Sunday Sitdown with Willie Geist - Nate Bargatze on Success in Comedy and Nateland’s Expansion

Episode Date: April 5, 2026

Nate Bargatze has become one of the most successful stand up comedians of his generation, going from performing for a single audience member to selling out arenas nationwide. In this conversation from January 2025, Nate Bargatze sits down with Willie Geist during the first ever Sunday Sitdown Live to discuss his rise in comedy, the expansion of the Nateland brand, and what has fueled his steady climb. Plus, he answers audience questions and reflects on how relatability has remained central to his success. (Venue sponsored by City Winery.) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hey guys, Willie Geist here with a very special episode of the Sunday Sit Down podcast. My thanks, as always, for clicking and listening along. Boy, do I have a treat for you today? Not only is my guest the hottest stand-up working in the world right now, he and I also had our conversation in front of a live audience. His name is Nate Bargettze, 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, 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 living and entertains them if you don't know Nate is a guy who sells out arenas he is 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 an entertainment company that you'll hear him talk about called Nate land 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 stand-up 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 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 Bargettze. Thank you very much. Come on in, man. All right. Wow. Wow. This is it. Wow. This is it. I think they like you, Nate. I think they might. That was very nice.

I think they might like this. It was, yeah, very, super cool. 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. We're the real heroes. It was in Potsdown. My buddy, Potsdown, Pennsylvania,

my buddy's soul Joel. He has a room there. So when we started comedy, 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'd do shows for one guy.

No one would be there. And so he's got his own club now in Pots Town. 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. We would have made a pretty good time. We had a big stop in Sheets. Sheets. How'd you make out of sheets?

Do you all right? 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 than just the, it's the best candy options. There's nothing in there that's not going to give you diabetes. I mean, I think even the bananas are something's a little, like they got something on them. You're like, I bet that banana's not healthy.

What'd you go with on the milkshake? So I would not know what we do this. So my buddy, I wasn't. I was also going to 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. Oh, yeah. And powdered? Yeah. 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 going to do the donuts.

And I was like, are you sure, dude? I was like, I don't. And then I had that. So do you finish it off? Big boy? Yeah, yeah. It was big. Yeah.

Nice. Nice. Yeah. it's they get you get large i mean stuff's a bucket size i mean i get every place i go mcdonald anywhere i go large it's just the absurdness they're getting larger too aren't they're getting bigger yeah but otherwise you got to fill it up then drink half of it then fill it up before you leave that's right that's always the most i'm a big dude i'll do that all day long absolutely i just did it in and out uh i was like yeah i sit there people are waiting and you just

sit i'm like let me just taste it yeah let me just taste it yeah let me make sure you sure it's okay. Right. And it just pound half of it. And I'm like, I'm just trying it out. So we should clear the decks of our shared love of Vanderbilt sports. Yes. Yeah. I just 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? 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? Yeah. 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 beat Tennessee twice last week, Manzan. So how did you come to your Vanderbilt sports fandom? You are from right outside Nashville, old Hickory. Yeah.

How'd you become a Vanity fan? Well, the Titans were not there. Most of my friends were Tennessee fans, Tennessee Vol fans. And then my, I had a cousin, Ronnie Bargettze. 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 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 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. And you'd be watching the guy, I'd 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. This was a huge night because our guy was hosting SNL the same night. Yeah. Yeah. It was, yeah, it was at a buddy. He goes, God gave you this day. Vandy beating Alabama hosting SNL.

I mean, I got more text about Vandy than I did SNL. And 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. I, by the way, I was at the game. Yeah. I was there with my family. And as you know, being a longtime Vanderbilt fan, I swear we'll stop talking about Vanderbilt Sport. after this.

You're waiting for the other shoe to drop. Oh, great first half. Now they'll wake up. And it kept going and kept going. I remember just looking down the line at these other fans of we're looking. Is this happening? Are we going to beat number one Alabama?

And we did. And the goalpost came down and they threw them in the Cumberland River. It was incredible. It's incredible. Yeah. Great. I think our New York audience is like,

what are you talking about now? Yeah. Yeah. Anyway. It's like, I mean, but it would be like being a Mets fan. Like, it's like, you know, you just, there's like, there's like,

Something that's, you're not, you know. Yes. Y'all have won more than we have. That's right. We would dream to be the Mets. I'll be honestly. I hope we get to that level of Mets. 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 going to win.

And then when they get on these runs, you're like, well, it's the greatest times of my life. Got a good coach now. Everything's going well. So I gave you that big introduction. Thank you. 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 and goes, don't do the whole thing with, it's the greatest show of all time. Just say Jerry Seinfeld, ladies and gentlemen. I don't need a belt-up. I did the opposite there. I gave him the whole show. I gave him all of it.

And you deserve it. But 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 is this moment, feel like in your life? I mean, it's hard to take it.

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're starting out and you're doing comedy and you're doing a show for one person to eight people. Like, it's just this long, long build up. 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's been good because I was able to be way more prepared for what I was doing. Right. Where if I would have been, you know, shot out of the cannon too early, it's like, then you're not going to really know what to do. You get thrown into stuff. So it's a blessing.

Not that I wanted to be shot out of canon early. 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. Right. You think, well, I could just walk around because I, you know, 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.

really be like, oh, yeah, I can't believe. Right now, you're just kind of like in it, and you just kind of stay as good as you can possibly be. You did SNL twice in a year, which doesn't happen. You hosted... Thanks. You hosted October of 23, and then again, October of 24. 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... Yeah. Took you to another place. Took it to a whole other place. And I didn't...

realized until 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. Yeah. Wasn't really hitting, but you kind of fought for it because you thought it was funny. Yeah. I thought it was, it was, I knew it would be funny because, I mean, I'm so used to, I only performed for live audiences. So I could tell, like, when you're reading it and, like, just a table read, it's like, it's not getting a ton of laughs. I'm also not bring it 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, but, you know, every, like, not everybody has my confidence. They're like, how does 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 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.

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 defense 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, well, once I get in front of a crowd, like, it's going to be great. And then, because it was the most like my stand-up kind of. Like, it's kind of just doing stand-up. I'm just telling jokes. And then so we did dress rehearsal and it destroyed, and then they moved it up.

And so then it became what it all became. But Streeter Sidale and Mikey Day wrote that. I had nothing to do with the writing. A lot of people think I did. They wrote it. And the writing was perfect, but the execution was, too. which is your... Thank you.

That's what I tell them. I go, the writing was great, but actually was better. That's good. I say that to Street or Mike Hill. I go, that was the best part of the whole thing. 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 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? That was the first kind of mainstreamy thing.

Yeah. So where I was at 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 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 a 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, it 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 other show. So that's how much you could tell is, like, the show that we had to reschedule, we added a show. That's how much it took off.

And that's all right after S&L. That was just right after S&L. And we went to adding second arenas, and 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 filling this next tour,

we're already adding shows. And, I mean, it's still, it's not going to be until the fall. I was telling you, I was looking at your tour schedule. Yeah. 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. Yeah. And you start in Norway and you end in Nashville.

Oh, yeah. Which sort of speaks to your appeal. Yeah. What is a show in Norway like for you? I went, we went there two years ago, Oslo. You know, you find the people that speak to English. You're not playing. I'm not at an arena there. Yeah.

This would be like a dream venue for me. And Oslo, I'm going to be like, I'm killing it right now. You go. Yeah. But it's going over there and 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 keep coming back. So when you go over to international, it's kind of the same thing.

You've got to go over there, and then, you know, you'd be in front of 300 people. You could be in front of 1,000 people. Like, London would be, like, 2,000 people. Then it's, you know, Belgium is, you know, 150 people. Like, it's just slowly, it's just like a mix. It really 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. I want to go back to Old Hickory growing up in Tennessee, which is 30 minutes outside Nashville?

Is that about right? Yeah, 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. Yeah. Yeah, they love you, dad. Yeah. He's done over 100 shows with me and look, that's every little boy's just.

dream travel with your dad when you're 45 years old. So who doesn't love that, you know? I had to get a CPAP machine hooked up in the tour bus, but... Not exactly Motley crew on the tour bus. No. 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. Hey guys, thanks for listening to the Sunday Sit Down podcast. Stick around to hear more from Nate Bargetse right after the break.

Welcome back now more of my conversation with Nate Bargettsey. 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? I would, I mean, at the very beginning, I remember being young and I would tell it. My dad always said I told a joke, like in a joke book when I was five. and the joke was the waiter,

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. It was something along those lines. But I was like explaining, my dad always tells us, 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, because 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 them back in my mind, like you want to do, you know, I think I want to just be a stand-up comedian. And it's slowly just, you know, I mean, fortunately, no,

there wasn't an education route that was heading in a direct, there was, It 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, you, 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 her 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 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 got 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, my dad would, dad would have magician friends without me knowing, like check watching me to make sure I wasn't

just, like, doing nothing. Like, you know, at least, like, he's just like, you know, keep 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 sure. That's sweet in a way, isn't it? Keep an eye on you.

Yeah. 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. As you said in your stand-up, 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 news special in your friend Nate Bargettze about being a water meter reader. Yeah. Have you all seen that? Thank you, thank you. It seemed like a simple job until you were called upon to defend the nation. Yeah. They just asked us, and it was, we went out, it was all real.

We stood out in our water tanks of Wilson County. This is after 9-11. Right after 9-11. What did your boss tell you after? We got to defend our water. And if, I don't know, like, it's fun to tell it, because if 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 were real big on, you can't drink. There's, you can't, don't bring weapons. They did tell us nothing they told us. Because we were in the South with like, you know, people were 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 in a field. Yeah.

You'd be in a field. 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 going to stop it because they were going to poison our water. I love that you were the last line of defense. Yeah. If Al-Qaeda showed up, it was up to you.

It was going to be. Yeah. I'm right there. Let me just say in front of this crowd, thank you for your service. Thank you. I appreciate it. I appreciate it. Your journey is amazing.

The road you've traveled, you've traveled so much of it with your wonderful wife. Yes. You've been together for a long time. You met, I believe, correct me if I'm wrong, working together at Applebees, right? Yeah. She was a server. You were the host.

Is that right? That is right. And she has said since she didn't think you had the stuff to be a server. Yeah. You were better served just standing at the podium. I was like a host. Like, I just need a little interaction. Yeah.

I didn't need to be super involved in their eating journey. Like that was, I just needed to get them to a seat and then be like, I need to probably back out of here. And y'all take it from here. It was better for everybody. It was better for everybody. Yeah, yeah. So you're at that point, 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. It was with the water meter, I mean, I still was thinking about it. I wrote where I'll be in 10 years in high school when he wrote that. I did write, I want to perform at Zanis, which is Nashville's local club. So it was very much seemed in my mind to do this. 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 and 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 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. You started to improv, decided that wasn't for you. exactly. 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 you. They're, thank you. 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 they're, that's just, they don't, you're starting out. And so I, I was like, I didn't, I was going to, I was going to, I was going to be put in positions that I didn't want to be. 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 stand-up. It's, I love hearing you say that you made a decision early to work clean, which is 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... It's my upbringing. I mean, you know, we're a Southern Christian, like, family, like, my parents would...

I have jokes about it, but 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 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. It's, 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 what 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, a line I make myself walk is pretty tight. It's pretty tight.

So how did you develop your style then? Okay, you know what? I'm going to work clean. Yeah. Is if I saw you doing those early gigs in Chicago or when you moved to New York, is it similar to what I'm seeing now in sold-out arenas? I mean, now it's got, that's 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'm married.

Here's having a kid. Here's all these steps that you go through. But if 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, 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 were 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 going to get, they're going to mad, this guy's not cursing. That's what I think they're going to say. They never were. And I'm like, this guy was too clean.

It's 12.30. He should be living it up. But you had people to look up to it had success. Seinfeld works clean. Giant Seinfeld. Yeah, who are your other combat heroes? Seinfeld, Brian Regan. Brian Regan was, yeah.

He was the first, my dad got me his CD, Brian Regan Live. And so he was the first one that I heard when I heard his CD. It was the funniest thing I've ever heard. And so it's your opening to go in like, because all you really know is Seinfeld. Like you only know kind of the famous one.

once. And then so then you hear his, and I was like, my dad 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 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, it's unbelievable. And so once you get into that, then he obviously to come to New York and you see Gaffigan. And then I see other comics.

Gaffigan's another big one. Yeah. Gaffigan, no one, 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 them and, you know, gotten close with him, 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 sandwiched meat. I'm like, I've never asked for this. And they're like, we just gave what Gaffkin asked for. And then his was like from John Panette or something.

So we just kept getting everybody's writer that goes down. And my dad would always eat the sandwiches because he felt bad. he's like, I think we have to eat all these sandwiches. He's making five sandwiches. I love Gaffkin. Sidebar on Gaffigan, he's been on Sunday today. It was during COVID, and we were doing all our interviews on Zoom. Yeah.

When it was kind of frustrating, you missed with 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? We say, let's go cross-country skiing. And I said, I don't know how to cross-country ski. 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. But he was like selling, like, this is my new discovery in COVID. And I finally said, I said, you have no idea what you're doing. 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 still didn't know how to do it. No, he was terrible.

I like that he brought you and he was like, yeah. Yeah. Did he go say, he goes. Yeah, and it was all alive. Because cross-country skiing does look like you're like, well, how hard could that be? And I bet it's pretty hard. Unlike downhill skiing, it's not fun either. Yeah, yeah.

It's just, it's just work. It's the hassle? It's just the hassle. It's just the hassle of skiing. Yeah. There's no hill. It's just you doing the work. So 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 polyanish, but it's not. It's you making yourself the joke always. I don't even know what that word means. So, you guys, pretty good, pretty good word. That's good. Is that, I feel like that's one of that, isn't that a hotel at Disney? Like, don't they have, like, uh, it's a, it's a Vandy word.

It's a Vandy word. It's a Vandy word. Yeah. Because they don't teach us that at community college. They were like, yeah, you ain't going to worry about this word, all right? It'll never come up. 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 name specifically. And this, here it is. And I should have been prepared. 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.

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

And the great thing about great. comedy, what 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 words. 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, could go, if you want, go ahead and go to page 40. Because I think some people want it's 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.

It should be like, go ahead to, you know. We don't need all those character development. Yeah, yeah, yeah. When 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. All of us have turned and hoped for that blank page from time to time, just for a breather, as you say to get your head above water.

Give your head above water. You got to. You got to. You mentioned the book. The book will have some blank pages. It will? Thank you. It's all blank pages.

You're really leading a movement of non-readers, and I think that's nice. You need a break. You need a break. So, Nate, when to you feels like the 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 out. at this for a long time. Here comes the first leap anyway.

The first, for all NBC. It was Conan. Conan was the first time, like, getting to do late night with Conan. Another big was Fallon. Fallon was, like, where you had this big leap. Comedy Central was a big deal for us, too. Comprehensible, that's what is roughed out

for, like, comics starting now. Comedy 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'd do an hour set. And so they really developed comedians. And there's not a ton of that anymore now.

But it was Conan, then Fallon saw me. There's a comedy club here called The Stand. 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, show, the industry, I guess. Like, we developed a show together.

None of this, it didn't go, but it was still, my name was very associated with his name. And which played into the S&L, which the S&L and, like Lauren giving me that chance of 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. 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 fun. 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. At a place where I think you worked for a little while. Brando Opry. You worked at the Opry. Yeah, we used to have a theme park.

So they had Opera Land theme park, and I worked there. My dad worked there, too, as a magician. And so we did that. And so you had to perform there at the Grandin, they knocked it down for a mall. But I'm going to get it back. I'm going to 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 a dog got out. Oh. Yeah. They fire you for that or no?

I mean, they don't, you know. It was, I let the door open. They had to call them over the speaker, and they were pretty upset. They called the dog over the speaker? 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 was that these people should never know their German Shepherd got out.

But it got under a car, and then you got to 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 a parking lot C over there.

If y'all can 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 he got out. I don't know what I'm doing. Yeah.

Did we get the dog back? We got the dog. Dogs fine. Okay, great. Dog's fine. 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. Right? Yeah. And you tried to play ball there. Yeah, I did. Did we ever make it? No.

No. I got cut all four years. By the way, first year, my dad was assistant coach, and I still got cut. He got the ball. Your dad cut you? 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. After that, I did pretty good in church basketball. So I think I could have made the team one year. What was your game like? Scrappy. Point guard. Like, yeah.

Just, you know. Distributor. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Giving it out. But, you know, it was really good from the elbow. Free throw line. I was like, that was my, I was like, don't, that's what I would tell him. 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. Carpet? At the church? Yeah, you could play in any kind of shoes 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 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 And half of them were girls? Yeah I mean half the school is girls So you're like It was yeah It was a tough

one. But, you know, my high school is my only alumni. So it's, yeah. Yeah. 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 the gym.

So I let things go clearly. And, yeah, so now I think I'm on the team. That's very cool. Very cool. Stick around for more of my conversation with Nate Bargetzi right after a quick break. Welcome back now to the rest of my conversation with Nate Bargettze. Another cool thing you're doing is this Nate Land.

Nate Land. Can I throw out the word empire or we're starting an empire? We're trying. You've got the podcast. You're doing a bunch of stuff under the Nate Land Company. But I think it sounds to me like you're trying to really make Nashville like a comedy town, right? Well, a comedy town, but I also, Nate Land, 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 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, it's very much detached from what people want to see.

And I think that's become more and more. And when you go on the road, you can, 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'll be similar to your daughter watching a football game. There's commercials that you're like, I don't want to have to explain. 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 have this show, you have like, that's what people

are watching if they're going to watch anything together. You don't have to be worried if your kids are in the room or something. So the idea. deal with Nate Land was to, we're hopefully going to be making some movies, but I want you to be able to see, if you see Nate Land, you can know, you might not like it, you might not, 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, they're, because, like, people still, they think they want to go, you know, they're like, well, they're like, 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, you know, Home Alone's 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 shows that are the most are friends and these sitcoms, right? Everybody loves Raymond, Seinfeld. 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 can't even compete. I just don't think they have...

You know, everybody that's right... You know, it's interesting, I have a whole... I'm going to... I love it. Yeah. So, but... That's why we're here, man. Yeah. Sorry, sorry.

But it's interesting, show business is 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. Stand-up 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 you don't really, we've 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 even like a Timothy Shalame where you're having a 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. 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? 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 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 need to, I know what I need to do as Nate 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.

Oh, you just got boo. I know. It goes. I know that sounds like crazy. But you've 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 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 Nate Land 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 have their own Tom Hades. 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. Yeah. And that's the idea when Nateland 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 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 be to fill that. I cannot wait to see what you turn out at now. This is going to be fun.

Thank you. But, by the way, the good news. on Nate saying he's going to stop touring is the Rolling Stone said that in 1978. Go, yeah. And then they toured for 40 more years. You're good.

I'll still be jamming out. Yeah, you're fine. You're good. Yeah. All right, our time is short, and I want to make sure we get to some of your audience questions. I know, right? No. No, we got some time. We're going to read your questions. Thank you very much. You guys are very nice.

Thank you. I'm going to put on my turning 50 next year. I'm going to put on my readers. Oh, no, this year. This year. This year. This year. This year.

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

She left? She, yeah. Oh, right there. Oh, right here. I honestly wish she left. Like, that would be very, but she goes, I got to get out. Like, she goes. We sort of touched on this, but when did you realize you were funny?

Was that that joke when you were five? Yeah, yeah. 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 said 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. Those laughs are addictive, aren't they? You go, oh, I want that again.

There's nothing. It's the best thing ever. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. This is from Alexander, from New York City. Alexander asks, tell us about the first time you bombed on stage. Yeah.

I mean, you bomb a lot. At the beginning, you're doing shows. I mean, 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, I'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 was sold out. Everybody's doing great. I go up and I bomb so hard. Like they no last, the full, like seven minutes, just complete silence. I had a buttoned-down shirt. I had it tucked in.

And I blamed it all on that. And I never wore that shirt after that. I had to go walk around the block alone. But I untucked my shirt. I love a tucked-in shirt. I love a tucked-in shirt. It could be nice. It could be nice, yeah.

So with those kind of shows, because like I said, you, fair to say, you became big when you were 35 or something? I theory with that. No one makes it, you either make it at 20 or 40. No one makes it in the middle. I've heard you say it. It's right away or you got to wait. It's right away or you got to grind it out.

So what gets you from age 21 to that weight to 40? In other words, when you're going to play from nobody. Is there ever a moment where you're like, maybe this isn't going to be it for me? I never had that moment. 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 going to be making. making at Applebee's. So I was like, I'm good. I'd be doing this. Yeah.

And so then you just slowly just kind of keep going. 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 it for a minute.

Applebee's. And do you think... You're all right? Oh, you're asking both of us. Sorry. How do we... You just have the one one, right? I have one.

You've got one. I got one that I talk about, the other one I have not brought out yet. Yeah. It goes too much. It's opposite to what I believe in. It'd be bad for your brand if you came out with two wives. It would be a tough blow to Nate Land to go. He goes, he's got eight wives.

And you're like, uh, you go, we try to keep it under wraps. This isn't being aired right. Yeah. Okay. That whole speech you just gave about culture. The opposite. Out the window. Yeah.

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. All right. So Applebee's you met and how important has she been to your success? 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, they're going to do this. And so it's a ton to take in. So to have a partner that we'll let you do that is that's the only way I would even have this. 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.

That's crazy. That's awesome. In George Washington Middle School in Ridgewood, New Jersey. That's awesome. She also went to Bandy. And there's no way in hell I'd be anywhere I am now without Christina, which is the truth. For support, encouragement, laughter, general coolness, known when I can be a lot, too, I think it's fair to say. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And she'll say, why don't you just go out in the woods with the dog for a little bit? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I go out and walk for 45 minutes with the dog, and it's all better. And just the, and the dog's got to take it all in. Exactly. This dog's like, I need a break from your husband. Yeah. He doesn't stop.

It's my. Ah. He's like, I got to pee over here alone. All the way over here. Yeah. Yeah. I love you. And the dog.

Okay. This one is from India. of Tulsa, Oklahoma, who I met earlier tonight, India. Oh, right. Oh, wow. Okay, this is for both of us again. Who is your man crush, and you cannot say each other? Because you were going to say, yeah.

I was going to say you. I could see it coming off. Yeah. You got one? I have one just because I had a fun interaction with him. Kiefer Sutherland. Oh, that's a good one. He goes...

So it's just because I was at, like, an event, and he was there. I don't know. Kiefer's so good one. 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, you look at us, buddy. He goes, I love you, pal.

And he told me he loved 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 him 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 was. And so he's the mayor. That's a good one.

I like comedy. I like a funny guy. I'm going Paul Rudd. Can I go Rudd? Yeah. Is that right? Call Rudd. Yeah.

Right? He's great. He's great. Funny, self-deprecating. Like yourself. Paul, I'm going Rudd. That's the main brush. Yeah.

And I have met him a couple times, too. Yeah. And again, unclear if he had any idea who I was, but it was nice to chat anyway. I'm sure he knew. You did. He got. 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 in your phone? Like, what do you do? Sometimes you realize it. Sometimes you have like a little, you have it, and I'll write the little funny thing idea down. and then I got to just find out where it's going to 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 he missed, yeah, Olivia, he mistakes me for his elderly wife. That's the type of shape my body's in. He's like, look, what she got? And she's got her shirt off. And he's like, he goes, oh, Olivia again, taking her shirt. off in the parking lot.

And so when he came up, he goes, he goes, Olivia, and I mean, everything happened. I covered up. I was like, I was like, I go, what's that? And he goes. And, yeah, and it was, there was a valet kid there. And 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's ever happened to me in my life. And I went and told that story. That story is 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 got to add anything to this. I'm going to just tell you exactly what happened. So some become very easy.

And then around the house, do you have to, do you clear stuff with your feelings? family at all? I think I might use this. Yeah. I will always tell them I will never do anything to make because I don't, I would never, 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 any kind of things. I even have some stories that I'm going to tell about I need her. I just want to get old enough so she can understand like why I would be saying on that it's not anything. So I 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 going to get out of it. Like, it's, so I don't do that all the time, but, And she was like, we 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're seeing if anything comes out of that. Your daughter's so sweet when she introduces you in the special. So it's really cute. She's very special. Not named after Harper Lee, which you've made very clear. Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, 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? Yeah, it happens a lot.

The way you can 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. 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 got to, when you do the next one, you're just kind of in a new, different kind of group. 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 trying to tell some old jokes like ice coffee with cream, Starbucks joke. It's been so long that like even if I started it, I'm like, I could tell you the 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 going to go. It's, it's not fun. It's a moment. Because in your head, there's like a guy

looking through papers going like, I think I know where this is going. 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 going to go, I don't know how that goes. He's going to say that to 15,000 people. I don't know what I'm doing. 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.

So many. Yeah. That's almost second nature to you. Yeah, yeah. You're in 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 can, yeah, stand up. You're not coming up with stuff. I mean, there's crowd work where 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 I've taken all over the country. And so we do that, and then we record a specials at the end. Unlike music, 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 so right now, I'm going to the DC improv. I'll be there.

But I'll go to some comedy clubs because I've 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,

about the time you get to tape it as special, you're usually kind of probably ready. You're like, I'm kind of done with these jokes. And then you want to, like, get on taped and then start coming up some more stuff. And now we've got a new one coming. Okay, last one. This is from Jerry and Westbury, New York.

What is your favorite place in Nashville? Oh, that's hard. There's so many good ones. There is so many amazing places. A restaurant that I love, there's a San Antonio Taco. Satco. Satco. On 21st.

Yes. That's a big Vandy. Big time. Big Vandy hanged. So I went there last week. Did you really? Sit outside? On the deck? No, it was like a little cold.

I mean, it was like 50. but it was like a little chilly. What'd you go with? I go with two steak tacos, two beans tacos. And then, uh, Koso, they have a mark where you get Koso or Koso and chips. I do the chips. Splurge for the chips.

Yep. They got the, and they have the little pencils and you fill it out. You write your order out. You write your order. And so it's, uh, yeah, it's like the best. That's such a good call. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's funny to be, it's all, it's just me and everybody that went to Vandy. That's in there. It's like

when I'm in there, it's just, I'm in there, it's just, I did not go there, but it looks like I did. Yes. It looks like I did. We need to get you an honorary degree at this point. Yeah. Well, I mean, yeah. You represent us very well. Yeah. Well, 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 right of passage that you go to SACCO. I'm going station in 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 grows a exit by Vandy. Is that still there? I think it is. That's still there. I was there. My dad saw Steve Martin there. Really? Back in like 79 or something. They had something called Drink or Drown on Thursday. It's five bucks. All you can drink out of a little plastic cup.

Yeah. There was no rule. back then. No. There is a, yeah. But station-in's the kind of place you go in, you drink bud-heavy, and then like, you know, Chris Stapleton walks in. Got one Bud Heavy over here because Chris Stapleton walked on the stage. It's one of those places. So I'm going to station in, but Sackco's a good one. Pains me to say good night because it's been so much fun. I know, right? Guys, thank you for coming. Give it up for Nate Bargetta. Thank you for making the trip. Good night. Thank you. 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 Citywiner. It's beautiful right on the river. By the way, you can pre-order Nate's book, Big Dumb Eyes, 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.