Quotes & Press — Nate Kitch

What they say about; (me) - {Here is a collection of things that have been written about me; critics & the media but also punters & fellow comics /promoters.}

︎︎︎︎︎ The Scotsman

︎︎︎︎︎ Entertainment Now

︎︎︎︎︎ Mervyn Stutter-Pick of the Fringe

︎︎︎︎.8 Edinburgh Reviews

︎︎︎︎.5 One4Review

︎︎︎︎ Beyond The Joke

︎︎︎︎ The List

︎︎︎︎ Broadway Baby

10/10 John Fleming’s Blog

The Scotsman tip: Best Show Nominee 2025

Best Show 2025 Nominee - Comedian’s Choice Awards

Best Show 2025 Nominee - Edinburgh ISH awards

Malcolm Hardee Award for Comic Originality 2025 & 2024 Nominee

Best Comedy ShowWinner WOW Awards 2025

Next Up Biggest Award in Comedy 2025 Nominee

Best Newcomer 2024 Nominee - Comedian’s Choice Awards

“a show for true comedy aficionados. Not because it is very, very funny – which it is. But because it plays with so many comic ideas, techniques & formulas.. it’s like a Matisse painting, or like jazz, where all the bits fly apart and regroup in an order that simultaneously makes sense – and doesn’t..a comic masterclass”
︎︎︎︎︎
The Scotsman

“a love letter to comedy.. breaking the form and building laughs that come from out of nowhere..my cheeks ache from laughing at something utterly different”
︎︎︎︎︎
Entertainment Now

“One of the most original inventive comics I've seen in two and a half decades in comedy.”
Wil Hodgson

“..the entire room is rocking with uncontrollable laughter.
It is a long time since I have experienced anything quite like it.”
︎︎︎︎
Kate Copstick for Broadway Baby

“a masterclass..embraces chaos and uncertainty, creating a unique and memorable experience that feels more like a happening than a conventional stand-up set.”
︎︎︎︎.8 (let’s call it a Five??)
Edinburgh Reviews

“big laughs”
Tim Harding for Chortle

“Postmodern yet oldschool..this could be as fringey as it gets”
︎︎︎︎
The List

“made me laugh a lot. A lot. It’s smart, challenging, bold and wonderful, messing with art and comedy and storytelling and hats. One of those rooms where it happens.”
Ben Moor
(who awarded 5 exclamation marks (!!!!!))

“a unique experience pushing at the edges of what stand-up can be defined as.. is this where the cult begins?”
Chortle

“It’s comedy theatre, arty, stylish and cool. And there’s something extraordinarily watchable about Kitch“
Beyond the Joke

“A playful but complex deconstruction of the art of stand-up. Nate Kitch presents an engaging and often hilarious mix of visual gags, smart writing and improvisation.“
British Comedy Guide

“he's an inveterate deconstructer of the form, helping you see conventional stand-up's limitations anew“
Jay Richardson

“transcends mere jokes...he creates his own kind of comedy carnage. Go see.”
The Scotsman*

“a masterclass in ripping up the comedic rulebook and thriving in an environment of total comic chaos… and freedom”
Entertainment Now

“compelling rhythm and artistry“
Fest

“he has a hat”
The Scotsman

“Nate Kitch cannot be contained by mere architecture“
Claire Smith

“Inventive leftfield comic”
The Scotsman

“A real WTF? Comic”
Chortle

“The Captain Beefheart of the Oxfordshire comedy scene”
Wil Hodgson

“self-aware, freewheeling anti-comedy with a wink”
Three Weeks Edinburgh

“really good at comedy”
ACMS

“hints of Simon Munnery...offbeat...something very special”
Beyond the Joke

“To suggest he breaks a fourth wall would miss a bigger point. Nate treats his audience as equals but the structure of and in rooms with disdain. Many comics can make me laugh. Only a handful have left my jaw on the floor as they do it.”
Rob Milner - Something Comedy

“Anarchic”
British Comedy Guide

“An off the wall Tommy Cooper with no magic”
Queens Park Arts Centre - Aylesbury

“Never, in my opinion, has a comic established themselves so quickly as a comic within their own psyche.”
︎

“We haven’t had a comic like you in a long time”
Julia Chamberlain

“craziness that makes him distinctive”
Chortle (again)

“Brave. Different..fascinating.”
“...it‘s all clever and I like clever!.”
The industry. (delivered anonymously and with cowardice!!)†

“Nate Kitch's chess-based anti-comedy and disgust at the conventions of stand-up seemed to just about baffle everybody”
︎︎︎︎
The List

“Kitch doesn’t do gags”
British Comedy Guide (again)

“absurdist & not funny..I wasn’t very impressed.”
arrse.co.uk
(the unofficial voice of the british army)

“the best show I saw at the Festival”
Sam Dutton whilst at Leicester Comedy Festival (2022) - Leicester, Leicestershire

“so special and inventive it’s frustrating”
Jin Hao Li

“Excellent, really enjoyed it. This is what the fringe is about, see him here before he is on Taskmaster!!!!!”
Iain Hay

“Of the thousands of comedians performing at Edinburgh, go and see one who is truly pushing the boundaries of what comedy can be. Some will be laughing start to finish, others won’t know what’s hit them, but regardless of your personal experience, you will remember this show.“
R. Goodman

“kaufman-esque”
a bloke at the Castle Tavern - Oxford

“a Beckettian clown”
Andy Gleeks

“The highlight of my fringe”
Faye Ryden

“Hilarious weird refreshing comedy. Going to go far”
Anonymous (Audience Member)

“Went in not really knowing what to expect. Left not really knowing what I watched. Laughed so hard I cried during. Nate Kitch really pushes the boundaries of typical stand up comedy.”
Anonymous (Audience Member)

“I love it when a performer dares to do something different, something bold.
I love it even more when, as in this case, it works.”
Marcus Kerr

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***** Five Star Show *****

“if you like Stewart Lee, Daniel Kitson, Simon Munnery, or Steve Reich, you'll love it. If you don't, you'll still love it. Pure brilliance.”
Derek Hogg

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“⭐️ - The Comedic Equivalent of Modern Art

If the premise of this show is the subjectivity of art as other reviewers have said then it hit its mark hard for me. I'd liken this show to one of those modern art pieces admired by the drastically dull or the sneeringly intellectual: It is utterly pointless so that academics can argue over its meaning.

Call me a philistine but I'm unashamed to say I was a walkout from this show.

I was very apprehensive about seeing this after watching Nate's 5 minute set where he literally said nothing online, but decided to give it a go. Was pleasantly surprised that he at least came in and started talking.

Unfortunately, the show went quickly downhill for me. It became abundantly clear that this is someone still just aimlessly wasting everyone's time again in exchange for a bit of cash.

It's the equivalent of Roy Chubby Brown for people with elbow patches on their tweed jackets, a manor in Knightsbridge, and a contempt for the "uneducated".

This show is a man who should be filling a tent with used condoms and writing the names of his ex lovers in shit on a wall or something metaphorically spitting in your face and telling you you're stupid for not enjoying it.

Bravo sir. A true artiste!”
An Anonymous (Coward)

- - -

“Much ink has been spilled about the existence and quality of Nate's hat. That the hat is excellent, we can all agree on.

In the performance I was in, however, the room was divided between people who loved the show, myself included, and people who were completely baffled. Nate addressed this by suggesting that some people may have been lured in by the 5 star reviews without knowing much about the show. I suspect he was right.

Nate mixes well constructed jokes with absurd elements and some truly artful moments. It was incredibly original and creative, and there was something compelling about it all that's just hard to put a finger on.

I'm really excited to see more of Nate.”
Stephen Ardee

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“Hilarious weird refreshing comedy.
Going to go far - must see show of the fringe!“
Anonymous (Audience Member)

“Through sheer force of will & Conviction Nate Kitch has turned himself into an actual cult”
Alexander Bennett

“One of the funniest, most abstract performances I’ve seen”
Oliver at Chops Comedy Bristol

“This is a difficult show to review. It is obviously a case of emperor's new clothes - but I guess that is the point. When a show is designed to flip everything on its head you have to ask whether you should pay to attend or whether Nate should pay the audience. Clearly masterful PR as everyone is talking about it. Beware - it is difficult to walk out as the seats are so closely packed together.”
An Anonymous

“Auteur”
People’s Comedy Bristol

“by far the best person I’ve seen during red raw, really respect the work you’ve clearly put into your shit...amazing to watch...I think about it constantly.”
A bloke at The Stand - Edinburgh 2019

“None traditional standup in the best way possible. The superbly written jokes at a breakneck pace left me reeling on laughter and begging for more. Alongside this is the best non-tradition audience interaction I’ve seen in a long time. One of the best shows I saw at fringe, and I couldn’t recommend him enough!!”(Does anyone have an extension lead?)
Harrison Richards

“it’s the Bag-Man..I tell everyone about the Bag-Man!!”
Abby Wambaugh

“Nate has the biggest comedy balls I have ever seen. This anarchic hour is not for everybody - clearly he is trying to take things in a different direction and is not shy of deconstructing his set live on stage.
But if you are up for a decidedly unsafe comedy adventure, Nate's your man.”
Iain Row

“Not sure where this show can go after fringe, as it is too avant garde/strange for any commercial type success, but he has some good moments. Not stand up.”
Silon Marks

“Nate was my highlight of the night, a real comedians' comedian. He splits a room and leans into that with such skill that makes it a real feature of the act. His structure and delivery is just immaculate. It was the perfect position in the night for his material. His absurdist deconstruction of comedy is something to be admired.”
Dave Shakespeare

“we turned to each other and were like: this is exactly our kind of comedy”
Two Punters Conversing at Dead Leg Comedy Oxford

“Not your traditional stand-up comedian telling a list of jokes, but clever, well thought out comedy, right from the off. A really unexpected gem! Smart audience interaction too. Definitely recommended. Go and see“
Keeley

“commitment to pushing his ideas to unexpected outcomes.”
Phil Jarvis

“beautiful brilliant chaos!”
A woman outside Monkey Barrel after ACMS - Edinburgh

“Thank you for making me laugh so hard I felt a bit sick. You were fucking brilliant!”
Ben in Brum

“I’d say 25% of the room are struggling to breathe from ‘creasing’, myself included.”
Elliot (repeat viewer) - Banbury Apothecary Tap

“If Stewart Lee isn’t suing, you’re lucky. Sad plagiarism.”
@SMBUAE

“he started off like Bill Hicks but then he went mad, and that’s my sort of thing really.”
A regular at Swindon Old Town Comedy Club

“Like a 30-year-old-Ben-Elton.”
Nina - Weston-Super-Mare

“The David Lynch of Comedy”
Alex Green

“I didn't laugh at this show. I didn't need to, for Nate laughed at his own 'jokes', which was incredibly annoying. If he had played it straight then I'd have been impressed. Overrated in my view. I know alternative and boundary pushing comedy and this isn't it.”
Anonymous online (coward)

“definitely weird but definitely worth it”
Viewer at Queens Park Arts Centre - Aylesbury

“you are a genius”
Ash - Mates Rates Comedy

“too deep for us”
Another punter - Mates Rates Comedy

“it’s not for me..”
A bloke in the Toilets at The Bill Murray Angel - London

“..that was art.”
Julián - Oxford

“..this is dog-shit.”
someone (under their breath) in Leamington-Spa

“We are all in the gutter but some of us are watching Nate Kitch”
Dr. Vincent Lynch

“it’s really stupid, what you do”
A punter

“it’s really intellectual, what you do”
An other punter (at the same gig)

“You are the best comedian I’ve ever seen...I don’t watch much comedy.”
A someone at The Castle Pub - Oxford

“Bold...Truly stood out” - The List

“Bold. ” - Mark Watson

“Bold.” - Chortle

“Bold.” - Edinburgh Reviews

“Bold. ” - Marcus Kerr

“Bold. ” - Nate Kitch (Me)

*Consignia (The Scotsman is a Scottish Newspaper)

† in 2020 Nate Kitch (me) was entered into the SYTYF Competition which, due to the Global Pandemic of Covid-19, was delayed to 2021 with heats being performed over “zoom” and the finals‡ being held in a covid-ly dispersed audience in Edinburgh (the capital of August) as part of the Edinburgh Fringe 2021 (held in August & Scotland respectively). During the belated process we were invited to submit a video of a “live” set from pre-pandemic times of which to receive feedback from a panel of 27 industry experts - the previous quote (affixed to this footnote) is taken from the feedback of 2 of those 27 aformentioned experts, which, as I assume you gather from the quote attribution, was delivered anonymously.

‡of which he/i got to.