Nate Bargatze embraces dad comedy in The Greatest Average American, a 2021 Netflix special that hits all the ideal topics for a Universal Studios-Hollywood audience. The self-depracating title positions the American comedian as a thematically-safe performer, someone who will stay neutral with accessible humor and not aggressively provoke the audience with political commentaries. Bargatze delivers a strong one-hour set in The Greatest Average American, even if he seems more interested in referencing his family and friends than owning the stage with original bits.

In 2021, many comics rely on opening jokes about cancel culture or COVID-19. In this case, Bargatze chooses the latter, but only after a family-friendly intro that reinforces him as a safe and inviting comedian. Obvervational humor fuels the first 15 minutes of the act, with Bargatze riffing on restaurants’ questionable precautionary measures during the pandemic, and then making the all-too-relatable joke about trying to navigate through life without a cell phone. By the 15-minute mark in The Greatest Average American, the comic references one of his past bits about iced coffee, and subsequently incorporates a Family Feud one-liner; a way to double-down on his industry persona. Bargatze assumes that everyone’s there to see him specifically — and not just a random comic — which results in a “Best Of” routine that occasionally gets interrupted by airplanes flying over the outdoor venue.

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Bargatze includes a bit about Chuck E. Cheese trying to go out of business in The Greatest Average American, which thematically circles back to a previous joke about friends who seemingly want to get the coronavirus. However, Bargatze surprisingly doesn’t link the bits with a punchline, which makes them feel like random conceptual jokes that were peppered in without giving much thought to the act structure. The comic misses an opportunity to liven up the show with a blatant circle-back moment, and mostly relies on family-themed jokes for easy laughs, whether it’s his disinterest in science and literature or an extended bit about continental breakfast ethics.

The best moment in The Greatest Average American comes when Bargatze identifies himself as a “generational gap.” As someone born in 1979, he’s neither a Gen Xer or a Millennial, but rather a “Xennial” who grew up playing The Oregon Trail on school computers. Bargatze briefly departs from the dad comedy for a sharp commentary about growing up in “two different worlds.” He doesn’t speak down to younger audience members with a didactic tone, nor does he use 80s pop culture as a means to connect with fellow 40-something parents. Instead, Bargatze taps into the cultural paranoia that afflicted so many Americans during the Ronald Reagan era, specifically in terms of kidnappings and how television shows like Rescue 911 could be inadvertently traumatizing for young viewers. Bargatze stays on brand by concluding The Greatest Average American with marriage-themed comedy, which at once allows for further audience engagement while earning himself some extra dad and husband points at home. In the future, hopefully Bargatze will continue to explore comedic bits about the nuances of Xennial culture, and also be a little less predictable with his stand-up titles.

Q.V. Hough (@QVHough) is Vague Visages’ founding editor.