For Nate Bargatze, the ‘Nashville Christmas’ special is just the beginning

On By Littum

Nicole Brown
| Nashville lifestyle

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Despite the many accolades he’s garnered throughout his more than 20-year career as a GRAMMY-nominated comedian, podcaster, director and producer, Nate Bargatze has even more on the horizon.

On November 21, Bargatze taped a primetime holiday variety special on the Grand Ole Opry, which will air on CBS on December 19. Co-produced by Bargatze and Lorne Michaels’ production company, Broadway Video, viewers can expect a mix of stand-up, shorts, sketches, musical guests and a whole lot of holiday fun. It’s feel-good entertainment for all ages and packs a dose of nostalgia that Bargatze (and many others) can appreciate.

“It’s kind of an old-fashioned thing. The television that I knew growing up, and I think the television that a lot of people knew, it’s just not quite there anymore. A Christmas variety special is something that I don’t think been done for a while. I wanted to do something that hopefully everyone will sit down and watch together. I want to start having some things like that. ​​that people still want to sit together and have a plan for their night. So it’s kind of the old school way of having a series of specials. It’s just trying to be pure entertainment and have a nice, fun Christmas show,” he says.

Nate Bargatze returns to the Grand Ole Opry, the site of his first job

To make it special, well, extra special, Bargatze taped the show at the Grand Ole Opry. It was a full-circle moment that his younger self could never have dreamed of.

“It means a lot. There used to be Opryland (USA) Theme Park and that was my first job. So to film something here, I mean I couldn’t have even imagined it when I was 15. I was a sweeper in the park and we swept the park and the front steps of the Grand Ole Opry,” says Bargatze.

“I want to start doing a lot of things in Nashville. Being from here, Nashville is obviously blown up, but I think there’s a lot of good, great, great people here and we can do a lot of things here. I’m glad it’s something that’s being shot here and hopefully we can do more things here.”

Nate Bargatze’s new Netflix special is just one of many upcoming projects

But that’s not all Bargatze has in store this holiday season. His new stand-up special, “Your Friend, Nate Bargatze,” premieres on Netflix on December 24, with another Netflix special scheduled. With the popularity of his previous specials fueling this one, viewers are sure to be in for a laugh.

“It’s the biggest one. It’s shot in an arena—you know, I’m going to be biased because it’s mine—but it looks really good. We got some really great shots. With comedy, it’s kind of an intimate thing, so I believe we’re able to keep it with the cameras. It’s not like it’s always just this crazy shot,” says Bargatze. “We’ve been on tour, I’ve been in the arenas, so is just to catch it We went back to Phoenix where I shot it before and I’m excited we shot it in April so this will be the longest wait I’ve had between a special coming out to see the reaction.”

And Bargatze has even more to look forward to in the new year. This spring, he adds a new medium to his repertoire with the release of his first book, Big Dumb Eyes: Stories From A Simpler Mind, available May 6. As Bargatze sees it, publishing a book is another way to bring even more laughter into the lives of others.

“There’s a comedian, Paul Reiser, very funny. I remember reading his book when I started doing comedy and I remember laughing like I was watching his standup on TV and I thought, that it was crazy to laugh so hard just reading something, Bargatze says. “So I think in the back of my mind I always wanted to do that. It’s just trying to give more things that people can take, it’s nothing heavy, it’s just trying to be a break from everyone’s stress in life.”

The desire to give people something lighthearted to enjoy is a common theme across all of Bargatze’s many projects. This is evident in his comedy, where he often makes more fun of himself than the crowd, and when he brings a loved one in on the joke, he makes sure the humor is accompanied by lots of love. Because for Bargatze, making people laugh is really what it’s all about.

“I love making people laugh. When I’m on stage and I see someone really, really laughing, like their whole body is shaking, it’s a wonderful feeling,” says Bargatze. “I like when you says something that just hits someone. Even though everyone could laugh, for some reason maybe it was the person that happened to them that day that resonated with them, so it’s always very gratifying to hear that.”

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