Natalie Palamides creator and star of “Nate: A One Man Show”

Episode notes

Courtesy of Netflix

Natalie Palamides on her new comedy special, Nate: A One Man Show

Reviews of comedian Natalie Palamides’ work usually all include the same descriptor: brave. It’s easy to see why. Her newest comedy special, Nate: A One Man Show is a show unlike most hour long comedy specials. Mostly in that it’s not exactly stand-up. Nate is more like an hour-long, interactive, improvisation piece.

At the beginning of the show we meet Nate, a hyper-masculine, adrenaline fueled, protein powder enthusiast. Nate is man’s man. He has a black eye, a giant handlebar mustache, a bandana over his head, and he’s wearing a fleece plaid jacket open, with no shirt on underneath, chest hair exposed. After his brash stage entrance, Nate, played by Natalie in drag, begins to tell the audience about learning to express himself after a tough break-up.

He makes the audience laugh, then he makes them uncomfortable. At one point, he wrestles a stranger, at another, he improvises a handshake with them. Consent is an ever-present theme and between the moments of comedy there are moments of silence, awkwardness and discomfort that are palpable. All the while his alpha male exterior is slowly evolving, psychologically and physically. It’s an incredible piece.

Natalie and guest host Carrie Poppy talk about Nate: A One Man Show, what Natalie’s parents think of her raunchy stand-up, and making the choice to commit to your art over commercial projects. Plus, Natalie tells us about the occupational hazards of wrestling random audience members on stage. That’s on the next Bullseye!

Nate: A One Man Show is currently available to watch on Netflix.

In this episode...

Jesse Thorn

Host

Kevin Ferguson

Senior Producer

Jesus Ambrosio

Producer

Richard Robey

Maximum Fun Producer

Daniel Huecias

Maximum Fun Production Fellow

Daniel Arón Speer

Video Editor

Guests

Natalie Palamides

About the show

Bullseye is a celebration of the best of arts and culture in public radio form. Host Jesse Thorn sifts the wheat from the chaff to bring you in-depth interviews with the most revered and revolutionary minds in our culture.

Bullseye has been featured in Time, The New York Times, GQ and McSweeney’s, which called it “the kind of show people listen to in a more perfect world.” Since April 2013, the show has been distributed by NPR.

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