NAT’S What I Reckon is bringing his war on jar sauce, internet nonsense and everyday absurdity to Ipswich, performing Panic at the Bistro at the Racehorse Hotel on Sunday, November 22.
With stand-up, songs and what he calls “semi well-organised onstage chaos”, Nathan Bartolo has plenty to draw from, including bizarre food promotions and the cooked comments strangers send him online.
“I may have even turned that into some songs,” he said.
Bartolo has made a career out of saying what plenty of people are thinking, but behind the laughs is someone who knows how much a shared meal and an honest conversation can matter.
“I like to get stuck in on camera and stuff and have a bit of a laugh.”
His YouTube channel dates back to 2006, although he said he began taking content creation seriously about 12 to 14 years ago, while his career has since taken him through comedy, writing, cooking, and music.
“If I kind of had my way, I’d probably just be playing rock and roll,” he said.
“That was the original dream.”
Cooking took hold during a harder chapter, when Bartolo’s mental health was poor, he was not working and he needed something to occupy his time.
“Cooking and living in share houses was kind of a little bit of a saviour because I got to cook for lots of people,” he said.
“That activity just kind of was quite validating and I kind of fell in love with it.”
His nomination for a dish everyone should learn is a roast – straightforward, affordable and capable of feeding a household.
After sharing his own mental health experiences and receiving a positive response, Bartolo began making more room for those conversations alongside his comedy.
“It’s just a little bit of a, ‘Hey, I see you,’ ” he said. “You’re not alone.”
Away from the stage, Bartolo fills his downtime with gaming, writing music and an ever-changing collection of hobbies, recently including leatherwork and jewellery making.
He and his partner Julia are keen gamers, making a gaming laptop one of his touring essentials alongside his guitar and, perhaps less predictably, his own lights for hotel rooms which he uses to fix another irritation of his in cool overhead lighting.
With a guitar in hand and plenty to get off his chest, Nat’s What I Reckon will turn up the heat at the Racehorse Hotel, serving up laughs, putting a few sacred cows on the chopping block and leaving the jar sauce firmly on the supermarket shelf.
Nat’s What I Reckon performs Panic at the Bistro at the Racehorse Hotel, Ipswich, on Sunday, November 22.
