Nathan Fielder is a celebrated comedian from Vancouver, best known for his unconventional approach to humour. He shot to fame with his starring role in the series “Nathan for You.” Read more at vancouveriski.
Childhood and First Forays into Comedy
Nathan Joseph Fielder was born in Vancouver on May 12, 1983, where he spent his childhood. He grew up in a family of social workers and attended Point Grey Secondary School. While there, he joined an improv comedy troupe that also included Seth Rogen. Fielder and Rogen were the two members of the group who went on to achieve widespread fame in comedy. The two performers became friends in high school and have stayed in touch ever since. According to Rogen, Fielder’s now-famous awkward persona was already apparent in his teenage years. This distinct trait would eventually become a cornerstone of his successful comedy career.
As a teenager, Fielder also developed an interest in magic and began performing tricks. He became a member of The Magic Castle, an exclusive private club for magicians and magic enthusiasts.
He graduated from the University of Victoria in 2005 with a Bachelor of Commerce, a degree he would later reference in the opening of every “Nathan for You” episode. After graduation, Fielder took a job at a brokerage firm but left after only eight months, realizing it wasn’t the right career path for him. He then enrolled in the comedy program at Humber College.
Launching His On-Screen Career
Before gaining fame with his own show, Fielder started as a writer for Canadian Idol. There, he was noticed by an executive producer of the CBC comedy series This Hour Has 22 Minutes and was brought on as a field correspondent. The show was a news satire program focused on politics, supplemented with commercial parodies and humorous interviews with public figures. Eventually, Fielder got his own segment called “Nathan on Your Side,” where he offered comical advice on everyday issues. In 2010, Fielder also wrote and directed several sketches for season two of Important Things with Demetri Martin.
A Hit Show Built on Outlandish Ideas
In 2013, Fielder’s own show, “Nathan for You,” premiered on Comedy Central. The premise involved Fielder helping small businesses with his unconventional strategies, drawing on his business background and life experience. The business owners on the show were unaware of what was planned or that their consultant was a comedian, which made their reactions to Fielder’s antics genuinely real.
Fielder’s marketing stunts were famously elaborate. Perhaps the most well-known was the “Dumb Starbucks” episode. Tasked with helping a local coffee shop, Fielder suggested they rebrand as a parody of Starbucks. They copied the name, logo, signature green colour, and menu items but simply added the word “Dumb” to everything—for example, a “Dumb Iced Vanilla Latte.”
The shop opened on February 7, 2014, and became an instant sensation, receiving widespread international media coverage. However, after just three days, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health shut it down for lacking the necessary permits.
The show ran for four seasons. In October 2018, the network confirmed that “Nathan for You” had ended, as Fielder decided to focus on other projects.