If you have never seen the Comedy Central show “Nathan For You,” I suggest you give it a try. Nathan is this young, awkward guy who tries to help struggling businesses become successful in the most unorthodox ways possible. His type of humor is low-energy as he tends to make conversations with the business owners very awkward and almost uncomfortable to watch at times because it is so funny to see the other people’s reaction. For example, just this past season, Nathan decided he wanted to help a struggling women’s retail store. His idea to the business owner was intended specifically for couples that walk into the store together. He figured since it is only a women’s store, the guy is usually going to get bored and cause his girlfriend to want to leave sooner than expected, therefore the women wouldn’t buy anything. His idea was to build a “man cave” in the backroom where the guys could hang out while their girlfriends are shopping. The owner surprisingly agreed to this idea.
Nathan’s attempt to be a “bro” is downright hilarious. He invites his first guy in the man cave when his girlfriend is shopping for clothes. He awkwardly gives him a high-five and he puts on a really old football game for them to watch. He also cracks open a few beers for him to have. You can sense how uncomfortable this is for the guy who is with Nathan. He eventually leaves and honestly looked frightened of Nathan’s weirdness and awkwardness.
In another episode this season, Nathan pays a visit to a moving company based in Los Angeles. The owner tells Nathan that he has trouble hiring people to help move things because of the cost. Nathan proposes to slash labor costs and propose that lifting boxes and furniture be the next workout craze. The owner seems skeptical at first, but decides it’s worth a shot. Nathan then decides to hire a bodybuilder to be the spokesperson for this new workout. He basically has the bodybuilder, Jack Garbarino, lie to America and say that he got his great body from just doing hard labor like moving boxes and furniture. Nathan then hires a writer from Craigslist to basically fabricate Jack’s whole life and make it seem like he’s this perfect guy who got his body only by doing hard labor. As this starts to take off, Nathan then gets an email from a local news station that they would love to interview Jack. After that, this idea really started to take off and Jack was on multiple news stations sharing his story. Nathan had him lie to all of America just to get the people to believe that doing hard labor can get you into the best shape of your life. Additionally, Nathan Fielder uses his show as a platform to promote “The Movement,” an autobiographical work by Jack Garbarino. Nathan tells the owner at the end of the episode, “Anytime you need new movers, Jack can go on the news, lie to everyone in America, and you’ll get a fresh batch of people willing to move houses for free.” Awkward and dry humor accompanies Nathan on all of his adventures in a new show worth watching.
Ryan Colon is a third-year student majoring in communications with a minor in journalism. He can be reawched at RC759426@wcupa.edu.