No lie: ‘SNL’ sketch gives career boost to Strip headliner

As a teenager, Nate Bargatze was “obsessed,” to use his word, with “Saturday Night Live.” He quoted skits with his friends, fantasizing about one day hosting the show.

Bargatze has twice realized that dream, and more, in a two-decade career that has erupted over the past two years. The 45-year-old comic returns to the Encore Theater at Wynn Las Vegas this month on his “Big Dumb Eyes World Tour.”

The Nashville, Tennessee, native performs at 7:30 and 10:30 p.m. Wednesday, as well as Jan. 10 and 11, with additional performances through March 22, 16 dates in all.

Bargatze is likely to sell out the Encore Theater for all of those shows, his popularity vaulted by his first “SNL” hosting stint in October 2023.

The comparatively unknown stand-up scored unexpectedly with an immediately iconic portrayal of George Washington in a skit dubbed “Washington’s Dream.”

The sketch has amassed more than 17 million views on “SNL’s” YouTube channel, more than three times the viewers who watched the show live. Those ratings were considered strong, with 4.9 million viewers, the show’s largest audience since Martin Short and Steve Martin hosted in December 2022.

On “Late Night With Seth Meyers,” the host and ex-cast member told “Washington’s Dream” co-writer Mikey Day, “It’s kind of the perfect sketch.”

‘Dream’ sketch

The segment was an instant classic, reprised in Bargatze’s second hosting stint this past October.

In the original skit, Bargatze-as-Washington explains to Revolutionary War soldiers that his dream system of measurements would be used in the United States.

The powder-wigged general states that he seeks independence from England so “we can choose our own weights and measures,” such as the mile, which is 5,280 feet long but for no apparent reason.

“I dream that one day our proud nation will measure weights in pounds — and that 2,000 pounds shall be called a ton,” Bargatze tells the troops.

Soldier Bowen Yang asks, “What will 1,000 pounds be called, sir?”

Bargatze replies, “Nothing. We will have no word for that.”

Liquids will be measured in liters and milliliters: “But only certain ones, like soda, wine and alcohol. For milk and paint, we will use gallons, pints and quarts, God willing.”

Day asks, “How many liters are in a gallon, sir?”

“Nobody knows,” Bargatze says, his deadpan delivery perfect for the farcical script.

The piece was written by Day and “SNL” head writer Streeter Seidell.

Bargatze said he was uncertain of the impact of the segment in real time.

“It’s destroying the room, and all I’m thinking about is the crowd there, which I’m used to with doing stand-up,” Bargatze says. “Otherwise, you have no idea what’s going on until later.”

The audience’s response heightened through the skit, which was a significant reason Bargatze’s hosting stint (we subjectively say) was the strongest of the series’ 49th season.

An unlikely break

“SNL” usually books hosts with a new movie or album on the horizon. Bargatze didn’t fall into that category, but instead was a cagey selection of a figure not exactly in the center of the spotlight.

“I was really just a stand-up comedian. I wasn’t the most mainstream candidate,” he says. “I had Pete Davidson, Jimmy Fallon, John Mulaney, a lot of those guys would mention me to (show creator) Lorne Michaels. My name was getting tossed around probably more than I realized.”

Bargatze landed his first hosting gig after “SNL” bookers caught his show at the Encore Theater in June 2023, just three months after he drew a record crowd of 19,365 at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena. Just before “SNL,” Bargatze sold out two shows at New York’s Radio City Music Hall in October 2023.

At the time, he had been riding the popularity of his Grammy-nominated Netflix special “The Greatest Average American,” a hit during the pandemic. His next Netflix special, “Your Friend, Nate Bargatze,” premiered on Christmas Eve.

“My career has been kind of a slow build, in a very organic way,” Bargatze says. “I did Netflix. That was a big moment. I got to do some arenas, and started to move up a little bit. But ‘SNL’ was what really put it into the zeitgeist, where you could feel the mainstream-ness of it all.”

A magic dad

Bargatze grew up watching his magician father, Stephen, dazzle audiences. The youngster’s dream was to make people laugh.

Bargatze learned stagecraft by watching his dad. Stephen Bargatze’s first Las Vegas show was at Harrah’s in February 2016, as a fill-in for a vacationing Mac King.

“I got to watch him do his first show, which was pretty cool, and we’ve become friends,” Bargatze says of King. “Some comics will go to see him in the afternoon, and he’ll come out to our shows. Mac is the best.”

Bargatze says observing his father’s career inspired him.

“Being around him definitely was an inspiration because my dad always did comedy, and I always loved it,” Bargatze says. “I love making people laugh. I don’t know if I knew exactly how I was going to get into it growing up, but it was something I always wanted.”

As he told Esquire in a profile piece, Bargatze tested his favorite jokes on his father at age 5 or 6: “ ‘Waiter, there’s a fly in my soup,’ and the waiter says, ‘Don’t worry, the spider on the bread will get it.’ ”

Bargatze launched his stand-up career at comedy college in Chicago and performed at Zanies Comedy Club in that city and in Nashville. He later worked as a “barker” at Boston Comedy Club and in New York City, with Jerry Seinfeld’s 2002 documentary “Comedian” inspiring his move to NYC. Bargatze’s Southern charm, almost-shy delivery and ability to relate his life experience connects with audiences of any size.

Bargatze’s heroes from his youth now know who he is.

“I was just at an event in New York, and I met Tom Hanks and Steve Martin, and they’re like, ‘Oh, you were great on ‘SNL,’ ” Bargatze says. “It’s so weird now, how they just know me. It used to be, I’d come up to people and say, ‘I’m Nate. I’m a comedian.’ But now my life has been elevated. It’s been just a launch into another level. A lot of things have clicked at the right time.”

John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His “PodKats!” podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.