On the brink of his meteoric rise in comedy, Nate Bargatze got sober.
Bargatze, who is known for his clean comedy, was stepping from performing in comedy clubs to theaters when he decided giving up alcohol would boost his career, he told Esquire in a recent cover story.
“I would go too hard with it,” he told the publication. “But I knew, if I want to go where I want to go, this is in the way.”
As a naturally anxious person, Bargatze admitted he misses the “relief” that can come with drinking. He has been sober since 2019, and his mind is typically preoccupied with comedy.
“I tell a lot of comics: ‘If you want to do something, you’ve got to really obsess over it,’” he says. “That’s not always fun. I mean, that means you wake up to go pee in the middle of the night and you’re thinking about comedy,” he told Esquire.
Still, Bargatze obsesses over comedy. “If I’m going to be obsessive over something, then I’ll use it to my advantage.”
Bargatze previously spoke on his decision to get sober during a July interview with Billboard.
“I was starting to sell clubs out, and so we’re about to go to theaters (and) I wasn’t able to drink like a regular person,” he told the publication.
He continued, “I knew, ‘Alright, well, if I want to go to the level I want to go to, I have to get this out of my life or I’m not going to be able to get to that level.’”
Whatever level in the comedy realm Bargatze wanted to reach, he’s probably gotten there.
In 2024, Bargatze put on the highest-grossing comedy show of the year, outperforming comedy juggernauts like Jerry Seinfeld and Adam Sandler, per Billboard.
He has hosted “Saturday Night Live” twice. In 2026, he will host the Emmy Awards.
But even in the thick of his sell-out months-long tours, Bargatze makes time to go to church.
“I’m on the road so much, but when I’m here, I go (to church) as much as I can,” he told Esquire. Religion is a priority for him.
“It’s a good thing to be around,” Bargatze said. “I think it makes you feel grounded.”
Bargatze is almost ready to retire from stand-up
Bargatze revealed that he’s preparing to retire from stand-up.
“Two more tours,” he told Esquire. “I got this tour I’m about to go out on, and I want to do one more.”
He hinted at a departure from stand-up tours during a recent interview with The New York Times.
“I don’t plan on touring and doing stand-up forever,” he told The Times. “I want to make movies. People can think, If you get too big, are you going to change? The audience is very much in mind with everything that I will make. Again, I try not to do it for me. It’s for you. I want them to be able to trust that.”
Bargatze’s first attempt at making movies is already in the works. He co-wrote a comedy called “The Breadwinner” with Dan Lagana (“American Vandal”), per The Hollywood Reporter.
The upcoming movie stars Bargatze, alongside Mandy Moore, who is known for her role in “This Is Us” and voicing Rapunzel in Disney’s “Tangled.”
When is Nate Bargatze coming to Utah?
On his upcoming “Big Dumb Eyes” tour, Bargatze will stop at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, for three shows, as previously reported by the Deseret News.
Bargatze will perform at the Delta Center on Friday, Dec. 5 at 7 p.m. and on Saturday, Dec. 6 at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m., he announced.