History Series / NathanForYou

* AdvertisingDisguisedAsNews: In "The Movement", Nathan buys a time-brokered interview on a local daytime talk show in Las Vegas to have the author of the titular book appear for an interview.

-->"'''That'' was your dream?"

* AllThereInTheManual: "The Movement" book fills in all of the (fake) backstory Jack Garbarino alludes to on the show and functions as a complete fictional autobiography, including his childhood with Steve Jobs, troubled relationship with a real estate agent, humanitarian career, and eventual {{Heroic BSOD}} moment that causes him to become a maltheist and create the fictional workout program. [[spoiler: Pointedly, "The Baboons" are a terrorist organization as opposed to primates, indicating that the real Garbarino didn't read the book when he talks about Dende being "carried off" by them (in the book, he's shot to death in a terrorist attack).]]

* BleachedUnderpants: Brian Wolfe, the private investigator who insulted Nathan in the first two seasons, returned for season 3's "The Movement". In an awkward bit of small talk, Wolfe admitted that he'd posed in a nude photoshoot for ''Penthouse'' when he was younger, but that it didn't constitute pornography since there was no penetration involved between him and the female model, insisting that it was actually [[InsistentTerminology "adult entertainment modeling"]]. In the ''Nathan for You: A Celebration'' special at the start of season 4, Nathan discovered that Wolfe actually had a prolific nude modeling career in TheEighties and confronted him over it.
* {{Breaking the Fourth Wall}}: There's always a very thin line between the real Nathan Fielder and the show's "Nathan," but a subtle instance of the "real" Fielder coming through occurs in "The Movement" when Nathan and Brian Wolfe are staking out Jack Garbarino. After a cutaway we find Wolfe giving Nathan advice on how to move on from a divorce; Nathan Fielder had actually just gone through a divorce prior to the episode's filming, indicating he broke character (albeit off-camera) to open up to Wolfe about it.

%% * GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers: A FreezeFrameBonus in "Dumb Starbucks" is the menu, made up of regular Starbucks offerings, with the word "dumb" added at the beginning... except the last thing, a "seasonal item" called the Wuppy Duppy Latte.

* {{Out of Character Moment}}: Nathan asking the Asian stunt car driver in "Nail Salon" to speak in an exaggerated Chinese accent is the only time in the series Nathan uses racial stereotyping for humor, and one of the few times Nathan seems to want to humiliate someone who hasn't already said or done something insulting to him. While part of the humor of the show arises from Nathan putting other people into awkward situations, it's the only time in the series he seems to demean someone for their identity or culture.

* CringeComedy: The show produces a lot of hilariously awkward moments, but not in a mean-spirited way.

-->I have no faith in your competence in this business. I have no faith in your judgment whatsoever. The only thing I know about your judgment is that it... doesn't exist.

-->That's really weird that you'd take someone on a date and then ask them, "Hey, dude, like, why don't we sue Best Buy?" For all I know, you're crazy.

-->'''Nathan''': You shouldn't be laughing right now.
-->'''Jonathan''': No, but you're so ''weird''.
-->'''Nathan''': No, Jonathan, I'm not weird.
-->'''Jonathan''': You are crazy.
-->'''Nathan''': No, I'm normal. I teach people lessons when they do something wrong.
-->'''Jonathan''': You're very manipulative and conniving, and I don't like it.

-->My friends don't hire lawyers to come and sign contracts... My friends don't have cameras and lights and lawyers. And producers. That's not how you establish a friendship.

* BuxomIsBetter: Simon, the security guard in "Clothing Store/Restaurant," certainly thinks so.
** [[CallBack Called Back]] in the season 2 finale, where Nathan tries to sell a RealityShow about Simon's "crippling obsession with large breasts."

--> ''"My name is Nathan Fielder, and I graduated from [[DamnedByFaintPraise one of Canada's top business schools]] with [[BlatantLies really good grades.]] Now, I'm using my knowledge to help struggling small business owners make it in this competitive world."''

* AluminumChristmasTrees: Brian Wolfe's insult to Nathan that he's "the wizard of loneliness" seems to be completely random and bizarre. He's actually referencing ''The Wizard of Loneliness'', a 1988 film (based on a 1966 novel) starring Creator/LukasHaas and Creator/LeaThompson, about a young boy who copes with his poor social skills through a vibrant fantasy life.

* AmbiguousDisorder: Nathan's crippling lack of social skills as well as his tendency to misread situations and monotone voice puts him into this territory.

* GroupHug: During the closing credits of "Claw of Shame", there's a very obviously staged one with Nathan and the kids, in a very blatant ploy to portray him as a FriendToAllChildren.

* SpiritualSuccessor: To Fielder's "Nathan on Your Side" segments on ''Series/ThisHourHas22Minutes''.

* MaintainTheLie: In "Souvenir Shop," Nathan realizes that his scheme of the week (staging a fake film shoot and bringing in volunteer passerby as "extras" who come in and purchase items from the store) constitutes serious fraud... ''unless'' he actually does release the film. Not only does he do so, shooting additional scenes to give it some semblance of narrative structure, he also creates a fake film festival so that it can receive an award and thus be granted additional legitimacy.

** Whether it's the Claw of Shame, the lie detector (the "Mechanic" segment), or the asteroids (the fake movie "The Web"), if anything computer-related fails, it's because of Windows 95.

* StylisticSuck: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XD3nq0eECz4 "The Web"]]

* TurtlePower: Twice. First, a turtle [[ItMakesSenseInContext goes on a job interview]]. Much later, for no apparent reason, Nathan uses a tiny one as a business card. He would later explain that the turtle business card was so that the recipient had to take care of the turtle and would thus see the business card frequently.

--> ''"My name is Nathan Fielder, and I graduated from one of Canada's top business schools with [[BlatantLies really good grades.]] Now, I'm using my knowledge to help struggling small business owners make it in this competitive world."''

* BrickJoke: In the episode about the gas station, one of the people Nathan meets is a proponent of alternative medicine who believes that drinking urine is beneficial. The conversation is mildly amusing, but given that the hikers are established to be weirdos with too much free time, it isn't that surprising. At the end of the episode, Nathan casually brings it up with the gas station owner, presumably expecting a funny, disgusted reaction. [[spoiler:But to his (and the audience's) complete bewilderment, the owner has a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vbCKava_JE very different response]]. (Note that Nathan very briefly breaks character at around 1:31.)

* DarkAndTroubledPast: Nathan occasionally alludes to one that might explain his strange behavior, mentioning in particular a "[[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial non-sexual incident]]" from his childhood that has caused him to have major trust issues.

** In general, any sort of positive reinforcement Nathan gets from people, no matter how small or insincere, will lead him to take whatever he's planning up to eleven. Related to this is how Nathan will seize on someone else's inappropriate suggestion and play it to the hilt, like how an offhand comment by Judge Filosa in "Claw of Shame" inspires Nathan to use an audience of children for his escape stunt, and how Elias, the coffee shop owner in "Dumb Starbucks", brainstorms the idea of a parody of Music/TheRollingStones called "(I Can't Get No) Erection", which Nathan proudly performs at an Open Mic Night.

* BrickJoke: In the episode about the gas station, one of the people Nathan meets is a proponent of alternative medicine who believes that drinking urine is beneficial. The conversation is mildly amusing, but given that the hikers are established to be weirdos with too much free time, it isn't that surprising. At the end of the episode, Nathan casually brings it up with the gas station owner, presumably expecting a funny, disgusted reaction. [[spoiler:But to his (and the audience's) complete bewilderment, the owner has a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vbCKava_JE very different response]]. (Note that Nathan very briefly [[{{Corpsing}} breaks character]] at around 1:31.)]]

** In general, any sort of positive reinforcement Nathan gets from people, no matter how small or insincere, will lead him to take whatever he's planning UpToEleven. Related to this is how Nathan will seize on someone else's inappropriate suggestion and play it to the hilt, like how an offhand comment by Judge Filosa in "Claw of Shame" inspires Nathan to use an audience of children for his escape stunt, and how Elias, the coffee shop owner in "Dumb Starbucks", brainstorms the idea of a parody of Music/TheRollingStones called "(I Can't Get No) Erection", which Nathan proudly performs at an Open Mic Night.

* WorkedShoot: After "The Anecdote" aired, fans debated whether Creator/JimmyKimmel and Creator/KirstenDunst were in on the gag.

* {{Corpsing}}:
** Nathan's usually good about staying in character, but occasionally someone will say or do something so bizarre, he breaks in a subtle-but-obvious way.
** After he sees the [[StylisticSuck ludicrous]] ''Simon Sees'' pitch tape, the TV producer has a big smirk and literally has to hold his fingers to his mouth to stop himself from laughing.

* AluminumChristmasTrees: Brian Wolfe's insult to Nathan that he's a "wizard of loneliness" seems to be completely random; he is, in fact, referencing an obscure 1988 film starring Lea Thompson and Lukas Haas, "The Wizard of Loneliness," about a young boy who copes with his poor social skills through a vibrant fantasy life.

* EverythingIsAnInstrument: "Shipping Logistics Company" centers around this, as Nathan tries to get smoke detectors shipped overseas duty-free by labeling them as a musical instrument, ultimately forming a band to record a song with one.