Big Nate has been around for 30 years and counting, so it's expected that it gets in some hilarious stuff. Examples include:
Comic Strips
- The avalanche of garbage that spills out of Nate's locker is always good for a laugh, such as the time where he put it on a thirty-second delay
to catch Gina off guard. - In one strip, Nate and Francis are binder-shopping. Francis spends the majority of the strip raving about the awesomeness of binders he finds. He then asks Nate which binder he'll take. Nate takes a binder, whacks Francis in the head, and then buys it.
- Nate is explaining comic gags to Chad. He says that in comics, you can have the gag happen in the second-to-last panel and then have the last panel be a reaction. Cue a monkey run past them.Nate: Now, Where was I?
- Prank Day, 2008 (though in general, Prank Day is where Nate really shows off what he can do.)Teddy: Somebody just let a flying squirrel loose in the computer lab!Nate: Yeah, that was me.Francis: A squirrel? Isn't that kind of tame for the guy who calls himself "Mr. Prank Day?"Nate: That was only part one. (A moose walks by.)Francis: (wide eyed) I assume that was part two?Nate: I went with a Bullwinkle theme.
- I'M TRYING TO DO MY TAXES!
- Francis provides this burn upon Nate's insistence of having a near-death experience:To have a near-death experience, don't you need to have a life?
- Anytime Nate starts raving. Special mentions go to this guy and this gem.
- "You got a C, Teddy got a C plus, and Francis got P.T.S.D!"
- Nate asks a girl to sign his yearbook. She writes, "Nate, you're the weirdest kid in school."Nate: (writing in his yearbook) Okay, so I'll change "weirdest" to "studliest".Francis: (Aside Glance) Most people don't edit their yearbook entries.
- In one arc, Nate is desperately trying to find a date to a dance. A girl comes up to him, saying that she feels sorry for him... so she gives him a hand puppet. Next thing you know, Francis and Teddy are playing with it. See it here.
- "I have no idea why, but I'm grounded for a week."
- Everything about the school picture day arc where Nate's lip is swelled due to Teddy hitting him in the mouth with a basketball. Especially since School Picture Guy thinks at first that Nate injected his lips with collagen. Probably the best part is this exchange:School Picture Guy: I thought I'd seen it all, but never have I laid eyes on something like this! A sixth-grader resorting to collagen injections in his lips!Nate: I got hit in da mouf wif a bathket-baw!School Picture Guy: A pox on this beauty-obsessed society!
- Nate once tried to come up with a middle name for himself. Two of the names he comes up with: "Funkmeister" and "Maximus".Teddy: Very modest.Francis: Is that a name or a male enhancement supplement?
- Most of the time when Nate starts Suddenly Shouting . Such as this or this gem
- Artur is LIVELY meat!
- While a sad story line overall, one strip after Angie dumps Nate has him playing in a chess tournament. He channels his hate at being dumped to his opponents. One didn't even play him.
- Some of the drop-off panels that contain Nate's cartoons can be pretty funny.
- "Ooh, my hair is tingling! Just like in that dandruff commercial!"
- "I can make myself invisible."
- "That's the first time in my life I've ever been compared to Charlie Sheen".
- In one strip, Nate mentions that he got a week of detention for changing Mrs. Godfrey's ringtone to "Weird Al" Yankovic's I'm Fat.
Chapter Books
- Nate gives a good point about why he doesn't care for school:Nate: Okay, I'll admit that I'm not exactly Joe Honor Roll, but answer me this: When I get out there in the real world, is anybody going to care whether or not I know who was vice president under Warren G. Harding? (And don't try to pretend that YOU know who it was, because you don't.)
- Nate being Nate, this doubles as an Epic Fail on his part. Given that Harding died in office...his vice president was Calvin Coolidge, as in the guy who was his immediate successor as president.
- "A walrus ate my homework."
- Nate's answer to teachers telling him he should be more like his sister: "Right, like that's my goal in life: to be more like a high school cheerleader."
- When Nate starts thinking about ways to get out of the test, he sits on a rock and poses like the Thinker statue. Even better, Spitsy copies him!
- Nate being referred to as "Spiky-haired kid".
- "Hey, Nate! Taking a nap? Or are you doing the world's slowest push-up?"
- Nate's reaction to the announcements starting:
