The daily grind

When the Star Observer last spoke to Nath Valvo, he said that when it comes to comedy he was taught to talk about what he knows.

At his first solo stand-up show at last year’s Midsumma Festival, what he knew all about was fag hags.

This year he’ll be tackling hook-up phone app Grindr, and it’s safe to say the former JOY 94.9 morning show host is on intimate terms with the technology.

“Last year I did Fag/Hag and that was a good topic that not many people had covered yet, and so I thought every gay is on Grindr, talking about Grindr, on their way to a Grindr hook-up or has a Grindr horror story,” he said.

“I thought we should all come together and have a bit of a chat.”

Grindr: A Love Story? will see the comic address the reasons behind why approximately 1.4 million males log on to the app every day.

“Everyone joins Grindr for a different reason, but I turned to Grindr when I was feeling shit about my break-up and I’ve been on it for a while now,” he said.

“I turned to it looking for validation and everyone who’s on Grindr knows you get a little bit more than you bargained for on sign-up.

“It’s like a drug. You get a hit of attention and validation, and once you get it you’re hooked and you constantly need it which is why people check it when they wake up, on their way to work, on their way home. It’s as addictive as heroin.”

Valvo said he’s had a diverse range of experiences when meeting up with guys through the app, many of which will be covered in the show.

“Because of Grindr I’ve had my first foursome, I’ve found out about fetishes I didn’t even know existed, I found out how much money I could make from prostitution and realised just how many gays there are in Melbourne that aren’t on the scene,” he said.

“It’s completely changed my perception of the gay world in Melbourne.”

Having departed JOY last year after the sudden cancellation of his long-running morning gig with co-host James Findlay, Valvo quickly found himself working over at mainstream station NovaFM.

“Everyone brings up the JOY thing like it’s some massive, bitter saga but I still don’t know what really happened,” he explained.

“I wasn’t given a clear reason why the show ended, but hey, one door closes…”

INFO: Grindr: A Love Story? is at Gasworks Arts Park January 19-21 and February 2-4. It then heads to Sydney for Mardi Gras, playing the Oxford Hotel Festival Bar from February 21-28. Bookings: www.midsumma.org.au and www.mardigras.org.au