Nate Bargatze: Hello World!

➤ Rated +13
➤ Prime Video

Stand-up comedy often revels in raunchy jokes laced with profanity and sexual references, but Nate Bargatze has made a name for ­himself by going against the flow, offering clean sets that speak to the average American experience. He continues that trend with his latest comedy special, Nate Bargatze: Hello World!

The show begins with Nate Bargatze’s 10-year-old daughter standing in the wings introducing her father. Before stepping onto stage, Bargatze gives his wife and daughter hugs and kisses, setting a family friendly tone for the next 60 minutes of jokes—no profanity or sexual references here.

Much of the humor comes from Bargatze’s self-deprecating style. In the past, he’s mined his dubious education for laughs. And for this new special he returns to the theme, talking about what he learned, or rather didn’t learn, in middle school.

Bargatze pretends he’s just a good old boy from Tennessee, but though he claims to be the dumbest person in the room, he’s a brilliant storyteller. Beneath the jokes about his supposed ignorance, he possesses a folksy wisdom that resonates with many of us who didn’t grow up as part of the coastal elite.

With deadpan delivery he lets us laugh at what feels like universal experiences about parents treating the oldest child and the baby differently. Much of this comedy special deals with the humorous side of family. Many jokes involve childhood memories, the reality of growing older, and the perils of having children of your own. And though he plays it for laughs, he’s very upfront about his family’s faith. He quips, “I had ’80s and ’90s Christian parents. Well, that’s the most Christian you can ever get of the Christian.”

Besides keeping his comedy clean, one of the best things about Bargatze is his total lack of cynicism. He jokes about his parents, siblings, and wife, but we can tell it’s always rooted in love and respect. Golfing with his wife doesn’t sound fun, but he makes it funny while still letting us know he loves her.

Bargatze might joke about his family, but the heart of his comedy explores his own inadequacies. It’s amusing to hear him talk about ­digging a koi pond for his mother and discovering how hard digging a hole actually is.

While there’s no profanity in Nate Bargatze: Hello World!, he does include a throwaway joke about gay marriage, and in another joke he uses a rude word—sucks—some parents might not want small kids to hear.

Those small caveats aside, this latest comedy special will have intergenerational appeal. After you’ve watched it on Prime Video, you can catch his other two specials, The Tennessee Kid and The Greatest Average American, on Netflix.