Nate Bargatze reclaims No. 1 on Billboard's comedy touring chart for April 2026

Nate Bargatze comedy touring chart back on top

Nate Bargatze is back at No. 1 on Billboard's comedy touring rankings for April 2026, reclaiming the spot after Matt Rife knocked him down to No. 2 in March. According to Billboard, Bargatze has now led the comedy Boxscore for eight out of the 12 months since the ranking launched, a run that cements him as the dominant live comedy act in North America right now.

The numbers behind the month

Bargatze played 15 shows in April as part of his Big Dumb Eyes Tour, generating $11.2 million and selling 128,000 tickets. The tour has spent much of its run working through smaller, tertiary North American markets, but April brought stops in Washington, D.C., Las Vegas and Montreal. The highlight of the month was a two-night stand at Capital One Arena in D.C. on April 2 and 3, which accounted for $2.4 million and 27,700 tickets on its own.

Context on the comedy ranking

Billboard launched its comedy touring hub in 2024, initially covering the midyear Boxscore period from October 1, 2024 through March 31, 2025. Sebastian Maniscalco, Matt Rife and "Weird Al" Yankovic each topped earlier editions of the list. Rife's March surge was the closest anyone had come to unseating Bargatze, who had topped the chart for seven of the previous ten months before that brief interruption.

The broader April Boxscore report, also published by Billboard, was led overall by BTS, with Luke Combs and Bruce Springsteen also among the biggest touring acts of the month. Comedy, meanwhile, continues to prove it can fill arenas on its own terms.