Overview of #660 - Nate Bargatze
Theo Von sits down with comedian Nate Bargatze for a wide-ranging conversation about comedy, movies, touring, family-friendly entertainment, and Nate’s ambitious new project: Nate Land, a real theme park he’s building in Nashville. The episode mixes industry talk with the usual Theo/Nate offbeat humor, touching on everything from morning routines and structure to ticketing, live experiences, and why clean comedy can still feel fresh and powerful.
Major Topics Discussed
Nate Bargatze’s new movie: The Breadwinner
- Nate promotes his film The Breadwinner, opening May 29 in theaters.
- He says it’s a PG, family-friendly live-action film meant for a broad audience.
- The movie stars Mandy Moore and centers on a family dynamic where roles shift at home.
- He explains that the film is going out in roughly 3,300 theaters and that he helped negotiate reduced ticket prices so more families can attend.
Touring, ticketing, and controlling the audience relationship
- Nate compares touring comedy to film distribution: both are ultimately about selling tickets and building direct relationships with audiences.
- He talks about the challenge of bypassing big systems like Ticketmaster/Live Nation, referencing artists like Oliver Anthony trying to self-book and control their own ticketing.
- He notes that some fans are perfectly happy with the traditional system, but for artists who want independence, it takes a lot of infrastructure.
Nate Land: the comedy theme park project
- The biggest non-movie topic is Nate Land, Nate’s planned theme park in Nashville.
- He explains:
- It’s a real project, not a bit.
- He’s currently in the funding, land-selection, and feasibility-study phase.
- The park is intended to be a full-scale family amusement destination, not a vanity shrine.
- Nate says the idea comes from wanting to build something that can outlive stand-up and create jobs, experiences, and a place for families.
- He mentions working with a development team called Storyland, which helps design major entertainment spaces.
- The park is expected to include:
- Rides
- Shows
- A retro mall / all-year indoor area
- Family attractions and immersive experiences
Why Nate is drawn to structure
- Theo and Nate bond over being comedians who are often bad employees when they’re working for themselves.
- Nate says he actually loves structure and routines, even though comedy often works against that.
- He jokes about hiding his alarm clock or phone so he could ignore it, because he wanted discipline without always following through.
- He says film sets and organized production environments feel good because they provide a schedule and clear expectations.
Clean comedy and audience trust
- Nate talks about why he’s stayed largely clean:
- It’s how he grew up.
- His parents were strict and didn’t curse.
- It helps him be accessible to a wider audience.
- He explains that he doesn’t think he’s “better” than dirty comics; he just believes clean delivery creates a different kind of flexibility.
- He sees his act as something whole families can attend, even if kids won’t catch every joke.
- A major theme is trust: Nate feels responsible for maintaining trust with his audience, and the theme park, production company, and movie choices all connect to that.
Live experiences matter more than ever
- Nate and Theo discuss how modern audiences increasingly want real experiences rather than just content on a screen.
- They bring up examples like:
- Netflix House
- Fan-driven theatrical releases
- Comedy and religion as spaces where people still seek a live voice
- Nate argues stand-up is in a strong position because it’s one of the few forms of entertainment that can’t be fully AI-recreated or duplicated.
Movies, production, and where things are made
- Nate talks about shooting the movie at Trilith outside Atlanta, a studio town built for film production.
- He explains why places like Georgia and London attract productions:
- Tax incentives
- Infrastructure
- Large crews and studio capacity
- He says Tennessee doesn’t yet have enough crew infrastructure for the same level of production, though he’d love to see it grow.
Notable Insights
“I’m the worst employee.”
Nate repeatedly jokes that he works for himself but isn’t the best at self-discipline. It’s a recurring theme in the episode: comedians are often their own boss, but they still need external structure to thrive.
“The audience has to know who’s behind it.”
Nate says naming the park Nate Land is partly about accountability and trust. He wants people to know who is responsible for the experience and to feel confident that the project is being built with care.
“What if I do build a theme park?”
A key emotional thread is Nate pushing through skepticism. He acknowledges that the idea sounds crazy, but he believes the point is to keep going until someone says no—and even then, maybe find another way.
Funny Side Conversations and Tangents
- Morning people vs. night people
- Old TV channels like Spike TV
- Daniel Day-Lewis, My Left Foot, and other movie detours
- Tickling as a “truth serum”
- Weird childhood sleepover experiences
- Old restaurants, free breadsticks, and buffet memories
- Random frontier-history jokes about Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone
Main Takeaways
- Nate Bargatze is building more than a comedy career: he’s thinking in terms of films, live experiences, and long-term legacy.
- Nate Land is real and appears to be one of his biggest future ventures.
- He believes clean comedy and family-friendly entertainment still have huge value.
- The episode strongly emphasizes trust, structure, and direct connection with audiences.
- Theo and Nate both see a future where live events and in-person experiences matter even more as digital entertainment becomes more saturated.
Bottom Line
This episode is part comedy hangout, part business conversation, and part career/life reflection. Nate Bargatze comes across as thoughtful, ambitious, and grounded as he talks about expanding beyond stand-up into movies and a theme park, all while staying true to the family-friendly style that made him one of the biggest names in comedy.