Nate Bargatze: Cursing Isn’t Necessary for Great Comedy
Nate Bargatze opened up about his love for clean comedy in a new interview with Theo Von, saying he cannot imagine a scenario in which he would ever go edgy and that he enjoys creating a show that the entire family can attend together.
Bargatze appeared on Von’s This Past Weekend podcast to promote his new movie, The Breadwinner, which follows his character as he steps into the role of stay-at-home dad after his wife launches a successful business. It is rated PG.
Bargatze, who has built a career on clean comedy, said he wanted to make a movie that the “whole family” can enjoy.
“Take your mom, take your grandma. … I just love that – I love that when people can go out, and they can all go together. I want to go to stuff with my family.”
The comedian lamented the fact that cineplexes are full of movies that appeal to only one segment of the market, whether horror films, Marvel movies, or animated features.
“There’s no live-action movies like this that are being made that are PG, and it's kind of the direction that I wanted to head in,” he said.
The conversation then turned to Bargatze’s comedy and his decision to keep curse words and explicit bits out of his act. Bargatze clarified that he doesn’t write comedy for children – “but kids can come” to the shows and have the parents still enjoy themselves.
“The point is your kids don't have to leave the room,” he said.
Children may not get his humor about marriage and life, he noted, but they likely will be excited on the ride home that they were able to attend an “adult” event with mom and dad, Bargatze said.
“I know when they get in the car, they're going to just talk about the whole night,” he said. “And … I hear that from parents.”
Bargatze praised the power of clean comedy, saying it’s challenging to create a skit that can air on television. Making a comment that may seem counterintuitive, he said, “I think you can say a lot of things and talk about a lot of stuff if you don't curse.” That is because many audience members immediately will reject a comedian if they curse.
“Either they check out, or they're like ‘he's dirty’ or ‘he's this’ or ‘he's that.’”
Too many younger comedians, he said, are never challenged with boundaries because they are working on platforms without content restrictions, such as Netflix.
Bargatze noted he once appeared on Comedy Central's stand-up series Live at Gotham and was told that it was not an everything-goes environment.
“You couldn't say whatever you wanted to say, [and] that's not a bad thing – that means you have to be creative in a scenario,” he said.
Von asked Bargatze if he has ever thought of doing an edgy show that would be targeted only to adults and feature material he normally would not perform.
“No,” Bargatze answered.
He said such an approach never appealed to him.
“My parents did not curse, so I wasn't around [it],” he said. “... I'm not perfect, but my strictness in my act is just, was like, I was just never gonna do it.”
The comedian also commented on profanity’s growing presence in the larger culture, saying it’s even heard on sports shows on SiriusXM. Bargatze enjoys UFC but has trouble finding commentary without cursing, he said.
“Can we have a channel where it's like – I just know you're not gonna go nuts?”
Von said it troubles him that parents may not want to listen to his podcast because it has profanity in it.
“I’m envious,” Von said.
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Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Rich Polk/GG2025/Contributor
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
Listen to Michael's Podcast! He is the host of Crosswalk Talk, a podcast where he talks with Christian movie stars, musicians, directors, and more. Hear how famous Christian figures keep their faith a priority in Hollywood and discover the best Christian movies, books, television, and other entertainment. You can find Crosswalk Talk on LifeAudio.com, or subscribe on Apple or Spotify so you never miss an interview that will be sure to encourage your faith.
Originally published June 04, 2026.
