A Night with Nathan Fielder

The atypical comedian

By Emma Niemaszyk

Hundreds of students came to the Union on a Saturday night to see the renowned Nathan Fielder, a comedian who gained fame through his cringey, hilarious show “Nathan For You.” The show is about a “business expert” who goes to small companies all across California and helps them gain attraction. His past makeovers have included a yogurt shop producing a new flavor (poop); a computer shop where all the workers are certified asexuals, and a women’s clothing store where only attractive people are allowed to steal one item of clothing. Fielder’s coaching doesn’t really make much sense, and it’s not supposed to.

His quiet, emotionless demeanor that is seen in his TV shows makes the audience seize with laughter upon witnessing the man in real life. His atypicality and ability to stare, straight-faced into nothingness makes his place in comedy a special one. Slowly, against the interviewer’s will, Fielder began to take the reigns—going off topic, addressing the security guards to the right of the stage, looking up at the screen behind him that projected every word that came out of his mouth, some of them naming genitalia, others being challenging words like Czechoslovakia. One can never expect a normal experience when watching Fielder, and that rings true when seeing him in real life. 

The students Nathan brought up to the stage were much more Fielder-fitting company than the interviewer, a professor who awkwardly shared the stage with him. He discussed the worst frats on campus to great enjoyment of the crowd. As he brought students up to the stage, the conversation slowly turned to the topic of “butt stuff.” The audience broke out into uncomfortable laughter at the taboo nature of the topic. In the end, the comedian made it a night to remember.