The Simple Truths of Nate Bargatze on SNL

The announcement that the stand-up comedian Nate Bargatze would be hosting Saturday Night Live this weekend was met in some corners with a bit of confusion.

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When SNL goes the stand-up route for a host, it usually plucks an alum (John Mulaney, for instance) or a household name

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to do the job. Bargatze is certainly popular, well known for specials on Netflix and Amazon that highlight clean jokes about family quirks

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but SNL offered him perhaps his biggest platform to date to demonstrate to unfamiliar viewers who he is.

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The uninitiated got a show that leaned on the Tennessee-born Bargatze's folksiness and ability to make wry conclusions about modern life through his

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average viewpoint. The evening’s best sketches gave him space to deliver understated comedy about everyday topics.

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Bargatze established the tone for the night in his monologue—essentially a mini set—which he began by noting how old he felt,

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as someone from the 1900s. “The world is so future now,” he said. Other bits included a run about his magician dad getting upstaged by

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