Is "dumb" comedy returning?

Will Nate Bargatze's unusual approach to comedy change things?

My research on this matter has not been what some would call “exhaustive.” but the abbreviation “LOL,” termed by Merriam-Webster as something used in “informal communication,” has been, like Mark Twain’s death “greatly exaggerated.”

That is, when a texter sends you “LOL” in response to something you texted first, it says here that it is likely at least an exaggeration and more likely, a lie.

“LOL” stands for “Laughing Out Loud.” So if you wrote that and weren’t in fact, laughing out loud, sorry folks, that’s a lie.

Which is why when something does make you laugh out loud, audibly, it should be celebrated. Here I was, reading a Vanity Fair article about comedian Nate Bargatze and he came out with this: “I watched the movie ‘Pearl Harbor.” I was as surprised as they were.” And I started laughing out loud, a few folks in the Barnes & Noble looking my way. That did make me LAUGH OUT LOUD.

With Nate Bargatze is "dumb" comedy returning?

But that’s not exactly a sign that Bargatze is a student of American history. And when later, in the same article, he came out with “I never got to do Letterman. I got told I was “too mundane.” I had to look the word up. I didn’t know what it meant. It wasn’t good.”

I laughed out loud, again.

Bargatze’s new book, “Big Dumb Eyes” is now a No. 1 New York Times best seller. Are we headed for a time when being dumb (or at least acting dumb) pays off? The Three Stooges made a career out of acting dumb. Stan Laurel of Laurel & Hardy was actually the brains behind the duo’s comic success, thinking up the gags, the comedic lines, though he acted like a simple-minded moron on film. Is Bargatze taking comedy somewhere else?

It’s a good question. First off, let’s make this clear: Bargatze is not dumb. His SNL skit, pretending to be George Washington was one of the most creatively hilarious sketches they’ve run in years. If you missed it, Washington and his troops are camped out at Valley Forge, they aren’t sure how the Revolutionary War is going and he gives the troops an inspirational talk:

“We fight for a country of our own,” Bargatze (as Washington) tells them. “A new nation where we choose our own laws, our own leaders. And choose our own system of weights and measures.”

He continues, “I dream of that day when our proud nation can measure weights in pounds and that 2,000 pounds will be called a ton…and we will be free to measure liquids in liters and milliliters. But not all liquids, only soda, wine and alcohol…because for milk and paint, we will use gallons, pints and quarts, God willing…” And so on…

Comedian Nate Bargatze as George Washington on Saturday Night Live.

It’s a wonderfully inventive skit and I think gives you an idea of Bargatze’s comedy, which heads in a very different direction than most of today’s comedians. In the Vanity Fair story, Bargatze makes it clear that he’s headed for as wide a general audience as he can find, refusing to dip into political, sexual or controversial material. Essentially, he plays dumb.

“I just wanna buy stuff and her not know I bought it,” he says in a famous routine. “And that’s so hard. I think if I knew the name of a bank, I could do it. But I gotta go through her to get that information.” And these lines are delivered with the blankest of expressions, those “big dumb eyes” staring out at an audience, convulsing in laughter, almost as if he doesn’t understand why they all are laughing. There is nothing edgy about his act and it seems part of his appeal is his audience feels smarter than he is, certainly not the case with most comedians.

Since so much of standup comedy these days seems to get more and more risque, vulgar, obscene (pick one - or all three), it’s such a change, surprise, relief (pick one) to listen to Bargatze’s routines, finding something funny about the least little things, buying a reversible jacket or using a microwave oven.

As someone who has always enjoyed the snappy comeback: (Mrs. Teasdale: “Ambassador Trentino has had a change of heart.” Groucho: “A lot of good that’ll do him. He’s still got the same face.”), Bargatze heads in such a different, seemingly simple direction, you find yourself laughing and at the same time, wondering why you’re laughing so.

So the next time someone asks you to write something down, it’s perfectly fine to quote Curly Howard’s response the time Moe said “Remind me to kill you later” and Curly said, in a chipper voice, “I’ll make a note of it!” And know that somewhere along the way, Nate Bargatze was paying attention. Playing dumb is smart.