Nate Bargatze Brings Hilarious Self-Deprecation to Little Rock Show

by Aprille Hanson-Spivey 
There are not many comedians who could make a crowd bust out laughing sharing a story about how they awkwardly told someone a turtle slipping into a pond on a chilly day “must be cold,” only to not understand they are cold-blooded. And then explaining they never spoke to that person again because how do you even come back from saying something that stupid? 

But that’s the odd, self-deprecating, simple yet masterful humor of comedian Nate Bargatze. The 43-year-old headliner brought “The Raincheck Tour” to Simmons Bank Arena in North Little Rock, Ark., Dec. 3, with openers Mike Vecchione and Dustin Chafin. One of the “clean” comedians out there, Bargatze has his weird brand of humor, like his classic stories of ordering at Starbucks and the infamous dead horse. There are a lot of “dirty” comedians that make me laugh, but honestly, it’s just a higher brand of humor when you can make everyday life funny without throwing in cursing or sex stories for shock value. It’s just tougher. And those life stories are what had the crowd in stitches solidly for his set, which lasted over an hour. 

It was certainly a good thing because his openers were a bit all over the place. Vecchione, a former Philly teacher turned comedian, hit hard and fast with the redneck Arkansan jokes — complete with asking the waiter with the ankle monitor at Waffle House if he could talk with the Grand Wizard. Not to mention all the jabs at pick-up trucks and “low-income whites,” leaning over every so often as if speaking to the crowd like they were children to let them know essentially to lighten up, it’s a comedy show. It was a shock of an opener for Bargatze and he was absolutely hysterical. The crowd needed to chill out. He pivoted eventually with a joke about a bug who just wouldn’t die and how it was essentially his role model. It was comedy gold. Because of the lukewarm response from the crowd, Chafin had a tough gig. He had to warm them up a little more for Bargatze, but it just didn’t hit in the way that Vecchione’s humor did. He made some fun of people in California (where he lives) and there were some cringe-worthy religious girl jokes that ultimately had some of the crowd laughing, but others not entirely on board. It was an odd mix. I laughed and he’s clearly talented but sandwiched in between Vecchione and Bargatze wasn’t a great place to be. 

Right out the gate, Bargatze probably started with probably his most controversial joke of the night but delivered it in a way that had everyone laughing at the pure absurdity of how easily a store in the South let people look and hold guns. He talked about how, in a Nebraska mall, cell phones were fastened tightly to the counters at one store, and yet he was able to ride up and down the escalator with a shotgun, guns laying on the floor. Obviously exaggerations, but it worked to bring a likely divided crowd on the same page. It was as humorous to gun-nuts as it was to us who want more gun control. It righted the ship, so to speak. 

Bargatze shined in making fun of himself and his lack of education, from his lack of historical knowledge and his pronunciation of the “Silver War” to at one point owning a pet alligator who might be swimming in a lake in his hometown of Old Hickory, Tenn. He talked about his parents, who were born-again Christians when they had him and how that impacted his life growing up. It was never in a way that made fun of it – in fact, he said he appreciated his upbringing. But now, his youngest sister was a bad influence on them, calling them a “tatted-up gang.” 

I appreciated how he flipped the male stereotype and how his wife really handles scheduling the household repairs, like his hilarious bit about his awkward conversation with the plumber about their broken water heater. There’s something just so genuine about Bargatze’s humor.

Before the show, my husband asked me if I considered Bargatze a redneck comedian. My mind immediately goes to the great Jeff Foxworthy and others on the Blue Comedy Tour, but also the more modern-day edgier ones like Trae Crowder. I can safely say after watching his latest tour, Bargatze falls into that in-between category of a Southern comedian — he’s not a caricature of the South, but certainly influenced by it. It makes him relatable to more than just southerners. But regardless, Bargatze’s comedy is only getting better. 

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