NEPA Scene Staff

Comedian Nate Bargatze kicks off live tour at Circle Drive-In in Dickson City on Sept. 24

Comedian Nate Bargatze kicks off live tour at Circle Drive-In in Dickson City on Sept. 24
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From a press release:

Following the success of his Netflix special, “The Tennessee Kid,” comedian, actor, and writer Nate Bargatze performed at the F.M. Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre on March 11, just before the coronavirus pandemic shut down indoor venues in the area.

It was announced this week that he will return to Northeastern Pennsylvania just six months later to kick off his One Night Only Drive-In Tour at the Circle Drive-In Theatre in Dickson City on Thursday, Sept. 24. His first drive-in show will be presented locally by Stage West in Scranton, Drusky Entertainment, and SLP Concerts.

Gates at the Circle Drive-In (1911 Scranton/Carbondale Hwy., Dickson City) open at 5 p.m., and the all-ages show starts at 7 p.m. Tickets, which are $150 per vehicle for general admission (up to four guests max) and $280 per vehicle for Gold Circle parking close to the stage (up to four guests max), are on sale now on ticketmaster.com.

No campers, RVs, party buses, or motorcycles are admitted. Sealed water bottles are allowed. Food and beverages (alcohol included) will be available for purchase. Sitting outside your vehicle is permitted, but all attendees must arrive together and remain near their car. For more details, visit the Facebook event page.

The Circle Drive-In is following Department of Health recommendations and “adhering to safety protocols, mandatory face covering requirements, social distancing, and strict disinfecting and cleaning procedures.” Restrooms will be open with attendants on-site.

Anyone attending a drive-in movie or event must wear a face covering and practice social distancing. The concession stand will have limited selections and has put extra safety procedures in place.

A native of Old Hickory, Tennessee, Nate Bargatze sells out shows across the world. His comedy is both clean and relatable, evident in his six appearances on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” following four appearances on “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.” He appeared on “Conan” four times, was a recurring guest on “@midnight” on Comedy Central, and had his own “Comedy Central Presents” special in 2011.

Off-screen, Bargatze was part of Jimmy Fallon’s Clean Cut Comedy Tour and has done live shows for the troops in Iraq and Kuwait five times. He regularly performs at Bonnaroo, SXSW, the Oddball Comedy Festival, Sasquatch, Clusterfest, and the JFL Montreal Comedy Festival, where he’s received critical acclaim multiple years in a row. He is also in production on a pilot for ABC, which he created and stars in.

Bargatze was featured in Esquire as a “Best New Comedian” by Jim Gaffigan, one of Marc Maron’s “Comedians to Watch” in Rolling Stone, one of Variety’s “10 Comics to Watch” for 2015, and as No. 1 on Vulture’s “50 Comedians You Should Know” in 2015. His debut one-hour special, “Full Time Magic,” premiered on Comedy Central that spring, followed by his debut album, “Yelled at by a Clown,” which reached No. 1 on the iTunes Comedy Charts and remained on Billboard’s Top 10 Comedy Charts for weeks.

In 2017, Bargatze had a half-hour special released on Netflix as part of a six-part original series entitled “The Standups.” He received his own hour-long Netflix special, “The Tennessee Kid,” on March 26, 2019 that garnered rave reviews.

In July of 2020, the 41-year-old comic teamed up with All Things Comedy to release his new podcast, “Nateland.” The world is a crazy place and there’s plenty of podcasts out there tackling the tough issues. However, “Nateland” tackles the meaningless issues that we face day to day to give listeners a much-needed mental break from fighting the good fight. New episodes release on Wednesdays, with video available on Bargatze’s YouTube channel and audio available everywhere you get podcasts.

In April, he released an episode of “Road Life with Nate Bargatze” that featured his Wilkes-Barre show and a stop at The Marketplace at Steamtown in Scranton: