'It's Great When You Can Watch The Older Guys And Learn From Them': Nate Bargatze On Comedy Career, Chris Rock, Marc Maron

(CBS Local)-- New York is a big reason why Nate Bargatze is the comedian he is today.

The stand-up has two Netflix comedy specials and has become one of the biggest names in comedy over the last few years. Things are a lot different for Bargatze than they were in 2004 when he first got to New York and was doing shows everywhere and up to seven performances a night.

"The Comedy Cellar, the Stand... that's where I met Jimmy Fallon. Caroline's was a huge comedy club for me," said Bargatze in an interview with CBS Local's DJ Sixsmith. "I did every club. I moved there in 2004 and was there for about almost nine years. I would do all those comedy clubs and you just bounce around. Those were awesome times. The most I did was seven shows in one night. It was a lot. Five is about the most you should do. After five, you don't even know what you're saying anymore. You might say the same joke twice."

FULL INTERVIEW:

Bargatze's most recent Netflix special called "The Tennessee Kid" came out in 2019 and he has plans to shoot a new special this fall. While the comedian is headlining his own tour these days, he learned a lot from watching comics like Chris Rock and Marc Maron in his early days on the road.

"I opened for Chris Rock and I was already headlining then, but I did like five or six of them and that was the coolest man," said Bargatze. "Just watching him do his show over and over again and get to know him and get to be friendly with him and make him laugh and have fun. He loves just talking comedy and you ask him all these questions. He was enormous. I went out with Marc Maron and we became friends. It's great when you can watch the guys older than you and you get to sit and learn from them."