Nath Valvo is the boy next door
鈥淕AYS have become so lazy we can鈥檛 even be bothered mentally undressing each other anymore.鈥� Nath Valvo is constantly shifting in his seat, like the young comic can鈥檛 quite settle.
鈥淚 have ADD, which is probably why I need to cover a different topic in every show,鈥� he explains.
Since leaving cult comedy trio The Shambles in 2011, his shows have ranged from fag hags to Grindr and turning 30. This year, the Nova FM presenter is performing a show without a single overriding theme for the first time in his solo career.
Everyone comes in for a serve: vegans, Tinder users, Melbourne鈥檚 gym culture, and himself.
鈥淚 went on my first date aged 29. He had Kristin Chenoweth tickets, I couldn鈥檛 say no. The night was mortifying, it was my Vietnam,鈥� he says.
While he won鈥檛 give much away, suffice to say it involves nudity and toilets.
Fans of Valvo鈥檚 breakout show Grindr: A Love Story will be reassured he has lost none of his passion for dick jokes. However, the infamous app is absent from the new show.
鈥淚鈥檝e milked it for all it鈥檚 worth,鈥� he notes wryly.聽Indeed, he worries about being defined by it.
鈥淚 worry it鈥檒l become Sadie to my John Farnham, and when I鈥檓 60 people will be yelling out 鈥榙o your Grindr stuff’,鈥� he laughs.
His three biggest fears in life are dying in a plane crash without a shirt on, being buried alive topless, or being hit by a bus wearing just pants.
鈥淚 will stand up in front of everyone and say everything, but nudity in public scares the shit out of me,” he says.
A topless-only underwear party last Mardi Gras remains the most confronting night of his life, although weirdly, he recalls having to keep his shoes on, “because apparently that was the biggest health and safety concern in a nightclub full of gay men.鈥�
Attempts at bulking up also failed when he vomited while a personal trainer was showing him how to use the gym equipment.
鈥淓xercising in South Yarra is only one step less pretentious than going to Love Machine on a Sunday night,” he jokes.
“I have a problem with lazy comedy, not offensive comedy. Eddie Murphy鈥檚 homophobic stuff in the 1980s wouldn鈥檛 last a minute today.鈥�
Indeed he believes stand-up is one of the few mediums where you can go wherever you want, and there are no sponsors or listeners to offend as there are on radio and TV. In that sense it is quite liberating, he notes: 鈥淚 get bored if I go to a stand-up show and the comedian isn鈥檛 pushing it a bit.鈥�
Boy Next Door opens at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival on March 27.
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