podcast. My thanks as always for clicking and and listening along. Boy, do I have a treat for you today. Not only is my guest the hottest standup working in the world right now, he and I also had our conversation in front of a live audience. His name is Nate Bargetze and he was the guest on our very first Sunday Sit Down Live. So what is Sunday Sit Down Live? Well, we invited you, the audience, to come sit in the room while I did one of these interviews. We held the interview at the Amazing City Winery in New York City, right on the Hudson river, one of the most beautiful venues in all of New York. They were incredible hosts to me and to Nate. And you could buy a ticket and sit in the room. And I was stunned as I met all the people who came through the door, how far they traveled. Genuinely, I thought, be some of my friends and family from New Jersey, maybe some folks from the Upper west side. If we're lucky, we get a little Brooklyn. No, people said they came from San Diego. They came from Idaho and Houston and Miami and Knoxville and pick your city. I think it was 32 different states. People came from Canada and they bought tickets to the show. They bought a plane ticket and a hotel room. So honored and humbled that people would do that. So hopefully we gave them what they paid for and then some. Because Nate, just one of the most naturally funny people that I've ever met. So we share something in Common, which is that we are fans of Vanderbilt University sports. I went to Vanderbilt. He grew up just outside of Nashville. His mom worked in the ticket office. His uncle was an announcer and a coach at Vanderbilt, so he has deep ties. So we've been Vanderbilt fans since before it was cool. Now we're having a great basketball season. Our football team was good last year, beat Alabama. It's become a little fashionable, but we go back, we've suffered. We've suffered for this success. So Nate was so generous to agree to do this in front of an audience. And boy, can you think of a better guest. A guy who stands in front of massive crowds for a living and entertains them. If you don't know, Nate is a guy who sells out arenas. He has sold out Madison Square Garden, Bridgestone arena in Nashville, literally arenas across the world. He's got a book coming out called Big Dumb Eyes with a tour to follow. He has a entertainment company that you'll hear him talk about called Nateland, which he views as something he's going to set up in Nashville and family friendly entertainment that he doesn't think is out there right now, that there's a huge audience out in the country that's not being served. He's got an incredibly successful standup special on Netflix right Now, more than 8 million views. He's hosted Saturday Night Live twice within the space of a year. October of 2023. Did that famous George Washington sketch, then came back the next Oct. October and hosted again. He was that good. So if you don't know Nate yet, you're about to get to know him. Just a great guy and a hilarious comedian. So sit back, relax and join us inside the room with the live audience at City Winery in New York City for a very special Sunday sit down with Nate Bargetzi.

[Nate Bargatze]

Thank you very much.

[Willie Geist]

Come on in, man.

[Nate Bargatze]

All right. Wow. Wow. This is it.

[Willie Geist]

Wow.

[Nate Bargatze]

This is it.

[Willie Geist]

I think they like you, Nate. I think they might.

[Nate Bargatze]

That was very nice. I think they might like you. It was, yeah. Very super cool.

[Willie Geist]

One bit that I left out of the introduction. Nate, I'm so grateful to you for doing this our first Sunday sit down live. He has been so gracious and generous with his time last night. I'll let you tell the rest of the story. There was some trouble with his flight getting here. So what did he do? He and the boys rented a van and drove from some little town in Pennsylvania to make sure they could get here tonight.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, we're the real heroes. It was in Pottstown. My buddy Pottstown, Pennsylvania. Our buddy sold Joel. He. He has a room there. He's. So when we started comedy, he was a big. He was kind of starting out making shows and booking shows for us as comics. And so he kind of kept going doing that. And we were at the beginning. We're starting. It's like, we do shows for one guy. No one would be there. And so he's got his own club now in Pottstown. And so it was going back to see him and go do that show last night, which was very fun. And then we drove all the way up in the van, and we would have made pretty good time. We had a big stop in sheets. Sheets.

[Willie Geist]

How'd you make out in sheets? All right.

[Nate Bargatze]

So I did okay until I realized that they will make milkshakes at midnight. And then it was like, well, that's going to be kind of a problem, and you can just go make the whole thing. So we were in there. I mean, a gas station on the road is. There's not much better.

[Willie Geist]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

Than just the. It's the best candy options. There's nothing in there that's not gonna give you diabetes. I mean, I think even the bananas are. Something's a little like. They got something on them that you're like, I bet that banana's not healthy. Yeah.

[Willie Geist]

What'd you go with on the. On the milkshake?

[Nate Bargatze]

So I would not normally do this. So my buddy. I wasn't gonna get a milkshake. I was trying to do the right thing. He gets a peanut butter Hershey cups milkshake. And then I'm looking at it pretty hard, and it's for him. But then he also got donuts. Like, the six donuts.

[Willie Geist]

Oh, yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

That's a good powdered. Yeah.

[Willie Geist]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

And so then he sees that I'm like. I mean, I'm eyeing it pretty hard. And he goes, you know what? You can just take it. I'm gonna do the donuts. And I was like, are you sure, dude? I was like, I don't. And then I had that.

[Willie Geist]

So did you finish it off, big boy?

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah. Yeah. It was big. Yeah, It's. They get. You get large. I mean, stuff's. It's a bucket size. I mean, I get every place I go. McDonald's, anywhere I go large. It's just the absurdness.

[Willie Geist]

They're getting larger, too, aren't they?

[Nate Bargatze]

They're getting bigger, but otherwise you got to fill it up, then drink half of it, then fill it back up before you leave.

[Willie Geist]

That's right. That's always the.

[Nate Bargatze]

I'm a big dude. I'll do that all day long.

[Willie Geist]

Absolutely.

[Nate Bargatze]

I just did it in and out. I was, yeah. I sit there. People are waiting and you just sit. I was like, let me just taste it. Let me make sure it's okay.

[Willie Geist]

Right?

[Nate Bargatze]

And they just pound half of it. And I'm like, I'm just trying it out.

[Willie Geist]

So we should clear the decks of our shared love of Vanderbilt sports.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yes. Yes. I just want to.

[Willie Geist]

I want to get it out there front and center. I remember hearing like 10. So I went to Vanderbilt. My wife did too. I remember hearing like at least 10 years ago, maybe more like there's this comedian, Nate, who's like a really big Vanderbilt fan. And I'm like, oh, cool. What year was he? And like, he didn't go. And I'm like. And I'm like, which, as you know, from the old days of Vanderbilt, not so much anymore. Was like, why, why is he. Why did he choose to root for Vanderbilt sports in the SEC now? It's, of course, the golden age of sports at Vanderbilt. We've been to Tennessee twice last week, men's and everything. So how did you come to your Vanderbilt sports, sports fandom? You are from right outside Nashville. Old Hickory.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Willie Geist]

How'd you become a Van?

[Nate Bargatze]

Well, the Titans were not there. Most of my friends were Tennessee fans, Tennessee Vol. Fans. And then my. I had a cousin, Ronnie Bargetzi. He actually coached there in the 70s. So we were. And then he was the color commentator forever. And then my mom worked in the ticket office at Vanderbilt and so it just. We just grew up with Vanderbilt and just being big Vandy fans. And it was. Yeah. And I love it. I mean, you know, being a Vandy fan, when you're going through the. The times where you're losing, you know, we'd win zero games or one game, two games a season. It was like, it's brutal. You'd be watching the guy be at the games and we would lose by. We once got two delay game penalties called back to back. And then we got the extra point blocked and lost. And you're just sitting. You're just in there. I'm like, in high school, like, I can't believe this. So now to be where we're at the night Vandy beat Alabama in football. Best night.

[Willie Geist]

This, this was a huge night because our guy was hosting SNL the same night.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, yeah, it was. Yeah, it was at a buddy. He goes, God gave you this day. Vandy beating Alabama hosted snl. I mean, I got more text about Vandy than I did snl. And it was, I, it was funny because too, they were like, hey, are you at the game? And so then I, you know, you don't want to be. You want some humility. But I had to be like, I am not. I am hosting Saturday Night Live. So I was like, I'm sorry. Yeah, yeah.

[Willie Geist]

By the way, I was at the game. I was there with my family. And as you know, being a longtime Vanderbilt fan, I swear we'll stop talking about Vanderbilt sports after this. You're waiting for the other shoe to drop. Oh, great. First half. That'll be now. They'll come, they'll wake up. And it kept going and kept going. I remember just looking down the line at these other fans and we're looking, is this happening? Are we gonna beat number one Alabama? And we did. And the goal post came down. They threw em in the Cumberland River. It was incredible. It's incredible.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah. Craz.

[Willie Geist]

I think our New York audience is like, what are you talking about now?

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, yeah. Anyway, it's like, I mean, but it would be like being a Mets fan, like, it's like, you know, you're just that there's like something that's you're not, you know.

[Willie Geist]

Yes.

[Nate Bargatze]

Y' all have won more than we have the Maddie. We would dream to be the Mets. I hope we get to that level. But it's, you know, it's like, that's the fun part of like rooting for that team. That's like they're not always gonna win. And then when they get on these runs, you're like, well, it's fun. Greatest times of my life.

[Willie Geist]

Got a good coach now. Everything's going well. So I, I gave you that big introduction and I was sort of laughing. I introduced Jerry Seinfeld one time at an event and we were backstage like that and he goes, hey. And he hits me on. He goes, don't do the whole thing with. It's the greatest show of all time.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Willie Geist]

Just say, Jerry Seinfeld, ladies and gentlemen. I don't need a built up. Yeah, I did the opposite there.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Willie Geist]

I gave him the whole show. I gave him all of it. And you deserve it. But when, when you hear all those things laid out in one place and all the things you've done in the last couple of years and knowing where you started and how long a road it has been to get here, what does this moment feel like in your life?

[Nate Bargatze]

I mean, it's hard to take it just honestly. It doesn't feel like it's happening to you, so you just kind of like. I mean, I was even back there, I was like, I don't know what anybody would want to hear me say. It's hard to imagine, you know, you go through, you know, you starting out and you're doing comedy and you're doing shows for one person to eight people. Like, it's just this long, long buildup, and then. So it all takes very long, but then it happens very quick. So, like, then it took, you know, 20 years to. Then the last two years or whatever have been just, like, you know, shot out of a cannon, which it was. It been good because I was able to be way more prepared for what I was doing.

[Willie Geist]

Right.

[Nate Bargatze]

Where if I would have been, you know, shot out of the cannon too early, it's like, then you're not gonna really know what to do. You get thrown into stuff. So it's a blessing. Not that I wanted to be shot of cannon early. Trust me, I was trying for early, but for it happening later. Yeah, it just kind of feels like it's like that imposter feeling where you just go when you're at an arena and I'm like, I can't imagine they're here to see me. Like, I don't know who they're here to. You know, you think, well, I could just walk around because I feel like I'm just them. So it's. Yeah, it's a lot to take in. I think maybe you take it in later at another time, or maybe we can sit back and really be like, oh, yeah, I can't believe right now you're just kind of, like, in it. And you just try to stay as good as you can possibly be.

[Willie Geist]

You did SNL twice in a year, which doesn't happen. You hosted.

[Nate Bargatze]

Thanks.

[Willie Geist]

You hosted October of 23 and then again October of 24th. Yeah, that just doesn't happen because the first one went so well. And we've got to talk about Washington's dream, which I think you would agree, just, like, took you to another place.

[Nate Bargatze]

Took it to a whole nother level.

[Willie Geist]

And I didn't realize till I was reading more about you because it has already become this iconic SNL sketch that it didn't play that well. Like, in the table read on Wednesdays at snl, they read through. It wasn't really hitting, but you kind of fought for it because you thought it was fun.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, I thought it was. It was. I knew it'd be funny because, I mean, I'm so Used to. I only perform in front of live audiences, so I, I could tell, like when you're reading it in like just a table read, it's like, it's not getting a ton of laughs. I'm also not bringing, you know, the most because it's kind of awkward. And so I was like, well, once I get in front of people, like, it's going to be fine. And not everybody bully, you know, not everybody has my confidence. They're like, this guy's out of his mind. He basically probably shouldn't even be hosting this show. And. But it was like on this, when you go up to the Lauren's office and you're looking at, seeing you have all the sketches lined up, you have a lot more say than you think, which is the crazy part, because he really is. He's really unbelievable. And he's like, you tell me what you want to do. And you're like, Lauren, you have been doing this for 50 years. I don't want to blow the whole system up because you're asking me to be like, let me tell you what I think. But that one was like on the fence of maybe. And I was like, I would like to try that one. And he was like, all right. And then we put it last in dress rehearsal. And I mean, I honestly really was like, oh, once I get in front of a crowd, like, it's gonna be great. And then. Cause it was the most like my standup kinda like it's kind of just doing stand up, I'm just telling jokes. And then so we did a dress rehearsal and it destroyed. And then they moved it up. And so then it became what it all became. But Streeter Sidell and Mikey Day wrote that I had nothing to do with the writing. A lot of people think I did. They wrote it.

[Willie Geist]

And. So the writing was perfect, but the execution was too. Which is your.

[Nate Bargatze]

Thank you. That's what I tell them. I go, the writing was great, but excuse was better.

[Willie Geist]

That's good.

[Nate Bargatze]

I say that to Streeter Mikey. I go, that was the best part of the whole thing.

[Willie Geist]

But it's because George Washington is supposed to be this guy standing on the front of a boat crossing the Delaware. And you were just kind of like, you know, like you just, you know, we're going to do. We're going to try the metric system. It's not going to work. Like, you got all the. And so after you. That blew up and it's got all these views online. Could you feel something happening in your life?

[Nate Bargatze]

That was the first like, kind of mainstream thing.

[Willie Geist]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

So where I was at in my career, we were already. We were kind of at the point where I was doing arenas, where you would have the stage at the end. But it was. It was all my career has been very word of mouth. It's been very. Just people like you that have just said, come watch this guy next time he's in town. And so it's been this kind of very organic kind of thing. So there hasn't been just like a. There hasn't been this sudden, like, just large leap. And so for that, when I did snl. So I knew when I was going on snl, I knew I'm going to an audience, a mainstream audience that's probably not going to really know who I am, even though I could be selling arenas out. You know, it's like when you hear some young musician that's like, they sell arenas, you're like, I don't even know that person's name. And so it was like a somewhat version of that. So I knew, like, all right, well, I have to go do the best I can do. And so we went and I did it. And then, you know, ended up becoming. We had to reschedule shows because of it. And, like, for Indianapolis, we were doing the arena there, and we had to reschedule it for July or. Yeah. For like, the next year. And we added a whole nother show. So that's how much you could tell is, like, the schedule, the show that we had to reschedule, we added a show. That's how much it took off.

[Willie Geist]

And that's all. Right after snl.

[Nate Bargatze]

That was just right after snl and we went to adding second arenas, and we. The stage is in the middle of the arena now, which fits more people. And so it just really, like, took it to this level where we were adding the shows. And I mean, you're still feeling this next tour. We're already adding shows, and I mean, it's still. It's not gonna be till the fall.

[Willie Geist]

I was telling you, I was looking at your tour.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Willie Geist]

I was looking at your tour schedule for the new tour. You start early April, and you have a couple days off somewhere in there, but you basically go through till Christmas.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Willie Geist]

And you start in Norway and you end in Nashville.

[Nate Bargatze]

Oh, yeah.

[Willie Geist]

Which sort of speaks to your appeal.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Willie Geist]

What is a show in Norway like for you?

[Nate Bargatze]

I went. We went there two years ago. Oslo. You know, you find the people that speak the English, you're not playing. I'm not in an arena there yeah, this would be like, a dream venue for me. And, like, Oslo of them will be like, I'm killing it right now. You go, yeah, but it's going over there. Just like having your presence be there. It's kind of what you do in America. You go to every city and you just kind of keep coming back and keeping back. So when you go over to international, it's kind of the same thing. You got to go over there. And then, you know, you'd be in front of 300 people. You could be in front of a thousand. Like, London would be like 2,000 people. Then it's, you know, Belgium is, you know, 150 people, like, and you just slowly. It's just like a mix. It really. It takes you back to the old days where you just. You go from, like, this, all this crazy arena to just, like a regular room.

[Willie Geist]

I want to go back to Old Hickory. Growing up in Tennessee, which is 30 minutes outside Nashville. Is that about right?

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Willie Geist]

Yeah. And where the genesis of this comedy thing for you, where your dad is, famously a magician, has opened for you on tour. A performer, a live performer.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, yeah, Bill.

[Willie Geist]

Love you, dad.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah. He's done over 100 shows with me. And look, that's every little boy's dream. Travel with your dad when you're 45 years old. So who doesn't love that? You know how to get a CPAP machine hooked up in the tour bus, but.

[Willie Geist]

Not exactly Motley Crue on the tour bus.

[Nate Bargatze]

If people knew. If people knew the amount of CPAPs were on that bus, they. You would see the bus and be like, I bet they're having fun. You're like, there's nothing happening. Everybody's already alone in their beds, tucking in early. Tucking in early, yeah.

[Willie Geist]

Hey, guys, thanks for listening to the Sunday Sit down podcast. Stick around to hear more from Nate Bargetzi. Right after the break, a sapphire reserve story from Ben Stiller.

[Nate Bargatze]

People who want to get into entertainment always ask me for advice. And after shooting Severance for Apple tv, I basically have a simple answer. Don't work with goats. They don't take direction. They eat your shoes. They're emotionally distant. I mean, I used to think certain actors were difficult, but goats are worse.

[Willie Geist]

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[Nate Bargatze]

Try angel stuff for your tushy. It's made by angels Soft and strong. Budget friendly. The choice is simple. A roll that feels like paradise and always at a heavenly prize. Angel soft. Angel soft.

[Willie Geist]

Soft and strong.

[Nate Bargatze]

So it simple.

[Willie Geist]

Pick up a pack today.

[Nate Bargatze]

Angel soft, soft and strong Simple.

[Willie Geist]

Welcome back. Now more of my conversation with Nate Bargetzi. So when did you start to get turned on to comedy or when did you sort of think, oh, I like a crowd or I like comedy, I like to be funny. When was that?

[Nate Bargatze]

I would, I mean at the very beginning, I remember being young and I would tell, my dad always said I told a joke like in a joke book when I was five. And it was the joke was the, the waiters or a guy goes, hey, there's a fly in my soup. And the waiter says, well, the spider on your toast will eat it. Or it was something along those lines. But I was like explaining, my dad always tells us, I don't but I was explaining the joke to him like why that was funny. And my dad always did magic. He did comedy in his magic. And that's where it kind of set him apart from a lot of magicians is because a lot of it's not, they're not comedic really with it. And so I was around that and being around him. And I think my timing obviously comes from my dad. And so being around all that stuff was just, it just slowly was like I wanted to do this. I didn't think I really wanted to do magic. But we would see some stand up and I would always just have in the back of my mind like you want to do, you know, I think I want to just be a stand up comedian. And it's solely just, you know, I mean, fortunately, no, there wasn't an education route that was heading in a direction. There was, I wasn't like going, you know, it wasn't like I was up for law school. I was anything that I was doing, college, any of it was like basically yeah, dude, go try something. Like, all my jobs, I can go back to every job I've had. I could show up tomorrow, and they'd be like, there's nothing new I have to learn. Like, it's the same. As long as we're still lifting with our legs, I'm good. So I was able to take a chance. And my parents were fortunately, very, very, like. So I got. I never had them being like, what are you doing? Or, why would you do this? And so they were just very supportive and was like, yeah, and go for it. And then. And then when I was lived here in New York, my dad would have. He would have magician friends come by because I would stand on a corner and hand out flyers. That's how you get on stage to try to get the audience. So I would hand out flyers, and then at the end of the night, we would get to go up for, like, five minutes. But my dad would have magician friends without me knowing, like, check. Watching me to make sure I wasn't just, like, doing nothing. You know, he's just, like, keeping an eye on, like, I just want to know that he's out there. Do you see him on the corner? And it's like, yeah, he's on the corner. You know, it makes her.

[Willie Geist]

That's sweet in a way, isn't it?

[Nate Bargatze]

Keep an eye on you. Well, I mean, I blew, you know, probably $800 from community college money. I can't imagine my loan was. I don't know if I had it. It was like 50 bucks gave cash. And so it was. Yeah, it was like just, hey, he's doing it. And then he's like, yeah, yeah, he's doing it. So it was. Yeah. And then they were just more supportive with him.

[Willie Geist]

As you've said in your standup, you did go to college for a minute and decided it wasn't for you. And then you start going. There's an unbelievable story you tell in the new special in your friend Nate Bargetzi about being a water meter reader.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Willie Geist]

Have you all seen that? It seemed like a simple job until you were called upon to defend the nation.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, they just asked us, and it was. We went out. It was all real. We stood out in water tanks of Wilson County.

[Willie Geist]

This is after 9 11, right? After 9 11. What did your boss tell you after?

[Nate Bargatze]

We got to defend our water. And if I don't, like, it's fun to tell it because everybody that's older remembers the whole country was very scared. And so it's like, oh, they're Going to poison our water. And so they just had us go out there, just a bunch of 20 year old idiots just sitting out there. And they. I mean, they were real big on, you can't drink. There's all. You can't. Don't bring weapons. They did tell us, I think they told because we were in the south with like, you know, people like, I'll bring all the weapons. And we just would sit out. You just would spend the night out there and wait for like a field. Yeah.

[Willie Geist]

You'd be in a field.

[Nate Bargatze]

Just in a. It's just a field, no light. And they had a little trailer thing. And we would just sit out there and just like, prepare to get into a war with terrorism. We were gonna stop it because they were gonna poison our water.

[Willie Geist]

I love that you were the last line of defense of Al Qaeda.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Willie Geist]

If Al Qaeda showed up, it was up to you.

[Nate Bargatze]

It was gonna be.

[Willie Geist]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

I'.

[Willie Geist]

Let me just. Let me just say in front of this crowd, thank you for your service.

[Nate Bargatze]

Thank you, thank you. I appreciate it. I appreciate it.

[Willie Geist]

Your journey is amazing. The road you've traveled and you've traveled so much of it with your wonderful wife.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yes.

[Willie Geist]

Who's been. You've been together for a long time. You met, I believe, correct me if I'm wrong, working together at Applebee's, right? Yes.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Willie Geist]

She was a server. You were the host. Is that right?

[Nate Bargatze]

That is right.

[Willie Geist]

And she has said since she didn't think you had the stuff to be a server.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Willie Geist]

You were better served just standing.

[Nate Bargatze]

I was like, host. Like, I just need a little interaction. Yeah. I didn't need to be super involved in their, in their eating journey. Like, that was. I just needed to get him to a seat and then be like, I need to probably back out of here. And y'. All. And y' all take it from here.

[Willie Geist]

Yeah, it was better for everybody.

[Nate Bargatze]

It was better for everybody. Yeah. Yeah.

[Willie Geist]

So when did. So you're at that point. You've. You've tried the water meter. You've worked at Applebee's, You've met the woman who's going to be your wife. When do you really get serious about comedy? Like, I'm going to pursue this as a career.

[Nate Bargatze]

It was with the water meter reader. I mean, I still was thinking about it. I wrote my 10 where I'll be in 10 years in high school when he wrote that. I did write I want to perform at Zany's, which is Nashville's local club. So it was, it was very much seeped in my mind to do this. I don't really. I didn't really know how to start. Like, I didn't really know what to go do. And so I was reading water meters, and I had another buddy, Michael Clay, and he worked, and he wanted to go to Second City in Chicago. And so I was like, I think I needed that. Like, just someone that's like, I'll do this. Do you want to go try this? And we had another buddy, Trey, that kind of was like. He knew Michael wanted to do that, and he knew I kind of wanted to do stand up. So he was like, y' all should go do this. And. Which was very. Just encouraging to be like, y' all go out there. Do it. So then it was like, all right, well, let's go try it. And then we kind of. The water. I started thinking about it a lot. I started, you know, delivered pizzas at night. I was just trying to save up some money to. To be able to get to Chicago and, you know, and kind of get started. And there. I took a comedy class and then just was kind of in that whole scene.

[Willie Geist]

Started improv. Decided that wasn't for you. Exactly.

[Nate Bargatze]

It was. I did, like, eight weeks of it. The thing I knew pretty quickly, I knew even from the beginning that I was going to work clean. So with improv, it's thank. So with improv, you got to go with wherever they're going to go, because it's. Everybody's kind of doing it. And when everybody's new, it's like, people are going to be dirty because that's just. They don't. You're starting out. And so I was like. I didn't. I was going. I knew I was going to be put in positions that I didn't want to be put in, and I didn't like. So I was like, I just need to do it on my own. So then I'm more, you know, then I'm in full control of where it's going to go. And so then that's when I was. I kind of, like. He stayed and did, like, a whole year class or whatever, and then I went and started doing standup.

[Willie Geist]

I love hearing you say that you made a decision early to work clean, which has obviously worked out for you. What was behind that? Was that your upbringing was that you thought it was funnier if you had to work within some parameters or what was the.

[Nate Bargatze]

It was my upbringing. I mean, you know, we're a Southern Christian, like, family. Like, my parents would. I have jokes about it. My Parents were the most Christian when I was born, so I never wanted to embarrass them. I didn't want them to come to a show and or them to say, go watch my son and be embarrassed. And so I wrote everything I wrote, I write for them. And like I just want. Yeah.

[Willie Geist]

It's.

[Nate Bargatze]

It kind of, it helps too because you're kind of writing for two people instead of writing for thousands of people. So it's all very specific. Like you're writing to be, you know, I mean we grew up Baptist and I mean that's the strictest on the world. You can't do. And my parents are raised Catholic, so. And then they went to Baptist. So I have Catholic guilt without any of the fun and then the strictness of Baptist. So I mean, I got a line I make myself walk is pretty tight. It's pretty tight.

[Willie Geist]

So how did you develop your style then? Okay, you know what, I'm gonna work clean. If I saw you doing those early gigs, Chicago or when you moved to New York, is it similar to what I'm seeing now in sold out arenas?

[Nate Bargatze]

I mean now it's got. That's what this is what I love about stand up and is if you go listen to my old stuff, it's some stories, but it's more joke form. And then the longer you get, the more longer the stories get. And so it's just really changed. And I hope like when I've done, it's like you go look at the beginning, you kind of watch it like a show. Like you can just go to the. Here's the beginning. Here's me before I married. Here's having a kid. Here's all these steps that you go through. But if you have. You went to the beginning. I mean I was always clean at the beginning. I never. You never want it to be about that. Like it's. That's the one thing when clean comics you're just kind of like, you know, you would get sometimes put in a category and so you just kind of like. I would do shows at midnight and they're uncensored shows and all this and I just would, you know, you just kind of just do your thing and not really hope no one notices. But the joke. Yeah, like I was gonna get. They're go mad. This guy's not cursing. That's what I think they're gonna say. They never were. And I'm like, this guy was too clean. It's 12:30. He should be living it up.

[Willie Geist]

But you had people to look up to it had success. Seinfeld Werks Clean Giant.

[Nate Bargatze]

Seinfeld.

[Willie Geist]

Yeah. Who are your other comedy heroes?

[Nate Bargatze]

Seinfeld. Brian Regan. Brian Regan was. Yeah, he. He was the first. My. My dad got me his cd, Brian Regan Live. And so it was the. He was the first one that I heard. When I heard his cd, it's. I was. It was the funniest thing I've ever heard. And so it was my. It's your opening to going, like. Because all you really know is Seinfeld. Like, you only know kind of the famous ones. And then. So then you hear his. And I was like, my dad pulled. Had to pull. He was driving, and he had to pull the car over because he was laughing so hard. And so it was like. That was when you're like, well, that's what I want to make people do. I want. You want them to be laughing that hard where they're like, can't they have to stop for a second? And so first time I heard Brian Regan, I mean, I was like, I don't. This guy should be the most famous guy on the planet. Like, it's unbelievable. And so once you get into that, then you obviously come to New York and you see Gaffigan, and then I see other comics. Gaffigan's another big one. Yeah, Gaffigan, he writes more than anybody. I mean, he just did his, like, maybe 11th hour special, and it's unbelievable the amount that he just keeps able to turn it out material. It's very, very hard to write an hour material. And so the fact where he's done it and now getting to know him and, you know, gotten close with him, it's. It's. You know, it's. I mean, it's awesome. It's awesome to get advice and talk to him about things. And so my ride. Because we have the same management, same team, so my writer was always his writer. It's like, you just get hand me downs. Like, I would be at these shows, and there's just sandwich meat. I'm like, I've never. I never asked for this. And they're like, we just gave what Gafkin asked for. And then his was like from John Panett or something. So we just kept getting everybody's writer that goes down. And my dad would always eat the sandwiches. Cause he felt bad. He's like, I think we have to eat all these sandwiches, making five sandwiches.

[Willie Geist]

I love Gafkin. Sidebar on Gafkin. He's been on Sunday Today. It was during COVID and we were doing all our interviews on Zoom, when it was kind of frustrating, you missed this kind of interaction. And so Gaffigan called up and said, hey, let's go do an interview. We'll just do it outside. And I said, okay, what are we going to do? Let's go cross country skiing. And I said, I don't know how to cross country ski.

[Nate Bargatze]

Do you?

[Willie Geist]

He goes, a little bit. So we went to a park in Westchester, the two of us, these two goons on cross country skis. And he wasn't good at all.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Willie Geist]

But he was, like, selling, like, this is my new discovery in Covid.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Willie Geist]

And I finally said. I said, you have no idea what you're doing, dude. He goes, okay. He goes, I can tell you the truth now. I've just been coming to do this to get away from my children. So he'd just go out in the park by himself during COVID and he didn't. Still didn't know how to do it. He was terrible.

[Nate Bargatze]

I like that he brought you and was like, yeah, yeah, yeah. And it was all cross country skiing. Does look like you're like, well, how hard could that be? Yeah. And I bet it's pretty hard.

[Willie Geist]

Unlike downhill skiing. It's not fun either.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, yeah.

[Willie Geist]

It's just work.

[Nate Bargatze]

It's. It's the hassle.

[Willie Geist]

It's just work.

[Nate Bargatze]

It's just the hassle of skiing. Yeah.

[Willie Geist]

There's no hill. It's just you doing the work. So I, I. When you were talking about making your parents proud, I think one of the things you also stick with is not being mean on stage. And that could sound like, Pollyannish, but it's not. It's you making yourself the joke. Always.

[Nate Bargatze]

I don't even know what that word means, so. Because. Pretty good. Pretty good word. That's good is that. I feel like that's one of the. Isn't that a hotel at Disney? Like, don't they have, like.

[Willie Geist]

It's a. It's a Vandy word. It's a vandy.

[Nate Bargatze]

Because they don't teach us that at community college. They were like, yeah, you go worry about this word, all right?

[Willie Geist]

It'll never come up.

[Nate Bargatze]

It'll never come up. This word will never come up. They go, only if you talk to Willie, guys. If you meet Willie, they said your.

[Willie Geist]

Name specifically, and this here, and here it is.

[Nate Bargatze]

And I should have been prepared.

[Willie Geist]

We'll talk offline. We'll walk you through. But you always make yourself the joke, even when you're talking about your wife or your daughter, the joke is Always on you, right?

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah. Well, I did learn very early because when I would do stuff about my wife, it's if you only did it one sided, it would come. People would just be like, well, it sounds like you shouldn't be married.

[Willie Geist]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

And so you kind of go like, all right, well, I have to like. Because that's not the point. And then so you're like, you have to find a balance where you're kind of able to go back and forth where you need to be the joke. And I, you know, like, I would sit in front rows of comedy shows when I first started. I never wanted to be picked on or I never like, you know, and I just don't want to be. I don't want anybody, honestly, I don't want anybody to think I'm ever better than them or better than me. I'm nobody. And so it's like, I just was like, I'll make, I'll make fun of me. You can laugh with me or laugh at me and it doesn't matter. And you keep it like kind of contained here. I think you can say a lot more stuff too, because it's. I just get to talk about myself. I'm not really making fun of someone else where it could be mean. It's like I think people, you know, just relate to it and self deprecating is very fun to do.

[Willie Geist]

And the great thing about great comedy, which you do so well, is you tell us something about ourselves. Like, I like to read. But when you talk about reading, it's so true. No, it's so true that it is the most word.

[Nate Bargatze]

They just, it doesn't get into it. You go, I don't even know what we're doing, dude. They should have a book that when you start the book, you go. If you want, go ahead and go to page 40. Because I think some people want the whole journey. But then some of us are like, if you want to get in the thick of it, that's the first thing should be like, go ahead to.

[Willie Geist]

We don't need all those character development.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, yeah. It's like, well, when you start talking about your childhood, you're like, oh God. You're like, just. Where's the. You know, it's just, how do I get off sugar? That's all I'm trying to read.

[Willie Geist]

All of us have turned and hoped for that blank page from time to time. Just for the breathing. As you say, to get your head above water.

[Nate Bargatze]

Get your head above water.

[Willie Geist]

You got to.

[Nate Bargatze]

Which I would.

[Willie Geist]

The.

[Nate Bargatze]

You mentioned the Book. The book will have some blank pages.

[Willie Geist]

It will. Thank you.

[Nate Bargatze]

It's all blank pages.

[Willie Geist]

You're really leading a movement of non readers. And I think that's.

[Nate Bargatze]

You need a break. You need a break.

[Willie Geist]

So, Nate, when to you feels like the break Breakthrough moment. I know you've talked about being on Conan or being on different comedy shows on tv. When did you start to feel like, all right, man, I've been at this for a long time. Here comes the first.

[Nate Bargatze]

Anyway, the first foot of all NBC, it was Conan. Conan was the first time, like, didn't do late night with Conan. Another big. Was Fallon. Fallon was like, where you had this big leap. Comedy Central was a big, big deal for us too. Commercial. That's what is rough now for, like, comics. Starting now. Comic Central had a really good system where it was like, you would do live at Gotham, eight minute kind of set, and then you would do a half hour set, then you do an hour set. And so they really developed comedians. And there's not a ton of that anymore now, but it's. It was Conan. Then Fallon saw me. There's a comedy club here called the Standard. And Fallon came in one day randomly and just happened to see me. And then he asked me to do late night with Fallon. And then our relationship built from there. So Fallon was a big. He was a big person to get my name in the circles of the industry, I guess. Like, we developed a show together. None of this. It didn't go. But it was. I was still. My name was very associated with his day and. Which played into the snl. Which. The snl. And like, Lauren giving me that chance at that moment, that was the. It was. Those two moments were kind of the big, big, like, leaps where we. You went to another level.

[Willie Geist]

And now what's cool is you and Lauren are kind of producing buddies. You did the great Christmas special in Nashville, which is a lot of. And as we talk about the climb and the journey and full circle moments, you're doing this huge network special with all these stars that has your name on the door. A place where I think you worked for a little while.

[Nate Bargatze]

Randall Opry.

[Willie Geist]

You worked at the Opry?

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, we used to have a theme park. So they had Opryland theme park. And I worked there. My dad worked there too, as a magician, and so we did that. And so to be able to perform there at the Grand Orb, they knocked it down for a mall. But I'm gonna get it back. I'm gonna figure out. I'm still. I didn't Love that. But it was. Yeah, I worked there. I was a sweeper. Like, you know, it was my first job. I was 15, and I swept up the park and I worked in the dog kennel where dog. And a dog got out, so. Oh, yeah.

[Willie Geist]

They fire you for that or.

[Nate Bargatze]

No, I mean, they don't. You know, it was. I left the door open. It was big, and they had to call him over the speaker, and they were pretty upset.

[Willie Geist]

They called the dog over the speaker?

[Nate Bargatze]

No, the dog went and got under the car. So then we couldn't get it. We're trying to get it without calling the people. Best case scenario is that these people should never know their German shepherd got out. But it got under a car. And then you gotta announce it over the speaker. And, you know, you're like, hey, hey, this family. Could you come back to the dog kennel? Which can't be good news. No, you're not going to come back and be like, your dog's killing it, something's up. And we're like, your dog's in parking lot C over there. If y' all could help us get it out. Like, how do you get out? You're like, you know, the door was open for some reason. I don't. You know, I don't know. I'm 15. That's how I got out. I don't know what I'm doing. Yeah.

[Willie Geist]

Did we get the dog back?

[Nate Bargatze]

We got the dog. Dog's fine.

[Willie Geist]

Okay, great.

[Nate Bargatze]

Dog's fine.

[Willie Geist]

Dog's good. Thank God. Thank God. But that's. What a cool, you know, journey then, to, like, do the show at the Opry. Another one of those, which I love, is you recently opened a new gym and athletic center at your high school that they put his name on.

[Nate Bargatze]

Right? Yeah.

[Willie Geist]

And you. You tried to play ball there.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, I did.

[Willie Geist]

Did we ever make it, or.

[Nate Bargatze]

No, no. I got cut all four years, by the way. First year, my dad was assistant coach, and he. I still got cut. He got the ball.

[Willie Geist]

Your dad cut you?

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah. And then from that, we had a different coach, and then I got cut all four years. I. Look, I don't know if I took it the most serious. I think I should have made the team. I played for my church. I. After that, I did pretty good in church basketball, so I think I could have made the team one year.

[Willie Geist]

What was your game like, Scrappy point guard like?

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, just, you know, distributor. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Giving it out. But, you know, it was. You know, it was really good from the elbow, the free throw. Line. I was like. That was my. I was like, don't. That's what I would tell them. Don't let me get to the elbow. You don't want me at the elbow. Is what played on carpet, too. So your traction was great.

[Willie Geist]

Carpet at the church.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah. You could play in any kind of shoot because you had the most traction. You would break ankles. It's literally your ankle would break because your feet would get stuck and they don't move. And then. So, yeah, so then when my high school, I loved. I loved my high school, Donaldson Christian Academy, and I graduated with 56 people, which I get made for them, too. They're like, you still didn't make the team with that.

[Willie Geist]

And half of them were girls.

[Nate Bargatze]

Is. Yeah. I mean, half the school's girls. So you're like. It was. Yeah.

[Willie Geist]

Wow.

[Nate Bargatze]

It was a tough one. But, you know, my high school is my only alumni, and so it's. Yeah, yeah, it was. They got. I got a jersey, so actually, I did finally get a jersey. I got a jersey just last week. And now your name's on. So I let things go. Clearly.

[Willie Geist]

And.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah. So now, yeah, I think I'm on the team.

[Willie Geist]

Very cool. Stick around for more of my conversation with Nate Bargetzi, right after a quick break. Courage is the new currency in this country. I'm Sky Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, where our team of lawyers is fighting in court every day for you, for your rights, and for our democracy. The Trump Vance administration wants us to be exhausted and divided. But when people come together and speak out, courage becomes contagious. And that is how change happens. We've already won cases to defend people and communities, all free of charge. But ahead of 2026, we need you beside us. Join the [e-mail] with Plan B.

[Nate Bargatze]

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[Willie Geist]

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[Willie Geist]

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[Nate Bargatze]

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[Willie Geist]

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[Nate Bargatze]

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[Willie Geist]

Find [e-mail] cashplus offered by Vanguard Marketing Corporation member Finra and SIPC. Welcome back now to the rest of my conversation with Nate Bargetze. Another cool thing you're doing is this Nateland? Can I throw out the word empire or. We're starting an empire. Yeah, you've already. You got the podcast. You're doing a bunch of stuff under the Nateland company, but I think it sounds to me like you're trying to really make Nashville like a comedy town. Right?

[Nate Bargatze]

Well, a comedy town, but I also. Naetland, I. It's. I envision. I don't know. It sounds crazy, but it's like, you know, you could be another Disney. Like, it's another. It's. I. It seems. It's stupid, but it's. I think I can just tell. I travel on the road a lot. I think entertainment you see with Hollywood, like, they're. They're. It's very much detached from what people want to see, and I think that's become more and more. And I. And when you go on the road, you can. You can feel that and see that. That people are not making stuff for families to even go to. Like, you can't watch. Commercials are brutal now. Like, I mean, you'd be sitting with your daughter watching a football game. There's commercials that you're like, I don't want to have to explain. Yeah, we're just seeing this stuff. There's just a lot of that, and so there's not much. You. I don't think there's stuff for people to watch, even as a family, like, you. I mean, you have this show. You have. Like, that's what people are watching if they're gonna watch anything together or. You don't have to be worried if your kids are in the room or something. So the idea with Nateland was to. We're hopefully gonna be making some movies, but I want you to be able to see. If you see Nateland, you can know you might not like it. It might not be, you know, but you can at least trust that. I'm not going to try. I'm trying to do my best to not make you. I want you all to watch it as a family. I want you to be able to go. And, yeah, they, like, they're. Because, like, people still. They think they want to go. You know, they're like, well, no one goes to the movie theaters. We do want to go to them. There's nothing you're not making it where we can bring our whole fan. Like, there's nothing funner than we saw. Moana was my daughter's first movie. Well, I want to go watch her watch a movie for the first time. Like, that's the best. And then you want to go like, the, you know, Home Alones are not getting made anymore. Like, these movies that you go. We all go back to and watch, that's when you go see. You see Netflix and you see any of the stuff. And the best show. The shows that are the most are Friends and these sitcoms. Raymond, Everybody Loves Raymond, Seinfeld. Look, you're. I honestly think your system's kind of broken. If you haven't created another one of those, you shouldn't. I mean, you. You can't even compete. And I just don't think they have, you know, their. Everybody. That's right. You know, it's interesting. I have a whole. I'm gonna. Yeah, so.

[Willie Geist]

But that's why we're here, man.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, it's. Sorry. Sorry. But it's interesting show business. The show business is very. Still pretty new. Like, Elvis's birthday was just here. He would be 90. Ideally, you think Elvis should be 180. That was yesterday. Was Elvis. So this is all very kind of new and rapid. Standup comedy as an art form is still very new and still like, you know, as where you kind of see it as today. Not that comedy's not been around, but all this stuff is still very new. And so then the people that were making decisions with, you know, I mean, like, Charlie chaplin died in 74. Like, there's people that are in Hollywood that knew Charlie Chaplin, and you don't think that that should be happening. But those people. Sometimes people don't get out of the way, and so they kind of stay and then they. You don't really. We got a problem with. You're not developing any younger talent, so you're not the new people coming up. You're not letting them get. You got to get out of the way. There's a point where people get to a certain level. You kind of got to get out of the way because there needs to be more people kind of coming. That's where you're seeing like, even like a Timothee Chalamet where you have that guy come up that's kind of like, yeah, he needs to be a younger movie star. You need that kind of thing for your business to thrive. It can't just be the kind of same thing. And so when everybody's creating New stuff. It's like, that's why there's a lot of making the twos and threes and fours. And you're just. Because you're like, there should be another Star Wars. It shouldn't be. Not that Star Wars. There should be another. What is Star Wars? It should. You should have someone that comes in and goes, here's a different idea. And make another Star Wars. You shouldn't rely on Star wars for the next hundred years. Like, you should have other stuff. And I love Star Wars. It's not anything against Star wars, but it's There, there. You just need to. I don't know. I think it gets lazy where people. You don't want to go really look for new people, and you need to go do that. And I mean, hopefully I. I need to. I know what I need to do as Day Land, honestly, I got to get it. I got to get some movies going. I got to get all this stuff to build up. But my plan is to step away. I have. I don't. I'm not going to do. Stand up the way we're doing it. I see this tour. Maybe one more tour, maybe. But I. Well, that's. I know, but I know it goes. I know that sounds like crazy, but you got to get out. I got to get out of the way. It's you. It's. It can't. I can't sit here and just go do this stuff and not let. There's someone else. There needs to be someone else. And so I. And I won't. And I'm not planning on, like, being gone, but I just need to, like, then do some movies. Then I need to get out of the way. And I don't need to be in these movies. I need to find other. I want to be a part of them. I want. The idea with Nateland is like, I'll make sure that everything has what I think should be on it, but we need to have other younger people that are starting and starring in this that people can grow up with. So when they're 50, you know, it's like they're. They have their own Tom Hanks and they have their own, you know, whoever Eddie Murphy and whatever you need. But it's like, it can't be. You know, it's like, that's why I just see a hole.

[Willie Geist]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

And that's the idea with Nae Land is you just kind of see in Nashville is perfectly kind of becoming a city that's really kind of blowing up. And we do have a great local Comedy scene there and a lot of comics doing it. But I. I think it's like you can. You know, I don't know. You can. There's a. There's just such a. I see it from stand up. I mean, you're seeing how many people are coming out just from talking. So imagine if you made movies for them, like, how many people would come watch that stuff. And so it's. You know, I think there's just a big gap. And so that's the. Hopefully you'd better feel that.

[Willie Geist]

I cannot wait to see what you turn out.

[Nate Bargatze]

I know.

[Willie Geist]

This is gonna be fun.

[Nate Bargatze]

Thank you.

[Willie Geist]

But by the way, the good news on Nate saying he's been stopped touring is the Rolling Stone said that in 1978.

[Nate Bargatze]

Go. Yeah. And then they toured for out there. Like, I'll still be.

[Willie Geist]

Yeah, you're fine.

[Nate Bargatze]

Jamming out. Yeah.

[Willie Geist]

All right. Our time is short and I want to make sure we get to some of your audience questions. I know, right?

[Nate Bargatze]

No, we got. No, we got some time.

[Willie Geist]

We're going to read your question.

[Nate Bargatze]

Thank you very much. You guys are very nice. Thank you.

[Willie Geist]

I'm gonna put on my turning 50 next year. I'm gonna put on my reader. Oh, no. This year. This year.

[Nate Bargatze]

This year.

[Willie Geist]

This year. This year.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yikes.

[Willie Geist]

All right. Again, where you all have traveled from, I'm blown away by. This is from Julie of Milton, Georgia. Are you in here, Julie? No. Okay.

[Nate Bargatze]

She left right there. That. Oh, right here. I honestly wish you left. Like, that would be very. But she goes, I gotta get out.

[Willie Geist]

Like, she goes, we sort of touched on this. But when did you realize you were funny? Was it that joke when you were five?

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, yeah, I think. And then also in high school, I was like at a party and I told was just ranting about some story and it was getting a lot of laughs. And so that was like the first kind of stand up set I felt like I did so that I could tell that it was like I was funny and, you know, and then that's when I started pursuing it.

[Willie Geist]

Those laughs are addictive, aren't they? You go, oh, I want that again.

[Nate Bargatze]

There's nothing. It's the best thing ever. Yeah. Yeah.

[Willie Geist]

Okay. This is from Alexander from New York City. Alexander asks, tell us about the first time you bombed on stage.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, I mean, you bomb a lot at the beginning. You're doing shows. I mean, once we did a show for one guy once. He was sitting. So there is a comedy club here in New York, but it was called Boston Comedy Club. And so I was there and this guy, he was a wonderful person. He did have a great laugh, but he was the only one there. And we're like, and basically it's my turn to go up. And I was like, what if we just don't do this? And he goes, no, no, it'll be fine. Just go do it. You're like, okay. And then, so he was pleasant. But then another time, I remember I had a shirt on. Everybody was doing good. This crowd, it was sold out. Everybody's doing great. I go up and I bomb so hard like they, no laughs. The full like 7 minutes, just complete silence. I had a button down shirt. I had it tucked in and I blamed it all on that. And I never wore that shirt to that. I had to go walk around the block alone. And then I untucked my shirt. And I love a tucked in shirt. I love a tucked in shirt.

[Willie Geist]

Can be nice.

[Nate Bargatze]

It could be nice. Yeah.

[Willie Geist]

So with those kind of shows, because like I said, you fair to say you became big when you were 35 or something.

[Nate Bargatze]

I theory with that. No one makes it. You either make it at 20 or 40. No one makes it in the middle.

[Willie Geist]

I've heard you say it. Yeah, it's right away or you gotta wait.

[Nate Bargatze]

It's right away or you gotta grind it out.

[Willie Geist]

So what gets you from age 21 to that weight to 40? In other words, when you're going to.

[Nate Bargatze]

Play the day you get from.

[Willie Geist]

Is there ever a moment where you're like, like, maybe this isn't gonna be it for me?

[Nate Bargatze]

I never had that moment. I, I, I kind of felt I was supposed to be doing this. And so I never did. But you're slowly just going. And then you're just seeing. As long as every year gets a little bit better. So you start, you know, I remember making like 30 grand a year. And you're like, well, I mean, that's what I'm gonna be making at Applebee's. So I was like, I'm doing this. Yeah. And so then you just slowly just kind of keep going.

[Willie Geist]

All right, let's go to Carmen of Fort Worth, Texas. Thank you for being here, Carmen. Oh, this is a good one. How did you meet your wives? We talked about Applebee's. And do you think, Right. Oh, asking both of us, sorry, how did we. You just have the one wife, right?

[Nate Bargatze]

I have one.

[Willie Geist]

You got one.

[Nate Bargatze]

I got one that I talk about. The other one I have not brought out yet. Yeah, it goes too much. It's opposite what I believe in.

[Willie Geist]

It'd be bad for your brand if.

[Nate Bargatze]

You came blow to Nateland to go because he's got eight lives and you're like, you got. We try to keep it under wraps. This isn't being aired. Right? Yeah. Okay.

[Willie Geist]

That whole speech you just gave about culture just goes out the window. Out the window. And do you think you would have been as successful if you had never met them, if you never met your wife again? It's for both of us. They're asking both of us. So Applebee's you met, and how important has she been to your success?

[Nate Bargatze]

I mean, I talk about her the most. She's been much more important than I probably have given her credit for and realized even in the moment. But the fact that she's just gone on with everything that I want to go do. I have a lot of ideas. I'm like, I know I'm very kind of low energy on stage, but I'm a lot at home. And, you know, I mean, it'll be 11 o' clock at night. My wife wants to go to bed. I'm like, we're going to do this. And so it's a ton to take in. So to have a partner that will let you do that is. That's the only way I would even have to success. You know.

[Willie Geist]

I also just have the one wife, and she's here tonight. Christina, say hello. I met my wife in Ridgewood, New Jersey, across the river. We met in Mr. Kaplan's sixth grade homeroom class.

[Nate Bargatze]

That's crazy, man. That's awesome.

[Willie Geist]

In George Washington Middle School in Ridgewood, New Jersey.

[Nate Bargatze]

That's awesome.

[Willie Geist]

She also went to Bandy. And there's no way in hell I'd be anywhere I am now without Christina.

[Nate Bargatze]

Which is the truth.

[Willie Geist]

For support, encouragement, laughter, general coolness, knowing when to. When I can be a lot, too. I think it's fair to say.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, yeah.

[Willie Geist]

And she'll say, why don't you just go out in the woods with the dog? And I go out and walk for 45 minutes with the dog and it's.

[Nate Bargatze]

All better and just the. And the dog's got to take it all in.

[Willie Geist]

Exactly.

[Nate Bargatze]

This dog's like, I need a break from your husband. Yeah. He doesn't stop. It's. He's like, I got a pee over here alone.

[Willie Geist]

All the way over here.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Willie Geist]

I love you and the dog. Okay, this one is from India of Tulsa, Oklahoma, who I met earlier tonight.

[Nate Bargatze]

India, where you. All right.

[Willie Geist]

Oh, wow. Okay. This is for both of us again, who is your man crush and you cannot say each other because you were gonna say.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, I was gonna say you.

[Willie Geist]

I could see it coming off.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, you got one? I have one. Just because I had a fun interaction with him. Kiefer Sutherland.

[Willie Geist]

Oh, that's a good one.

[Nate Bargatze]

He goes, so it's just because I was at like an event and he was there. I don't know Kiefer Sutherland. And he came up to me and was like, dude. He goes, buddy, I love you, buddy. I don't think he knows really who I am, so. But he was just so. He's like, I'm so glad, man. It's so great. Just look at us, bud. He goes, I love you, pal. And he told me he loved me before he left. I've never talked to him before or after. I don't know if he knows I'm a comedian or if he thinks I'm somewhere else, but it was so nice that you're like, even if it's not me, that's a lucky guy. Who. He thought I would. And so he's the mayor. That's a good one.

[Willie Geist]

I like. I like comedy. I like a funny guy. I'm going, Paul Rudd. Can I go Rudd?

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah. Is that right? Can I do Rudd? Yeah, right. He's great.

[Willie Geist]

He's great funny, self deprecating, like yourself, Paul. I'm going Rudd.

[Nate Bargatze]

Rudd's the main part of the solid move.

[Willie Geist]

And I have met him a couple times too. And again, unclear if he had any idea who I was, but it was nice to chat anyway.

[Nate Bargatze]

I'm sure he knew he did. He got it.

[Willie Geist]

That's good. Kiefer and Rudd Scott from South Orange, New Jersey, a great town across the river. What do you do when you realize the moment you're living through this is for you. Has the potential to make its way into your act. Do you realize it immediately? Do you put it in your phone? Like, what do you do?

[Nate Bargatze]

Sometimes you realize. Sometimes you have like a little. You have it. And I'll write the little funny thing idea down and then I gotta just find out where it's gonna end up going. And you sit on one that happened on that I knew. I have a joke where I take my shirt off at a golf course and this old man walks up and, yeah, Olivia. He mistakes me for his elderly wife. That's the type of shape my body's in. He's like, look at what she got. And she's got her shirt off. And he's like. He goes, olivia again, taking her shirt off in the parking lot and so when he came up, he goes. He goes, olivia, everything happened. I covered up. I was like. I was like. I go, what's up? He goes, and. Yeah, and it was. There was a valet kid there. And then the guy walked away. And I went up to him, I go, did that guy call me Olivia? And he was like, yeah, yeah, he did. And I mean, the kid's like, I'm sorry. And I'm like, that's the best thing that's ever happened to me in my life. And I went and told that story. That story is on the opening joke on the Tennessee kid. And that happened, I mean, weeks before that. That's how. So you get lucky sometimes where you're like, I don't really gotta add anything to this. I just. I'm gonna just tell you exactly what happened. So some become very easy.

[Willie Geist]

And then around the house, do you have to. Do you clear stuff with your family at all? Like, yeah, I think I might use.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yes.

[Willie Geist]

Yeah.

[Nate Bargatze]

I will always tell them I will never do anything to make. Because I don't. I would never. I. I've really backed off talking about my daughter a lot because I talked about her when she was younger and then now I just don't want her going to school and like, in any kind of things. I even have some stories that I'm going to tell, but I need her. I just want to get old enough so she can understand, like, why I would be saying them and that it's not anything. So for her, I back off of. My wife definitely been in some fights where I'm like, that's not bad right there. She. My wife just bought some game card games where you're supposed to ask each other questions. You know, it's like, I imagine it's going to be the worst, but it's. But I was like, yeah, I'll do it. And I'm definitely doing it to see what I'm gonna get out. Like, it's so. I don't do that all the time. But she was like, will you play this game with me? I was like, I need material right now. So I was like, yeah, let's go at it. Let's have some fun. So we'll see if anything comes out of that.

[Willie Geist]

Your daughter's so sweet when she introduces you in the specials, too. It's really cute.

[Nate Bargatze]

She's very special.

[Willie Geist]

Not named after Harper Lee, which you've made very clear.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Willie Geist]

No. Okay. This is from Allison in New York. I'm amazed by the volume of material comedians are able to memorize, Particularly since the wording is so specific. You got every word right for the joke to work. Have you ever drawn a blank mid set? And if you do, what do you do?

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, it happens a lot. The way you think about it, it's like a song. So it's like everything kind of has got to go into. So I try to make everything where it's like, I'm talking about my wife and then it goes into my parents. It's like, well, that makes sense. And so you make it where it goes, but it's exactly like a song. And so it's just an hour long kind of song. And it's very hard to remember old jokes because you gotta. When you do the next one, you're just kind of in a new, different kind of groove. But yeah, I've started jokes and then just like, was like, I don't even know why. I don't even know how this could be funny. I've had it. Even try to tell some old jokes like by like iced coffee with cream Starbucks joke. It's been so long that like, even if I started it, I'm like, I could tell you an idea of why it would be funny, but I don't remember any of the pieces. So. Sometimes you do and you just got a bell on it. You just, in the moment, just go, I don't remember how that's gonna go. It's not fun. It's a moment. Cause in your head there's like a guy looking through papers going, like, I think I know where this is going.

[Willie Geist]

Right?

[Nate Bargatze]

And you're like, you're like, well, we're almost there, buddy, so I need you to figure it out. And then he goes, I got nothing. He's gonna go, I don't know how that goes. He's gonna say that to 15,000 people. I don't know what I'm doing.

[Willie Geist]

The other thing I think people maybe don't realize is when you go on stage at Madison Square Garden in front of 20,000 people, you've done that set so many times.

[Nate Bargatze]

So many. Yeah.

[Willie Geist]

That it's almost second nature to you.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, yeah, you're. And that. That's the. That's what. Live performance is so wonderful because it's. Every night's different because the crowds are different and why they laugh and how their rhythm of when they laugh. And so it makes it where you could. Yeah. Stand up. You're not coming up with stuff. I mean, there's crowd work where you people are interacting with the crowd. But with stand up like what I like. It's an act. And so it's this prepared act that you have taken all over the country. And so we do that, and then we record our specials at the end. Unlike music is they do an album and then they tour off that album. With Stand up, you tour, go get it kind of as good as you can get it, and then you tape it and you put it out. And then. So right now I'm, you know, I'm going to the DC Improv. I'll be there, but I'll go to some comedy clubs because I got to start small and start building this new hour. Then you slowly build it up to be. So then when it's where it hit the arenas and all this, it's all kind of ready to go. And it'll change over those times. But, yeah, you have. By the time you get to taping a special, you're usually kind of probably ready. You're like, I'm kind of done with these jokes. And then you want to get them taped and then start coming up soon.

[Willie Geist]

And now we got a new one coming. Okay, last one. This is from Jerry in Westbury, New York. What is your favorite place in Nashville? Oh, that's hard. There's so many good places.

[Nate Bargatze]

There is so many amazing places. A restaurant that I love. That's. There's a San Antonio Taco satco. Satco on 21st. Yes, that's. That's a big Vandy.

[Willie Geist]

Big time.

[Nate Bargatze]

Big Vandy Hang. So I went there last week.

[Willie Geist]

Did you really sit outside on the day?

[Nate Bargatze]

It was like, a little cold. I mean, it was like 50. 50. Yes, but it was, like, a little chilly.

[Willie Geist]

What'd you go with?

[Nate Bargatze]

I go with two steak tacos, two beans tacos, and then queso. They have a mark where you get queso or queso and chips. I do the chips. Splurge for the chips.

[Willie Geist]

Yep. They got the. And they have the little pencils.

[Nate Bargatze]

You write your order out.

[Willie Geist]

Write your order.

[Nate Bargatze]

And so it's. Yeah, it's like the best.

[Willie Geist]

That's such a good call.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, it's funny to me. It's all. It's just me and everybody that went to Vandy. Yeah, that's in there. It's like. It just. When I'm in there, it's just. I did not go there, but it looks like I did. Yes, it looks like I did.

[Willie Geist]

We need to get you an honorary degree at this point.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah, well, you know. Yeah.

[Willie Geist]

You represent a very well.

[Nate Bargatze]

Yeah.

[Willie Geist]

We need to put Something I'm proud to do it. I'll go. Boy. Sacco is a great one because your freshman year when you get there, like that's the rite of passage that you go to. Setko. I'm going Station Inn downtown in the gulch. If you know Nashville at all, which is this incredible divey music venue that used to be in the middle of nowhere by itself and now they've built an entire little city around it. But it's still there. It's like that tree grows and Brooklyn exit by venue. Is that still there? I think it is.

[Nate Bargatze]

That's still there. We I, we. I was there. My dad saw Steve Martin there.

[Willie Geist]

Really?

[Nate Bargatze]

Back in like 79 or something.

[Willie Geist]

Like they had something called drinker drown on Thursday. That's five bucks. All you can drink out a little plastic cup.

[Nate Bargatze]

There was no rules back there.

[Willie Geist]

No, but Station Inn is the kind of place you go in, you drink Bud heavy and then like, you know, Chris Stapleton walks in Bud Heavy over because Chris Stapleton walked on the stage. It's one of those places. So I'm going Station in. But Satco's a good one. Pains me to say goodnight because it's been so much fun. I know, right? And you'll see this interview with Nate on Sunday. Today, Next Sunday. Not this Sunday, but a week from Sunday. Guys, thank you for coming. Give it up for Nate Bargetto. Thank you for making making the trip. Good night.

[Nate Bargatze]

Thank you.

[Willie Geist]

My big thanks to Nate for a great conversation, for being our very first Sunday sit Down live guest, and most of all, to the audience. Gosh, the energy in that room was amazing. And to City Winery for hosting our event. If you're ever in New York, go to City Winer. It's beautiful right on the river. By the way, you can pre order Nate's book, Big Dumb Stories from a Simpler Mind right now. And my thanks to all of you for listening again this week. If you want to hear more of our conversations with guests every week, be sure to click follow so you never miss an episode. And don't forget to tune in to Sunday Today every weekend on NBC to see these interviews with your own two eyes. I'm Willie Geist. We'll see you right back here next week on the Sunday Sit down podcast. You're a guy who just wants to look nice.

[Nate Bargatze]

The kind of nice where you might.

[Willie Geist]

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[Nate Bargatze]

Plus a team to help you find.

[Willie Geist]

The perfect fit to make sure you look nice. Nice? Love the way you look. Men's Wearhouse.