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.

3 4 The Canadian business student-turned-sketch comedian gets weird at the Memorial Union BY GUS KUHNEN “A Conversation with Nathan Fielder” Pushes the Limits of Cringe

Nathan Fielder is not funny. That is, his comedic persona wouldn’t like you to think he’s trying to be. Fielder, a native Canadian, is part of a growing trend in comedy: cringe humor. The genre has built itself on a love of outrageous social situations and the subversion of conventional societal norms. Shows like “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “The Office” have paved the way for more experimental works like Fielder’s wildly popular reality show “Nathan for You.” On November 9, Fielder brought this trademark humor to the Union for his mysteriously titled performance piece/interview, “A Conversation with Nathan Fielder.”

The moment he took the stage, Fielder’s graceless mannerisms immediately began to manifest; his entrance took well over two minutes as he paused uncomfortably for the audience’s giddy ovation, not dissimilar to the confusion of what to do when “Happy Birthday” is being sung to you. The interview’s host, Professor Laurie Ouellette, attempted to conduct a standard back and forth dialogue; however, what followed was anything but.

DEC 9 - FEB 3 At one point, Fielder derailed a tame question about his favorite moments on the show to trawl Ouellette’s RateMyProfessor, reading reviews of high praise but also stopping on a few not-sobeaming reviews. Of course, this was what we hoped for—the audience burst into applause at every off-kilter comment and pregnant pause. The students Fielder invited onstage to pose a question had varied reactions to his personality, from most being disarmed by his overtly invasive questions (one inquiring about a student’s first kiss springs to mind), to one even attempting to take it in stride, throwing a particularly egregious question back at him. Regardless of how uncomfortable the students looked, the audience lapped it up with relish. When it was all over, you weren’t sure Fielder knew why his performance struck such a chord with the crowd, but you were sure you enjoyed it.