Nath Valvo’s Chatty Cathy comedy show at the Adelaide Fringe – Review
by Carla Caruso
★★★★ ½ – 4.5 Stars for relatable LOLs for parents
I can thank my mum for putting me onto the comic fun that is Melbourne’s Nath Valvo. She cracked up over a TV skit he performed about his own mother saying, “I just sat down”, whenever he came home. Naturally, we laugh hardest at the gags that reflect ourselves – or our loved ones.
You might have seen Nath pop up on shows like The Project or Hughesy, We Have a Problem or heard him on the radio.
His Fringe show, Chatty Cathy, offers plenty of chuckles for both Baby Boomers (like my mum) and those thirty-plus.
The show skips between his anecdotes about being gay in Oz – whether it’s surviving an all-boys high school or the micro power-games couples play – to yarns about his crime fiction-obsessed mum and flight tracker-addicted father.
Some jokes that particularly resonated with me surrounded his Italian dad who has ‘a fear of car parking and always arrives half an hour early’ to his irritation over food bloggers’ meandering recipe posts.
Also relatable was Nath revealing how he hates leaving the house and that his chosen way to get his heartrate up is anxiety.
As well, he tackles some very ‘now’ topics, from COVID-19 – noting that the neighbouring venue was named The Corona Theatre – to our paranoia about our phones ‘listening to us’.
Onstage, Nath shared an adorably dweeby photo of himself as a teen and marvelled at how a ‘seven’ like him had ended up with a ‘nine’ Ironman competitor. (I couldn’t help googling what his ‘hot’ partner looked like afterwards …)
What always amazes me about stand-up comics is how they remember so much material and deliver it seamlessly. As Nath says: “Comedy is a public service that we do for you, so you don’t have to talk [to one another].” This remark was aimed at those dating but could apply to anyone – the arts give us an escape from real life!
Nath is a likeable, everyday guy, whose banter kept me engaged the entire time, whether he was discussing Everybody Loves Raymond, ‘#chipequality’ (you’ll have to see the show) or why you only need six friends.
For a taste-test of Nath’s comedy style, check out his interview on Wil Anderson’s podcast, Wilosophy. I’m a new fan!
CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS
For more information, please visit the Adelaide Fringe website here.
What: Nath Valvo’s Chatty Cathy Fringe show
When: 6-8 March and 10-15 March 2020 (starting at 8.15pm)
Where: Studio 7 – The Garden of Unearthly Delights | Rundle Park, Adelaide
Who: Adults looking for a fab, funny night out
At Play & Go Adelaide we make every effort to provide accurate information to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication. We recommend confirming times, dates and details directly before making any plans as details may be subject to change.
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