Nate Bargatze graces the latest cover of Esquire magazine, where he speaks openly about his aspiration to become a new kind of Walt Disney figure for the everyman. The magazine asked the comedian for his inspirations. He listed comics like Jerry Seinfeld, Judd Apatow and Adam Sandler alongside Disney. Why the latter? Because Disney cared about his customers, Bargatze said. The comedian seems to think the company has not held onto that mission.
“Now Disney is run by a guy that’s just a businessman,” Bargatze said. “Well, that guy doesn’t care about the audience.”
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Bargatze stressed that he cares about his audience because “none of this happens without them.” As his stand-up comedy career winds down (he’s planning to do only one or two more specials), Bargatze is laying the foundation to build a Disney-like empire with movies and TV shows, merchandising, books, podcasts and even a theme park in Nashville called Nateland that would be built on the site of the former Opryland theme park.
“I’ll be honest with you, I bet we’re closer than people think,” Bargatze told Esquire about his proposed theme park. “But it’s still a little bit of a ways off.”
Bargatze is gearing up to host the Emmy Awards later this year. He’s already a well-liked TV fixture thanks to his comedy specials and his acclaimed turns hosting “Saturday Night Live.” So what kind of TV will he start making himself? Don’t expect prestige.
“I did not watch ‘Succession,’” Bargatze said. “I know it’s the greatest show ever to exist. I’m not a moron. Everybody understands it’s the greatest show in the world. I want to watch it. This has nothing to do with the show. But no one watched it in the grand scheme of things.”
“Everybody has lives, everybody has kids, everybody has stuff to go do,” he continued. “They don’t want to sit and worship your art. There’s got to be a balance of appreciating ‘Succession’ and appreciating ‘King of Queens.’ Those worlds have to exist together. Now you have too many ‘Successions.’ There’s nothing that’s a palate cleanser.”
Head over to Esquire’s website to read Bargatze’s cover story in its entirety.
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