Originally appeared on E! Online

Nate Bargatze can recall the precise moment — live from New York — that his career skyrocketed.

It was pal Jimmy Fallon who recommended the Nashville-based comic to serve as a " Saturday Night Live " host in October 2023 as the rest of Hollywood was on strike. At that point, the 46-year-old — set to host the Emmys on Sept. 14 —had released five comedy specials, including his Grammy-nominated 2021 Netflix hour, "The Greatest Average American."

"I’d just sold out the Oklahoma City Thunder arena that week," he recently reflected to The Hollywood Reporter , "but I didn’t go in, like, 'You should know who I am,' because why should they? I knew that that was a different audience, and that I had to murder."

And he slayed, Bargatze opening his monolog

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