Warning: This article contains spoilers for HBO’s The Rehearsal.Nathan Fielder has become one of the biggest names in comedy over the past decade. As he claims at the beginning of his series Nathan For You he “graduated from one of Canada’s top business schools with really good grades.” Over the course of Nathan For You, he offers suggestions to help local small businesses, and these suggestions are often absurdly silly ideas and outlandish strategies to draw in more business. Fielder’s comedic antics have garnered media attention on multiple occasions, with the most notable being the Dumb Starbucks premise in 2014.

In 2022, Fielder’s newest series The Rehearsal premiered on HBO, which sees him helping ordinary people rehearse difficult conversations or life events through the use of sets and actors hired to recreate real situations. Yet throughout the six-episode first season (the series was renewed for season two just hours before the season one finale aired), a greater story unfurled for the audience, one that they likely didn’t expect when they tuned in for the first episode.

Yet anyone who has watched anything of Nathan Fielder’s over the years, from his early YouTubue videos to his most recent critically acclaimed HBO series, one discussion pops up among viewers: how much of Nathan Fielder’s persona is an act and how much is sincere? Both Nathan For You and The Rehearsal start as simple comedic television pitches but as they go on provide more insight into Fielder’s mind and offer glimpses behind the curtain of the man running the show. Is Nathan Fielder the person in front of the camera an act? Is it real? And if it isn’t real, what does it all mean?

Nathan For You Was A Comedy

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It is important to note that Nathan For You was broadcast on Comedy Central, so its primary purpose was meant to get the audience to laugh. This indicates that all the bonkers elaborate stunts he goes through, and the questions and interactions with individuals on the series are meant to warrant a laugh out of the audience.

As opposed to other prank series like Jackass which are going for physical comedy, Nathan Fielder opts for more cringe comedy. Getting the viewer to laugh at his awkward interactions around people, and marvel at the extreme lengths he takes to his pitches. The subject’s reactions might be natural because they might not be privy to how much Nathan Fielder is up to, because he serves the function of a trickster character, moving the plot along with his persona. In that case, it clearly is an act, but the question becomes how much of himself is Fielder putting into the character.

Nathan’s Contrast With Other Sitcoms

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Comedians playing characterizations of themselves is nothing new. Roseanne and Seinfeld are two notable examples of series based on the comedians where they play a fictionalized version of themselves. The list goes on from The George Lopez Show, The Bernie Mac Show, and Everybody Loves Raymond all featuring comedians playing themselves but as characters in a sitcom setting based on their stand-up material.

Nathan For You and The Rehearsal are in many ways the same basic premise: a comedian playing a character based on themselves and trying ridiculous things to help people. Yet unlike the series mentioned above, which are multi-camera sitcoms that are clearly written, Nathan Fielder’s characterization is in a non-scripted format, interacting with real people. This blurs the line between what is real and what is fake; do the people on the series know that this is a character of Nathan Fielder or do they think this is his real personality? And if he is interacting with real people and getting genuine reactions, does that not make it more real and therefore the persona semi-real?

The Rehearsal is the Natural Evolution of the Format

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One can see the seeds of what would become The Rehearsal in various episodes of Nathan For You, where Fielder has many schemes acted out beforehand. Yet the fact that the series airs on HBO instead of Comedy Central means the show is less focused on comedy (though there is still plenty to be found) and becomes more an exploration of Nathan Fielder’s persona.

Whereas Nathan For You was a comedic riff on the reality television programs of small businesses getting outside help like Kitchen Nightmares or Bar Rescue, The Rehearsal is about the artifice of creating a ‘reality’ television series. Nathan Fielder highlights how much is controlled, and how much planning goes in to simulate reality not just for the subjects but also for viewers familiar with reality television.

This means the Nathan persona transforms from a comedic trickster seen in Nathan For You to a more toned down but still incredibly awkward and absurd creator who wants to craft the ultimate reality he controls. The Rehearsal is likely a closer approximation to the real Nathan Fielder, but still a persona he is putting on. The name itself, The Rehearsal, is an acting expression further indicating how much of what Nathan Fielder projects is for the viewers’ enjoyment.

How To With John Wilson is the Counterpoint

The most interesting way of examining Nathan Fielder’s on-screen persona and how much is real is by comparing it to the innovative How To With John Wilson, a series that Fielder produces but is not present on. How To With John Wilson is a documentary series, contrasting with the reality television series rifts of Nathan For You or The Rehearsal. Also worth noting is John Wilson, the documentarian, is the narrator of the events, but he is off-screen with most of the action being driven by the person he is interviewing or events he’s filming.

John Wilson is a passive observer, whereas Nathan Fielder is not only an active participant but the main driving storyteller (he’s even compared to Willy Wonka in the first episode of his new show). In both Nathan For You and The Rehearsal, he influences the direction the stories go, and any time it gets out of his hands he injects himself to take over. He is putting on a performance in front of the camera for the viewer.

Blurring the Lines Between Reality and Fiction is the Point

Getting someone to believe a fake simulation as an approximation of reality is the point of The Rehearsal, and by the season one finale, the series explores the actual repercussions of blurring those lines.

In the season one finale, it is revealed that one young boy playing Nathan’s six-year-old son Adam (the real boy’s name is Remy) has become attached to Nathan as a parental figure, as he has no father at home and does not fully grasp what they are doing is acting. This seems to deeply affect Nathan Fielder, and this is where the series begins to examine the core basis of its premise: the dangers of blurring reality and fiction for the sake of entertainment. Remy truly believes that Nathan is now his dad because that is what he has been exposed to, and that mirrors how the audience interprets Nathan Fielder’s character in this series: this is all they know, so it becomes a reality.

It is fitting that The Rehearsal was airing around the time The Sandman aired on Netflix. While the two series are polar opposites in tone, aesthetic, and even distributor, there is some interesting overlap. One of the most famous quotes from The Sandman comics is when Dream says:

In many ways, that is Nathan Fielder’s on-screen persona. Even if it isn’t who he is, to a boy like Remy or the viewer it is real because of the impact and the memories themselves. This is all audiences are given to know about him; therefore, it becomes a version of reality. Regardless of if Fielder is acting, the actions and reactions are real, and that is what matters.

“Things need not have happened to be true. Tales and dreams are the shadow-truths that will endure when mere facts are dust and ashes, and forgot.”