Nath Valvo: Chatty Cathy

Nath Valvo is close to ecstatic at being back in front of a live audience again – and the full house audience is delighted to have him there. Not only is all that buzzing can’t-keep-still energy magnetic, there’s also his very engaging nearly 40-years-old-but-still-boyish persona. 

The pace is relentless: one audience gasp and laugh-out-loud moment flows – bang – into the next - as Nath reads out his new ‘scary stories’, pretends to sing, and poses and answers some very important, central Life Questions.  Of course, Nath has asked and answered a whole set of different Life Questions in his previous (award winning) shows, but here he is again, inexhaustible, with new questions and their startling answers.

Such as how come girls and gay guys get on so well?  Such as, why are guys from Brisbane (like his Iron man partner) called Cody - or is it Coby?  Such as, while babies and little kids are fun, why are new parents so awful?  Or why, really, would you want to own your home when you’ll be just about dead by the time you do? 

Nath takes moments of pain and swiftly converts them to comedy with great timing – and his ‘come on, let’s face it’ painful honesty, which is very often a confession about himself.  But a good storyteller knows that it’s best to let the audience add up two plus two – and he does that.  He’ll circle around a topic, drop it… and then spring it on you again.  Behind the skipping around the stage, the wide-eyed interest in the audience and the apparently flustered spontaneity, this is a very skilled performer who will leave you limp from laughter.

Michael Brindley