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This Friday, HBO will air the final episode of Nathan Fielder’s hotly debated, endlessly analyzed new series “The Rehearsal,” and audiences are eager to get some answers. Where will Fielder fall on the chart of chaotic good versus evil? Is Angela an actor? Are we in on the joke or is the joke on us? And most important: What are we all supposed to do when it’s over?

Fortunately, Fielder has spent the last decade using his singular voice to provide a wide array of comedic brilliance. While it would be easy to just make a list of the best moments from his Comedy Central series “Nathan for You,” we’ve scoured the Internet to include bits from his entire oeuvre, starting with his early work on YouTube and the Canadian series that gave him his start, to the HBO series “How to With John Wilson,” which he executive produces. This means some of his most beloved ventures, from his gas station rebate trek to the creation of his Summit Ice clothing brand, have to come in at honorable mention. The good news is that all of Fielder’s shows are available to stream.

  • Finding Frances

    “Nathan for You,” Season 4 Episode 7
    This episode of “Nathan for You” comes in at No. 11 because it’s a bit of a cheat — it’s not a moment but rather a feature-length movie that also serves as the series’ finale. It’s the culmination of several ongoing bits and characters as Fielder chooses to help his frequent guest star Bill Heath (known as the Bill Gates impersonator) track down a woman he hasn’t spoken to in over 50 years. While you’ll laugh at the absurd lengths to which Fielder goes — pretending to make a sequel to the movie “Mud,” staging a high school reunion — there are scenes about the human condition that are simply transcendent. This includes Fielder’s relationship with an escort, some harsh discoveries about Heath and scenes with an actress hired to portray Frances that clearly lay the groundwork for “The Rehearsal.”  It’s impossible to pick one scene, as every moment builds on the next, culminating in a triumphant send-off for the series.
    Available on Comedy Central, Paramount+, Hulu, and HBO Max.

  • Ronald Shoub

    YouTube
    To go back to the genesis of Fielder’s comedy career, look no further than his YouTube channel, where you can catch short sketches he made more than a decade ago. While the simple “Thin Watermelon” is probably the most popular, this bit on psychic Ronald Shoub is a standout if for no other reason than its references to the Dennis Quaid film “Vantage Point.” Also an early indicator of his thinking outside the singular platform, Fielder had even purchased the domain ronaldshoub.com (now defunct) and created a Facebook page to accompany the sketch.

  • Nathan on Your Side: Finding Love

    “This Hour Has 22 Minutes”
    Often described as the Canadian version of “The Daily Show,” this comedy news program gave Fielder his start after discovering his YouTube videos. So much of what would become the “Nathan” character — the straight-faced awkwardness, the random segues — was already in place, and never more so than in the episode where Fielder sits down with matchmaker Gloria McDonald. McDonald is a delightful foil to Fielder, whose deadpan has never been more impressive as he fixates on getting to a kiss.

  • Dumb Starbucks

    “Nathan for You,” Season 2 Episode 5
    Sometimes the obvious answer is also the correct one. This iconic episode helped put the show on the map and is likely Fielder’s most viral bit to date. (Many people thought it was a Banksy performance art piece, and I cannot imagine a higher compliment.) Trying to help out a struggling coffee shop, Fielder suggests using parody law to open a “Dumb Starbucks” — essentially co-opting the logo, branding and menu of the ubiquitous coffee chain. Of course with Fielder, it doesn’t stop there — you also see him trick a lawyer into agreeing to pay out damages if they’re sued, attempt to become a parody artist by changing lyrics to popular songs and prove he’s the worst manager ever when he tries to get a barista to admit her attraction to him over a fellow employee (then rubs it in). It’s a smart and savvy takedown of consumerism, capitalism and true friendship. But aside from that, it’s just hilarious.

  • Nathan Fielder Brings a Back-Up Guest

    “Conan”
    Fielder has mined comedy from talk show appearances before — shortly before this 2017 “Conan” appearance he appeared on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” to tell a story about grabbing the wrong suitcase, wearing the oversized suit inside and being pulled over by a cop — all of which was later revealed on “Nathan for You” to be carefully manufactured into the perfect “Late Nite” anecdote. But his insecurities hit an all-time high when he joined O’Brien and, worried he had nothing interesting to say, invited along a back-up guest: Oscar winner Susan Sarandon. Of course, she’s only there if things go wrong, and Fielder seems annoyed when O’Brien tries to include her in the conversation. Honestly stellar work from Fielder, but also from the game Sarandon.

  • Nathan Fielder Duets with Marion Cotillard

    “Comedy Central’s All-Star Non-Denominational Christmas Special”
    A perfect encapsulation of utterly random elements that somehow blend together perfectly, Nathan celebrates the holidays with a love song. After starting the first few bars of “I Can’t Help Falling in Love with You,” he is joined by Oscar-winning actor Marion Cotillard — as is the norm. In this strange duet, Cotillard’s warmth and focus play out against Fielder’s confusion. For once, he’s in the position of wondering how much of it is an act.

  • Tour de Pharmacy

    Fielder only has a few film credits to his name, but he’s always used wisely (check out his perfect casting in James Franco’s “The Disaster Artist” as an actor in “The Room”). One of his best roles is Stu Rickman, the head of the World Anti-Doping Agency, in Jake Szymanski’s sports mockumentary.  Stu knows all about the effects of different drugs because they’re required to try every drug on the banned list “so we know what we’re dealing with.” He’s also an artist, sharing different paintings he’s made of what the drugs feel like — all of which seem to share an interesting common theme.

  • The Claw of Shame

    “Nathan For You” Season 1, Episode 7
    An Escher drawing of increasing absurdity that just keeps going and folds in on itself, Fielder attempts a Criss Angel-style escape from handcuffs with a twist — he has 90 seconds to get free or a robot claw will pull down his pants and underwear, exposing him to a group of children and making Fielder a sex offender. Shot and scored like a big magic special, every moment is treated deadly serious — even when juxtaposed with images of Nathan being stripped or his parents’ confusion as he tells them over his computer screen he might be getting arrested. It’s all played so deadpan and calmly. In fact, the only time Nathan loses his cool is when he learns the robot claw the whole bit hinges on runs on Windows 95.

  • Nathan Fielder Interviews the Guys From 'The Night Before'

    Fielder went to high school and did improv with Seth Rogen, who brings his “The Night Before” co-stars Anthony Mackie and Joseph Gordon-Levitt to this all-too-real cast interview to promote the film. After asking how much sex each of them have and suggesting they were cast to appeal to different demographics — Jewish, Black and gay – he tries to pit the actors against each other by asking how much each was paid for the film. The rest is a masterclass of passive aggression as Fielder complains about the plot of the movie and his role being diminished as Rogen expertly seethes.

  • How to With John Wilson: Anatomy of a Scene

    What starts off as a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the Fielder-produced show starring Wilson slowly devolves into a weird saga of how Fielder has opened up his home to four teenage influencers. The bit only gets increasingly surreal as Nathan’s “mentorship” includes cutting the young men off from their families, heart-to-heart talks and quality time on a trampoline.

  • The Hot Dog Stand

    “Nathan for You” Season 2, Episode 7
    Fielder’s pitch to ramp up business at a hot dog stand is personal favorite for several reasons. First, it shows the lengths Fielder will go to exact his brand of justice. Thinking the popular Pink’s hot dog stand can serve more customers if they allow people to cut in line providing they have a good reason, Fielder allows a man named Jonathan to skip to the front of the line due to a doctor’s appointment. But after trailing him, Fielder learns Jonathan was actually going to a movie — and treats this transgression with all the seriousness of a murder. He brings Jonathan on a boat under the guise of celebrating him as the 10 millionth customer, only to reveal the ruse — and four people Jonathan cut in line. The highlight has to be the always-clever animation, in which Fielder depicts his original punishment: He and the others leave Jonathan on the boat, Fielder sinks it and sharks pull Jonathan apart. (He settles for making Jonathan take a stick of gum from what he insists in an ordinary pack of gum but — spoiler alert — its not). But the coup de grâce is when Jonathan finally says what countless others have thought and tells Fielder he’s “weird,” to which he righteously replies: “No, I’m normal!”

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Update: 2024-03-05

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