Since 2006, Nate Bargatze has shared a life with his wife, Laura Bargatze, a partnership that predates his Netflix specials, award nominations, and sold-out performances.
Their romance began in their early 20s while both worked at an Applebee’s restaurant in Tennessee. As he worked to establish his comedy career, Nate attended comedy college in Chicago, distributed flyers as a “barker” in New York City, and eventually relocated to Los Angeles, where he honed his skills further.
Nate has featured in various Netflix specials, including The Tennessee Kid (2019) and The Greatest Average American (2021), the latter earning him a nomination at the 2022 Grammy Awards.
The year 2023 saw him release his Prime Video special Hello World and host Saturday Night Live, a role he described as “beyond a dream come true” on Instagram.
Most recently, in December 2024, he launched his latest Netflix special, Your Friend, Nate Bargatze. Throughout this journey, Laura has remained a steadfast partner alongside their daughter, Harper.
A Strong Foundation
“I never had any doubt that our life would work out, whether he chose not to do comedy or found a job or some other career path,” Laura shared during a 2020 episode of The Nateland Podcast. So who exactly is Laura Bargatze, and what is her story alongside the comedian? Here’s an in-depth look at her background and their relationship.
Despite Nate’s extensive career in comedy, his relationship with Laura has humble roots. The pair first met while working at Applebee’s in their early 20s, with Nate as a host and Laura as a server — a detail he humorously recounted in The Greatest Average American.
“Someone asked [Laura] recently … did you ever imagine when you started dating that your lives would become all that it’s become?” he remembered in his stand-up. “She said, ‘When I met him, he was a host and I didn’t think he was smart enough to be a server. So, yeah — we’ve got a little bit farther than I expected.’”
Nate, however, made a lasting impression on her during a night out with fellow employees. Laura recalled how he played The Little Mermaid soundtrack and told his friends to be quiet so he could enjoy it.
“He put in The Little Mermaid soundtrack and told his friends to, like, ‘Shush, shush, I’m listening to this song,’ ” she shared. “I thought, if anyone could put in The Little Mermaid soundtrack and shush a bunch of 20-year-olds … to be quiet while he sings it, I thought that was totally confident.”
After leaving Applebee’s, Nate took a job as a meter reader for a water company, a position that seemed to mark the beginning of a stable career for him while he continued dating Laura.
“I had great benefits. I wasn’t the best at school, so this was a solid job you can have for the rest of your life,” he explained. However, Nate envisioned a different path for himself even as a high school senior.
When asked where he saw himself in a decade, he wrote that he hoped to “play Zanie’s,” the famous Chicago comedy club. When he and a friend discovered a comedy college in Chicago, Nate decided to leave his job to pursue stand-up, and Laura fully supported his decision.
“He said, ‘I have to tell you something,’ and my mind is racing, just like, what could it be?” she recalled. “He’s like, ‘I want to be a stand-up comedian.’ And I was like, okay, alright … do that!”
“I had a good feeling about it,” Laura added. Nate now views her support as essential to his achievements. “If you have a boyfriend or girlfriend that is going to be in the way, then you gotta choose,” he shared during The Nateland Podcast. “This is a thing that’s a commitment … You’ve got to make sacrifices to hopefully live a life that nobody gets to live.”
Building a Life Together
In 2005, while he was chasing comedy in New York City and she was living in Tennessee, Nate proposed to Laura during a carriage ride in Central Park. “I was completely shocked,” she admitted. They exchanged vows on October 13, 2006, coincidentally on a Friday the 13th, a detail Nate would later humorously mention in The Tennessee Kid.
“We got married on Friday the 13th. Got a pretty sweet deal on that,” he joked. “They were wide open. We were like, ‘What times are available?’ They go, ‘Every one of ‘em. All 24. You can call us that day if you want.’”
During their wedding planning, Nate humorously recounted how his mom and Laura orchestrated the event, noting that they were both budget-conscious. The DJ they hired ended up being less than impressive.
“Our DJ was awful,” Nate commented. “He got super drunk [and] played the same song three times in a row.” Beyond his stand-up material, Nate expresses his love for Laura on social media. For their 17th wedding anniversary in October, he shared a heartfelt message on Instagram alongside a photo of the couple with Harper.
“Friday the 13th turned out to be okay,” Nate wrote. “I couldn’t have done any of this without you. I love you, Laura. Happy Anniversary!” Their first child, a daughter named Harper, was born on July 8, 2012.
Nate announced her arrival on X (formerly Twitter), sharing a picture of their newborn in a hospital bassinet with the caption, “My beautiful new daughter Harper Blair. Awesome day.”
As Harper grew, she became involved in her father’s comedy career. She has introduced him at all three of his specials with the same line: “Please welcome my daddy, Nate Bargatze!”
Nate often includes anecdotes about Harper in his routines, joking about challenges like third-grade homework and bus rides. The two even reviewed some of his jokes about her together for a Netflix segment, and Harper didn’t hesitate to share her opinion. “You think you’re funnier than me,” Nate remarked to her in a YouTube video. “Way funnier,” she agreed.
Laura holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Middle Tennessee State University, graduating in 2005. Her career began as a marketing coordinator for Applebee’s, and she continued in marketing when she moved to New York City with Nate, as she explained on The Nateland Podcast.
During their time in the city, Laura transitioned to a role as a corporate event planner. “I saw an ad in a paper and it was for an event planner … and I was like, that’s what I want to do,” she said. “I was golden because it was a travel job and it was … late nights. I didn’t ever have to wait on [Nate] to get home because I had my own thing going on.”
Nate described Laura as “independent,” a trait that flourished during her decade-long career as a corporate event planner. In 2019, Nate and Laura began collaborating, with her taking on roles as an executive producer for his podcast, The Nateland Podcast, and as a talent manager at Bargatze Enterprises.
The comedian often incorporates stories about his marriage into his routines, covering everything from the dynamics of marriage to their amusing disagreements.
Laura doesn’t mind being the target of his jokes, as she revealed on The Nateland Podcast. “It pays our bills,” she remarked. “I pick at people and that’s my love, so if I’m picking on you, I love you.”
However, Nate found that some of his jokes about Laura needed moderation because audiences misinterpreted their relationship dynamics. “There was one time a friend of yours came,” Laura recalled, “and she goes, ‘Oh, he just said he wanted to murder you.’”
“I was like, he doesn’t mean it. He’s not really going to murder me, so it’s fine,” she added. Much of Nate’s comedy about their marriage focuses on common couple disagreements, which resonates with audiences, as he pointed out. “When things are so relatable,” Nate began. “Everyone’s laughing,” Laura completed.
In his 2024 Netflix special, Your Friend, Nate Bargatze, he humorously noted a disagreement that arose when he used doing laundry as leverage during a fight. His attempt at a clever comeback took an unexpected turn. “I was shocked that it started a second fight I never saw coming,” he admitted.
In April 2022, Nate and Laura attended the 64th Annual Grammy Awards, where his album The Greatest Average American was nominated for best comedy album alongside competitors such as Chelsea Handler and Kevin Hart.
At the ceremony, Nate also served as a presenter and later shared photos of their night out on the red carpet and during the show on Instagram. While he didn’t win, he took the opportunity to compliment his date.
“My wife looked beautiful. We had a lot of fun,” Nate wrote. Both Nate and Laura hail from the South; he’s from Tennessee and she’s from Alabama. However, Nate’s comedy journey has taken them across the country.
Initially engaged, they resided in New York City while Nate was building his comedy career. He worked multiple jobs, including dog walking and driving a FedEx truck during the day, while distributing flyers for the Boston Comedy Club at night to earn stage time, according to The Atlantic. Yet, neither imagined a long-term future in the city.
“It kind of starts to wear on you a little bit,” Laura reflected on their experience in NYC during The Nateland Podcast. “We were broke at that point, and New York’s not that fun if you don’t have some spending cash.”
Nate recognized the need for a change when he grew too comfortable with his routines and experiences, finally leading to a move back to Nashville in 2008. “Once you become complacent, it’s hard to climb that hill,” Nate explained. “That’s when you start getting worried.”
The couple eventually purchased their first house, and Nate’s career took off. He launched a string of successful stand-up specials that contributed to their rising profile, leading to his appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Conan.
Their connection remains strong through shared experiences, including Nate’s rise to fame and their involvement in each other’s lives. Laura has become an integral part of Nate’s career and continues to support him as he passes the challenges of being in the spotlight.
Both have also embraced their parenting role and shared moments of joy, laughter, and vulnerability as they sail through the difficulties of raising their daughter together.
“Because you want your kid to know you and love you,” Nate shared. “You gotta give them the time, you gotta give them that support.”
