GOOD CLEAN FUNNY

HOW THE COMEDIAN (AND NEWLY MINTED EMMYS HOST!) IS HANDLING HIS METEORIC RISE TO FAME WHILE KEEPING HIS JOKES FAMILY-FRIENDLY

- By GILLIAN TELLING

The actors’ strike that shut down much of Hollywood in 2023 was bad for almost all entertainers—except stand-up comedian Nate Bargatze. He was on tour when he got a call from Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels about hosting the show. “I’d heard that John Mulaney, [Jimmy] Fallon, Pete Davidson, a bunch of SNL folks had been floating my name to Lorne for a while,” Bargatze, 46, says. “But then with the strike, they needed stand-up comedians to fill in, so I got the opportunity.”

The gig changed the trajectory of his career. “I knew the importance of it and that I’d be getting in front of an audience that might not otherwise be familiar with me,” says the Tennessee-born-and-raised “clean” comic, who doesn’t swear in his routines (or in life). But he had no idea just how quickly it would happen. Clips from his episode—notably from his “Washington’s Dream” sketch—instantly went viral. His monologue about DoorDash landed him a Super Bowl commercial, and he became the highest-grossing comedian of 2024. He also just released his first book,