Comedy Central's Nathan for You Returns

If you ask someone if they like Nathan Fielder, chances are they’ll say, “Who’s Nathan Fielder?” Being unknown may be the key to his success. One would have to fly under the radar to be able to prank every small business in California.

On Comedy Central's Nathan for You, Fielder is the star of his own business-improvement show à la Kitchen Nightmares or Bar Rescue, lampooning them elegantly, with absurdist humor taken to the extreme. He does it so subtly that the business owners he is “helping” don’t seem to ever be aware that they are part of a satire. Some brilliant moments take place when they start to realize something’s up, but he’s convincing – so convincing that it's unnerving at times. Fielder never breaks character, perhaps because he was never in character to begin with; he's almost too good at this. Dry, deadpan delivery is Fielder’s trademark, and he has honed it over the last couple of decades, beginning in high school doing improv with the likes of Seth Rogen, continuing as a correspondent on Canada’s This Hour Has 22 Minutes, and fine-tuning it in the first two seasons of his own show.

His relentless awkwardness combined with absolutely ridiculous premises makes Nathan for You a riveting parody/social experiment to watch. If you wanted to drum up business for a car wash, how would you do it? Probably not by hiring someone to strategically place birds in a tree, then stopping traffic to allow time for the birds to defecate on vehicles, and then handing the drivers fliers for the car wash. That’s just one of Fielder’s many brilliant business solutions. After all, he did graduate from business school with “really good grades.”

One of his season 3 victims advises Fielder: “Find something else to do with your life because you are not good at this and you do not understand the dynamics of people’s emotions.” Here’s hoping he doesn’t take that to heart. Check out the trailer for the new season below.

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Season 3 of Nathan for You premieres Thursday, Oct. 15, 9pm, on Comedy Central. Catch up on what you missed here, and visit his YouTube channel for even more Nathan.