WHEN everything goes to pieces, sometimes all you can do is laugh. Or, as in Nath Valvo’s case, you can make others laugh.
The Nova announcer and comedian’s 2011 was the kind of year most of us would rather forget.
After being fired from Joy FM, he applied for the dole and finished his year passing two kidney stones in hospital.
The St Kilda resident decided to turn his experiences into a comedy show, Walk of Shame, which he performed for the first time at the recent Melbourne International Comedy Festival.
“It’s the cheapest therapy around,” he says. “When you’re lying in a hospital, at age 28, passing two kidney stones, you’ve gotta get out a pen and paper and say ‘This needs to be spoken about’.”
Valvo has quickly made a name for himself on the comedy circuit, thanks to his successful show Grindr: A Love Story.
He’s definitely not scared to get personal in his performances and says he’s not worried about revealing too much.
“The night my parents come I’m always backstage scratching my head a bit,” he says. “But when it’s the general public, anything goes.”
Valvo excelled in drama and media in high school and decided to try his hand at comedy when he was 18.
He says he rarely feels pressure or nerves before he goes out before the crowd.
“When people go to a comedy show, they’ve bought a ticket and they’re ready to laugh – they’re there to have fun, not just sit back and pick at it,” he says.
“I have a really good time on stage.”
His love of performing extends to his real life.
“Whether they like it or not, my friends and family always get a performance from me – there’s no escape,” he says.
“The hardest thing is to get them to spend money to see me perform when they see it all the time.”
After years in “soul-destroying call centre jobs” to pay the rent, Valvo looks to have it all together at last.
He has landed on Nova, hosting the 1am-5.30am show from Wednesday to Friday and recently picking up the Saturday and Sunday afternoon shifts.
“There have been some epic failures on my behalf, like playing the wrong song, or no song. But I’m a lot better at it now, I think,” he says.
“I’m having an absolute ball. I like it when you hear an announcer tell you something that happened to them last night, or on the way to work … you get to know them as a person.
“I try to put my ‘suitable for radio’ stories out there as much as I can.”
