Nathan Fielder famously graduated from “one of Canada’s top business schools with really good grades.†A more relevant education to his future show-business success, though, are the comedic sensibilities he honed after graduation uploading DIY sketches and short films to YouTube between 2006 to 2011 and performing as a correspondent on Canadian television’s comedy-news institution This Hour Has 22 Minutes from 2007 to 2009. Many hallmarks of Fielder’s later work, from the zealous commitment to character he demonstrated in Nathan for You to the interpersonal struggles he explored in the first season of The Rehearsal, can be seen in these early videos, making them a fascinating time capsule to track his evolution. With Fielder making his return to scripted work on November 10 starring alongside Emma Stone and Benny Safdie in the Showtime series The Curse, which Fielder co-created with Safdie, what better time than now for a deep dive into this archive?
“Open Houseâ€
In this short mockumentary that, according to its YouTube description, placed second in the spring 2006 edition of the 24-Hour Toronto Film Challenge, Fielder plays a washed-up actor turned real-estate agent hosting his first open house. Submitted under the team name “The Time Codes,†Fielder worked with collaborators Sean Cisterna, Samantha Cisterna, and Eduaro Arregui to shoot this film that’s like The Office meets Stath Lets Flats. At one point, a potential homebuyer asks Fielder’s character whether the house gets cold in the winter, and he says, “I think it’s flannel insulation, so it’s really warm.â€
“Once a Yearâ€
It’s strangely fitting that the earliest video on Fielder’s official YouTube channel begins with a full minute of three people (Fielder and his frequent sketch collaborators Katie Crown and Aaron Eves) sitting together in silence. Eventually, their silence is broken by an apparent party guru (Levi MacDougall), who joins their circle and puts them to the test via a bizarre call-and-response game to see if they’re ready to party with him. This goes on for two minutes, until Fielder slips up and says the word farty instead of “party.†The party guru leaves unimpressed, and the friends return to sitting in silence.
“Interviewâ€
Years before he punctured the formality of job interviews in Nathan for You by going on a mock interview and replying to all the interviewer’s questions with answers fed to him by a 7-year-old child, Fielder directed this sketch in which a hiring manager (comedian Chris Locke) conducts an interview with a man in a giant dragon mask (Eves). Locke patiently indulges the man at first, asking standard interview questions like “Please tell me what you think would be some of your weaknesses,†before eventually getting irritated and ripping the man’s mask off. “Did anyone see that man’s mask before he came in?†he yells into the hallway. “The guy I interviewed was wearing a dragon mask! Come on!â€
“Morning Walkâ€
A music video in which Fielder and Locke lay down some hot gibberish over a hip-hop beat. As one of three songs available online by the rap duo (billed as Side of Smooth on two of them), “Morning Walk†is an early sign of Fielder’s interest in musical comedy. He’d later showcase this inclination as a parody artist seeking legitimacy on Nathan for You by taking the stage at an open mic and performing a strained Eminem riff with the lyrics, “I’m not afraid to grab my balls / Everybody come grab my balls.â€
“Summer Daysâ€
A recurring theme in Fielder’s work is his social unease and the way he leans into it for comedic effect. On Nathan for You, he once recruited a friend on Craigslist then covertly collected and tested his urine for neurotransmitter levels to prove that he’s fun to hang out with. In a dark sketch he filmed to promote season one of How To With John Wilson (on which he served as executive producer), he cast himself as the owner of a TikTok content house who uses it as a ruse to hang out platonically with teenage boys he lures from their families. Years earlier, “Summer Days†portended his fascination with these ideas. In it, a group of friends (Fielder, Eves, Tim Gilbert, and David Dineen-Porter) are lying out in nature, having what appears to be a perfectly pleasant afternoon. Perceiving some melancholy on one of his friend’s faces, Fielder halts the group’s conversation to check in on him. “You look kind of down,†he says. “What’s up? Are you having fun?†Fielder’s friend reassures him he’s fine, but Fielder pushes the issue until it gets weird. Eventually, a third friend intervenes, a note of frustration in his voice: “Everyone’s having fun, man. We’re all having fun.â€
“Top Chef — Season 4 Ep 7 (part 3 of 4)â€
For all the elaborate lengths he is willing to go for a laugh, Fielder rarely passes up an opportunity for a broad poop joke. Look no further than the first episode of Nathan for You, where he pitches a frozen-yogurt shop on integrating a novelty poo flavor to drum up business, or the “Dr. Farts†video he filmed with one of the children he rehearsed fatherhood with in The Rehearsal. In this Top Chef spoof that plays out completely straight, Fielder plays a judge who has to send a contestant home because they made the grave error of serving the judges a cake that had poo in it. “That, for me, was actually one of the biggest mistakes I’ve made in the competition, I think,†the contestant flatly replies.
“danceâ€
This 2010 clip is beautifully simple: It’s just Fielder dancing to Shakira’s “Hips Don’t Lie†for 33 seconds. It currently holds the distinction of being the second-most-viewed video on his YouTube channel at over 4 million views, and that doesn’t even account for the multiple times it’s gone viral on Twitter after being uploaded by fans. Not to mention: Fielder flexes some of the same smooth moves he shows off when he dances for escort Maci in the Nathan for You series finale, “Finding Frances.â€
“Ronald Shoubâ€
In addition to filming this sketch in which he plays a psychic named Ronald Shoub, Fielder built out an extended Shoub universe in the form of an elaborate website with a blog, testimonials, and an “About†section for people to learn more about his “mystical abilities.†It’s reminiscent of the dedicated Thrifty Boy website he created for the first episode of The Rehearsal. Shoub’s website is still accessible online via the Internet Archive, mercifully preserving vital gems like this one: “Ronald communicates with spirits and the spirits tell him the information so it really doesn’t matter where you are in proximity to him. Since spirits can travel across the globe (e.g., to China) at a speed faster than light, you could even be on another planet and Ronald’s accuracy will be the exact same as if you were sitting on his lap.â€
Nathan on mp3 players
On This Hour Has 22 Minutes, Fielder hopped between roles as a man-on-the-street interviewer, sketch performer, field correspondent, and consumer-watchdog reporter. In the latter segments, titled “Nathan On Your Side,†he traveled to different businesses and consorted with real proprietors and employees about their products (sound familiar?) before derailing the interviews by drilling into a moment of discomfort or flummoxing his unaware subjects by performing an off-kilter bit. In this segment, Fielder sets out to teach the public how to get good value on an mp3 player by interviewing an electronics salesperson, and he suggests the pair role-play a sale to demonstrate. But then he rebuffs every attempt the salesperson makes to engage him in conversation with rejoinders like “I’m just browsing,†or “I’m not really interested in an mp3 player.†After the polite but bemused salesperson’s eighth attempt to initiate a conversation, Fielder loses his patience. “Sorry, are you interested in a date or something?†he asks.
Nathan on the CBC
Throughout his work, Fielder is often tasked with feeling his way through situations in real time to determine who and what to prod to engineer the moments that will eventually be cut together into the finished product. Rarely has this process been more transparent than in this “Nathan On Your Side†segment, in which Fielder interviews CBC network president and CEO Hubert Lacroix about how he ensures the network’s public funding goes to programming beneficial to the Canadian taxpayers. Fielder asks Lacroix about how his own work for CBC helps it meet this goal, and a sheepish smile creeps over Fielder’s face — a rare instance of him breaking character — as he senses Lacroix dodging the question. “You haven’t seen my interviews, have you?†he asks the executive. “Just name one,†he insists over and over while Lacroix squirms in increasing discomfort. Cut back to the 22 Minutes studio, where Fielder concludes, “Wow, so it’s pretty exciting that the top guy at CBC is such a big fan of my work.â€
“Computer Cornerâ€
When one pictures Fielder’s character work, he’s usually playing an exaggerated version of himself, so big choices like accents rarely come into play. (Not never, but rarely.) In this sketch, Fielder plays the resident of an unnamed European country, and for better or for worse, he really leans into the voice. In a just world, Fielder will host SNL one day, and the show will resuscitate its old “Club Traxx†sketches, so he’ll have an organic excuse to revive this voice once more.
Nathan reports on the Tall Club of Toronto
Many of the biggest laughs in Fielder’s output arise from the absurd level of effort he dedicates to executing (often) very silly ideas, from developing new technology for soundproof boxes kids can play in while their parents have sex just feet away to recreating a bar down to the last detail for a man to role-play a confession to his friend. On 22 Minutes, Fielder’s budget wasn’t as high, but he got the chance to go all out in one delightfully over-the-top segment in which he reported on a group known as the Tall Club of Toronto. The field piece begins with Fielder standing in front of a helicopter hovering six feet and four inches above the ground, which he gestures at to demonstrate the height of a tall person. Then he has a bespoke harness built to affix a video camera four inches above his head and a screen with a live feed directly in front of his eyes so he can “see the world through the eyes of a six-foot-three-inch man.†Watching Fielder navigate tight spaces wearing this cumbersome harness is funny, but it’s not as funny as the fact that he made the harness in the first place.
Nathan goes to CPAC
Fielder’s comedy is rarely political, and if you’ve ever wondered why that is, there’s a chance the answer lies in this segment. Reporting from the annual Conservative Political Action Conference conference in Washington, D.C., Fielder unleashes a bunch of hokey zingers on conservatives until he runs into actor Stephen Baldwin, who threatens him into silence. “I’m from a Canadian comedy show, so I’m going to try a jab now,†he tells Baldwin. “You can try. I might punch you in the face, but go ahead,†Baldwin replies. If only Baldwin hadn’t scared him away, perhaps we’d have our new host of The Daily Show by now.
Nathan reports on sex in advertising
In a “Nathan On Your Side†segment designed to educate the public about how they’re being manipulated by sex in advertising, Fielder sits down with a marketing professor to learn more. “What do you find sexy?†Fielder asks the professor, forcing him to reluctantly name Jennifer Aniston before uncomfortably adding, “I find my wife very attractive too.†The rest of the interview devolves into Fielder trying to get the academic to admit that he finds Aniston more attractive than his own wife. Not shockingly, the segment offers very little in the way of actionable information about resisting the manipulations of sex-forward advertising.
Nathan takes a polygraph test
Much like he did on Nathan for You, Fielder hooked himself up to a polygraph test in this “Nathan On Your Side†segment about how to spot liars, and then panicked while the polygraph operator asked him whether or not he watches porn. There are a lot of shared themes in Fielder’s early and later work, but this might be the most explicit case of him repeating his own bit.