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Nate Smith is an improvisational comedian, a husband, and a father. He's not sure which is hardest.

Learn more about Nate Smith at bestnatesmithever.com



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19 May 13

Parenting tip

The games you play with your kids don’t have to make sense. Just listen and respond. And use funny voices.

18 May 13

My son is a genius

  • (getting home from a birthday party)
  • Chandler: But how come there wasn't cake?
  • Me: Well, they had cupcakes instead.
  • Chandler: But cupcakes are not cake! Cupcakes are dessert you have after cake!
Posted: 9:03 AM

When we put our kids in time out we really wish we were putting ourselves in time out.

17 May 13

bestnatesmithever:

The Kings of Summer

Wednesday May 22, 7pm

If you live in Portland, OR, and would like to see a pre-screening of The Kings of Summer, you can claim a free pass by using the info below!

GO HERE and print out a free pass. Use this code: IMPROV6NCX

The trailer makes it look great. Of course Nick Offerman and Alison Brie are awesome, but I’m also excited to see Craig Cackowski is in this. I got to perform with him once at the Curious Comedy Theater and he is really hilarious. That’s right, I drop names like Skrillex drops the bass.

Anyway, if you’re in Portland and end up going to this, I might see you there!

Reblogged: bestnatesmithever

Tags: PDX Portland
15 May 13
  • Wife: (doing dishes I neglected to do earlier)
  • Me: Honey! You don't have to do that.
  • Wife: Well, I don't want you to have to face them in the morning.
  • Me: Oh...honey...I wasn't going to face them in the morning.

Reblogged: bestnatesmithever

14 May 13
Just got this picture in a text with a message saying Chandler is pretending to be me getting home from work. 
Heart = broken

Just got this picture in a text with a message saying Chandler is pretending to be me getting home from work.
Heart = broken

13 May 13
The scariest moment for a parent is not when they see their child climbing and about to fall, but when they see their child climbing and almost miss getting a picture of it.

The scariest moment for a parent is not when they see their child climbing and about to fall, but when they see their child climbing and almost miss getting a picture of it.

12 May 13

Parker’s abilities on the stairs are like my abilities on the dance floor. He can get up, but he can’t really get down.

Posted: 11:17 AM

Mothers’ Day Post

I have multiple mothers to appreciate today, so I changed it from the possessive Mother’s Day to the plural possessive Mothers’ Day. Not sure that grammatically makes sense, but I’m going with it.

Let’s start with the mother of my house, my wife, Ashley. First of all, without her this blog would not have happened. It was her idea for me to start this. Also…she gave birth to the children, so there’s that whole ball of wax.

Ashley is so fantastic I have a hard time knowing where to begin. She brings order and sanity to a chaotic household of boys all running around playing Ninja Turtles and Avengers. She keeps us fed, bathed, and clothed. She’s extremely patient with us when we throw temper tantrums. And she gives great hugs. 

And for the last 6 weeks in a row, I have been able to get out of the house on a Saturday night and perform live improv comedy. This means that not only has she had to put the boys to bed without me on these nights, but while I was out galavanting around onstage, she’s had to be home by herself without her best friend to keep her company. I am extremely grateful to the sacrifices my wife makes to allow me to continue performing comedy.

But Ashley isn’t doing it all on her own. My mother-in-law, puts in a lot of extra hours at our house helping with the boys. So do my father-in-law and brother-in-law, but this is a Mothers’ Day post, so they can be patient and wait for Father’s Day and…Uncle’s Day. Brooke is an amazing grandma. The boys absolutely adore her. And she’s not a lazy grandma. She does her homework. She has even memorized which Ninja Turtles are which and can tell you which weapons they all use. If spoiling your grandchildren was a contest, Brooke would be world champion. I have so much gratitude for my mother-in-law, who does so much to help my wife and I stay sane during this journey called parenthood.

And finally we come to my mother. The lady who made me. She taught me so much. One of my fondest memories is going out early in the morning before school to the nearby baseball field where she would hit ground balls to me so I could get some extra practice in. Then she would take me to McDonald’s for breakfast. And even though I don’t have a daughter, I want to pass on to my boys what my mother taught me about strong women and gender equality.

You see, my mom worked as a manager of several different businesses throughout my childhood, all of which were sports related. She managed a racquetball and fitness club, she managed an indoor soccer facility, and later on she became an Athletic Director for a private high school, which she is still doing today. In all of these jobs, she has come up against a lot of men who thought she wasn’t qualified for either the business aspect, or the sports aspect, of the jobs, purely because of her gender. But my mom never gave in to any of that. 

The thing is, I don’t really recall my mom ever talking about sexism or preaching gender equality. I just remember watching her behave as an equal. I remember her simply being better than everyone else. Not ever saying she was better than them, just performing better than them. Being so good at what she did, that nobody could hold her back due to the fact that she was a women. So to me, it was always just a given that women can do and be anything that men can. It wasn’t something I needed to be convinced of, it was just something that is. 

As much as I want my boys to grow up to be strong men, I want them to use my mom as an example of how to let your actions speak for you and to be so good no one can ever hold you back. And I want them to use my mother-in-law as an example of how to be exceedingly generous and compassionate. And I want them to use my wife as an example of patience and intelligence. 

And I want them to use me as an example of how to make really great fart sounds.

10 May 13

awkward-elevator:

Help us Kickstart our Kickstarter Video! (1:54)

This video has my son in it, which is as good excuse as any to reblog it here. Also, I’d like to thank my wife who played the part of Droopy Camera Tripod.

Reblogged: awkward-elevator

9 May 13

Today I Keyser Soze'd my son

  • Mom: (Places part of a banana on Chandler's plate to eat with his breakfast)
  • Chandler: No thank you. (Picks it up to hand back to her)
  • Mom: Okay, well leave it on your plate and if you are still hungry after your muffin you can eat that.
  • Chandler: No thanks. (Tries to hand it to me)
  • Me: Why don't you want it on your plate? Use your words to explain it to me.
  • Chandler: Because it will touch my muffin and get banana on it.
  • Me: Why don't you eat it and put it in your tummy so it's not in the way.
  • Chandler: Oh, good idea. (Eats banana)
  • Me: (doing everything in my power not to laugh)
Tags: Parenting
8 May 13
As my wife put it, “He’s not performing stand up. He’s performing slowly sit down.”

As my wife put it, “He’s not performing stand up. He’s performing slowly sit down.”

7 May 13

I just stepped out of my office to take an important call from home to help my wife decipher what word my son was trying to say when describing a scene from an episode of Ninja Turtles. I got it all sorted out. Now back to work.

5 May 13

The Dog’s Name is Sawyer

Tonight while driving to Grandma’s house we saw a man on the side of the road with a sign saying, “Got Laid Off. Anything will help.” Chandler asked about him and the sign, and I explained the man’s situation and the idea of begging.

Chandler gazed off into the distance listening very intently the whole time, and when I was done he turned to me and said, “Sawyer begs.”

Tags: Parenting
Posted: 9:27 PM
Silly
Today Chandler and I were playing in our front yard riding our scooters around which of course involves wearing helmets. Then, as usual, Chandler shifted gears and we were suddenly playing Soccer. But…today’s twist was that he wanted us to keep our helmets on. 
With plenty of people taking strolls through the neighborhood, I started to say, “We can’t wear our helmets while we play Soccer. We’d look sill-” but I cut myself off before I finished. 
I don’t want my son to grow up living in fear of being “silly”. While I love to be silly on stage, I still have moments where I try to avoid looking silly in front of other “adults”. But I don’t want to teach this to my kids. 
So I stopped what I was saying, and we played Helmet Soccer for about 30 minutes. I got to wave to a bunch of my neighbors.

Silly

Today Chandler and I were playing in our front yard riding our scooters around which of course involves wearing helmets. Then, as usual, Chandler shifted gears and we were suddenly playing Soccer. But…today’s twist was that he wanted us to keep our helmets on. 

With plenty of people taking strolls through the neighborhood, I started to say, “We can’t wear our helmets while we play Soccer. We’d look sill-” but I cut myself off before I finished. 

I don’t want my son to grow up living in fear of being “silly”. While I love to be silly on stage, I still have moments where I try to avoid looking silly in front of other “adults”. But I don’t want to teach this to my kids. 

So I stopped what I was saying, and we played Helmet Soccer for about 30 minutes. I got to wave to a bunch of my neighbors.

Tags: parenting
Themed by Hunson. Originally by Josh