Since getting his start in the late 2000s cracking jokes on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, Nate Bargatze has conquered the comedy world. Now he’s ready to pass the mic.
“I don’t plan on touring and doing stand-up forever. I want to make movies,” the 46-year-old comedian told The New York Times in a new interview. “People can think, If you get too big, are you going to change? The audience is very much in mind with everything that I will make. Again, I try not to do it for me. It’s for you. I want them to be able to trust that.”
Still, Bargatze, who has released five comedy specials since appearing in an episode of the final season of Comedy Central Presents in 2011, noted that, “The next special will be on Netflix. I could see maybe one more special after that. I don’t want to overstay my welcome. I also want to get out of the way. I need to let the next wave of comedians come up. I got this tour and then maybe one more.”
Bargatze attained national prominence in the late 2000s after paying his dues in the Chicago and New York City comedy scenes, when he was featured on the Comedy Central show Live at Gotham and was tapped for several late night appearances by Conan O’Brien. In just over a decade, Bargatze has released five acclaimed comedy specials, hosted Saturday Night Live twice, and earned a Grammy nomination.
Will Heath/NBC via Getty
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He even scored a viral sketch on his first time hosting SNL in 2023 with “Washington’s Dream,” in which Bargatze played the first president proudly soliloquizing on his hopes of departing from the metric system to embrace the convoluted imperial system of weights and measurements.
Bargatze revealed in December that he personally pushed for the sketch to make air, reflecting, “What I realized is you do have a lot more say than you think you do at SNL.”
Though Bargatze hasn’t appeared in any non-sketch or skit comedy-based films or TV series, his star is most certainly still on the rise.
Earlier this week, Bargatze was announced as the host of the upcoming 2025 Emmys. The comedian takes the reins from Dan and Eugene Levy, who hosted last year’s ceremony.
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