Nate Bargatze is a comedy anomaly. The Tennessee native is a clean comic — no cursing, and he generally stays away from politics — but his material doesn’t feel stale or gutless. His observational storytelling draws heavily on a never-ending tendency for getting caught in dumb situations, but he doesn’t come across as stupid. Even throughout one of the most upsetting years in modern American history, Bargatze stuck to this plan on Twitter, talking about video games, armpits and whether or not McDonald’s mascot Grimace is an anti-vaxxer. What the hell, man — even Jim Gaffigan cracked in 2020! Bargatze’s new stand-up special The Greatest Average American premieres on Netflix Thursday, March 18, and it might be the best chance we Nashvillians have to see him anytime soon — now that vaccines are being widely distributed and comedy clubs are beginning to reopen, Bargatze is hitting the road to make up last year’s canceled Good Problem to Have tour dates. He doesn’t have anything booked in Music City until Oct. 28 at the Ryman — and that performance is very close to being sold out. So set your dials to Netflix and get ready for greatness. MEGAN SELING
Watch Nate Bargatze’s The Greatest Average American on Netflix
